Migrant Health Professionals and the Global Labour Market

This book offers a fresh perspective on gender debates in Nepal and analyses how the international migration of the first generation of professional female Nepali nurses has been a catalyst for social change. With unprecedented access to study participants in Nepal (the source country), following them and their networks in the UK (the destination country), this ethnographic study explores Nepali nurses' migration journeys, relocation experiences, and their international migration 'dreams' and aspirations. It illustrates how migrant nurses strive to manage social and professional difficulties as they work towards achieving their ultimate migration aims. The book shows that nursing shortages and international nurse migration are isseus of gender, on a global scale, and that the current trend of privatisation in health systems makes the labour market vulnerable, and stimulates international migration of health professionals. Arguing that international nurse migration is an integral part of the globalisation of health, the author highlights key policy strategies that are useful for global nursing and health workforce management. A well-informed and much-needed study of nurse migration in the global healthcare market, this book will be of interest to professionals and academics working in nursing studies, health and social care studies, gender and international migration studies, and global health studies, as well as South Asian studies.

Radha Adhikari is a Nepali nurse and a Research Associate at the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Introduction: Nursing, gender, and the political economy of female migration in Nepal 1 Professional nursing education and the labour market situation in contemporary Nepal 2 The international migration market economy: decision-making, planning, and preparation 3 Arriving and surviving in the UK: navigating a new set of professional challenges 4 'There is a vast difference from what I had thought': professional life in the UK 5 Negotiating with new realities: family and social lives in the UK 6 Concluding discussion: professional nursing in Nepal and nurse migration to the UK