Nurses on the Move - (Culture and Politics of Health Care Work) by Mireille Kingma (Paperback)

About the Book

South African nurses care for patients in London, hospitals recruit Filipino nurses to Los Angeles, and Chinese nurses practice their profession in Ireland. In every industrialized country of the world, patients today increasingly find that the nurses...

Book Synopsis

South African nurses care for patients in London, hospitals recruit Filipino nurses to Los Angeles, and Chinese nurses practice their profession in Ireland. In every industrialized country of the world, patients today increasingly find that the nurses who care for them come from a vast array of countries. In the first book on international nurse migration, Mireille Kingma investigates one of today's most important health care trends.

The personal stories of migrant nurses that fill this book contrast the nightmarish existences of some with the successes of others. Health systems in industrialized countries now depend on nurses from the developing world to address their nursing shortages. This situation raises a host of thorny questions. What causes nurses to decide to migrate? Is this migration voluntary or in some way coerced? When developing countries are faced with nurse vacancy rates of more than 40 percent, is recruitment by industrialized countries fair play in a competitive market or a new form of colonialization? What happens to these workers--and the patients left behind--when they migrate? What safeguards will protect nurses and the patients they find in their new workplaces?

Highlighting the complexity of the international rules and regulations now being constructed to facilitate the lucrative trade in human services, Kingma presents a new way to think about the migration of skilled health-sector labor as well as the strategies needed to make migration work for individuals, patients, and the health systems on which they depend.

Review Quotes

"Nurses on the Move is an informative, comprehensive discussion of international nurse migration providing a synthesis of numerous reports and publications, poignant interviews with nurse migrants, and analysis of nurse migration in the larger context of the global workforce. Everything related to international nurse migration can be found in this highly readable volume of interest to nurses, policy makers, and the public."

"Nurses on the Move reveals the new shape of globalization. Skilled, overwhelmingly female nurses are moving in the hundreds of thousands around the globe. Mireille Kingma's exciting book puts a human face on the new worldwide labor market for nurses. Beyond uncovering the complicated economic and social forces that push nurses into migration from poor countries, Kingma explores how labor might transform the 'brain drain' in nursing into a 'brain gain' that benefits nurses, patients, and society as a whole. Anyone interested in health care, global labor, or in organizing health care workers needs to read this book."

"Mireille Kingma's comprehensive review and analysis of nurse migration will be useful for everyone from students to health care professionals and managers to policy makers interested in globalization and the impact of migration on the well-being of individuals and communities. Managing the migration flow of nurses is essential to the success of the UN's Millennium Development Goals."

"This book analyzes a major policy issue--the migration of nurses around the globe. It considers the way migration has become big business and also highlights the personal experiences of nurses themselves. In so doing, Nurses on the Move gives us a better understanding of this important trend that has an impact on the contemporary health care workforce."

"Should be required reading in several sectors--for all nurses considering migration, and also nursing leaders, CEOs, human resources professionals and policy makers across government portfolios. This book has the potential to influence policy and provide direction for a long-term strategic plan for nursing human resources."

About the Author

Mireille Kingma is a consultant on nursing and health policy for the International Council of Nurses, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland.