IFGH 2010: A Comparison of the Perceptions of Nurses Working in Irish Hospitals who Trained in Ireland or Overseas: Implications for Healthcare and Nurse Workforce Planning

A sustainable and motivated nursing workforce makes a major contribution to each national health system. Ireland has relied heavily in the past decade on the recruitment of migrant nurses. Understanding nurse migration is central to workforce planning efforts nationally and globally. As part of a 3-year European Framework 7 project RN4CAST: Nurse Forecasting: Human Resources Planning in Nursing, data were collected from nurses, patients and hospital leaders from 30 acute general hospitals across Ireland. Ethical approval and access was obtained for each site. Of the 1,406 nurse survey respondents, 37.5% (n= 503) received their basic nursing education/ training outside Ireland. We compared the characteristics and perceptions of quality and intention to leave of nurses trained/educated in Ireland, the UK, the Philippines and India. Significant differences were found relating to perceptions of the work environment, levels of burnout, perceptions of quality of care and intention to leave their job. The findings provide new information about the dynamics and sustainability of the current nursing workforce in Ireland. They also prompt an exploration of how individual professional and cultural experiences influence perceptions of quality and job satisfaction. Within the international RN4CAST study, they also suggest strategies for sustainable nurse workforce planning nationally and globally.

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• A comparison of the perceptions of nurses working in Irish hospitals who trained in Ireland or overseas: Implications for healthcare and nurse workforce planning (1.08 MB)