Sevim Ulupinar is an associate professor and Yağmur Şen is a research assistant at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Istanbul, Turkey. Özgül Eycan is a lecturer at İstanbul Arel University. Contact author: Yağmur Şen,
Am J Nurs. 2024 Mar 1;124(3):22-32. doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0001007672.35687.2d. Epub 2024 Feb 12.
Brain drain refers to the emigration of scientists and other educated professionals from a low- or middle-income country to a high-income country for work. In recent years, this trend has increased, particularly in the health care arena. Prior studies among nurses and nursing students indicate that migration mainly occurs from low- and lower middle-income countries to high-income countries. This study aimed to explore the attitudes of Turkish nurses, nurse academics, and nursing students toward brain drain and the factors associated with these attitudes.
The study used a mixed-methods research design. The quantitative part of the study was conducted with 1,018 participants. The qualitative part was conducted with 26 participants from the larger sample who volunteered for focus group interviews. Data were collected from June through August 2022 using an online survey, the Attitude Scale for Brain Drain, and a semistructured interview guide.
Of all participants, 84.3% indicated that they wanted to work and live abroad. Nearly 95% stated that there was a risk of brain drain in the nursing profession, with economic factors given as the most significant reason. As age and years of professional experience increased, brain drain tendency decreased. Nurses and nursing students had higher brain drain tendencies than nurse academics. In focus group interviews, participants reported concern that the brain drain might lead to losses in the qualified nursing workforce and increase the workload for the remaining nurses in the migrant-sending country, while cultural adaptation issues can be difficult for nurses in the migrant-receiving country.
Brain drain in the nursing profession continues to be a current, crucial problem. This study showed that among Turkish nurses, nursing students, and nurse academics, the desire to work abroad was quite high, and all three groups had high brain drain tendency scores. Brain drain has serious consequences for both migrant-receiving and migrant-sending countries. These findings can help inform the development of initiatives aimed at preventing or mitigating nursing brain drain.
人才流失是指科学家和其他受过教育的专业人员从低收入或中等收入国家移民到高收入国家工作。近年来，这种趋势有所增加，尤其是在医疗保健领域。先前对护士和护理学生的研究表明，移民主要发生在低收入和中低收入国家向高收入国家。本研究旨在探讨土耳其护士、护理教师和护理学生对人才流失的态度以及与这些态度相关的因素。
本研究采用混合方法研究设计。研究的定量部分是对 1018 名参与者进行的。定性部分是在更大样本中选择了 26 名自愿参加焦点小组访谈的参与者进行的。数据于 2022 年 6 月至 8 月通过在线调查、人才流失态度量表和半结构化访谈指南收集。
所有参与者中，84.3%表示他们希望在国外工作和生活。近 95%的人表示护理行业存在人才流失的风险，经济因素被认为是最重要的原因。随着年龄和专业经验的增加，人才流失的倾向降低。护士和护理学生比护理教师的人才流失倾向更高。在焦点小组访谈中，参与者报告担心人才流失可能导致合格的护理劳动力流失，并增加移民输出国剩余护士的工作量，而移民接收国的护士可能会遇到文化适应问题。
护理行业的人才流失仍然是一个当前的关键问题。本研究表明，在土耳其护士、护理学生和护理教师中，出国工作的愿望相当高，这三组人的人才流失倾向评分都很高。人才流失对移民接收国和移民输出国都有严重的后果。这些发现可以帮助制定旨在预防或减轻护理人才流失的计划。
