ArticleHuman resources for health2015
'Emigration is a matter of self-preservation. The working conditions . . . are killing us slowly': qualitative insights into health professional emigration from Ireland.
Article in Human resources for health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers.
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Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed.
- Experiences of Internationally Trained Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Nurses Working in Western Health Care Settings: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.Journal of transcultural nursing : official journal of the Transcultural Nursing Society · 2026Review
- An Investigation of the Employment Outcomes and Perceived Preparedness for Employment of Irish Dietetics Graduates.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
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- Understanding the factors influencing community pharmacist retention - A qualitative study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- Operationalising the Family-Friendly Medical Workplace and the Development of FAM-MED, a Family-Friendly Self-Audit Tool for Medical Systems: A Delphi Consensus.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Draining the specialized nursing brains, the emigration paradigm of Ghana: A cross-sectional study.Nursing open · 2023Article
- Doctor's burnout and interventions.Irish journal of psychological medicine · 2023Article
- Healthcare provider perceptions of safety culture: A multi-site study using the safety attitudes questionnaire.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- Drivers and barriers of international migration of doctors to and from the United Kingdom: a scoping review.Human resources for health · 2023Article
- 'Today Was Probably One of the Most Challenging Workdays I've Ever Had': Doing Remote Qualitative Research with Hospital Doctors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Qualitative health research · 2022Article
- Doctor Retention in a COVID-World: An Opportunity to Reconfigure the Health Workforce, or "Plus ça change plus c'est la meme chose"? A Response to the Recent Commentaries.International journal of health policy and management · 2022Article
- Thirst for change in a challenging environment: healthcare providers' perceptions of safety culture in a large Irish teaching hospital.Irish journal of medical science · 2022Article
- Emigration from the perspective of Polish health professionals - insights from a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Drexit: Understanding why junior doctors leave their training programs to train overseas: An observational study of UK physicians.Health science reports · 2021Article
- Institutional Determinants of Informal Payments for Health Services: An Exploratory Analysis across 117 Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Migration, Retention and Return Migration of Health Professionals Comment on "Doctor Retention: A Cross-sectional Study of How Ireland Has Been Losing the Battle".International journal of health policy and management · 2021Article
- Doctor Retention: A Cross-sectional Study of How Ireland Has Been Losing the Battle.International journal of health policy and management · 2021Article
- "I feel I have no voice": hospital doctors' workplace silence in Ireland.Journal of health organization and management · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAchieving a sustainable health workforce involves training and retaining sufficient staff to deliver health services. The Irish health workforce is characterised by a high level of emigration of Irish-trained staff and a heavy reliance on internationally trained staff. This paper presents qualitative findings from a mixed-method study of doctors, nurses and midwives who have recently emigrated from Ireland.
methodsUsing Facebook, this study elicited 556 (388 completed) responses to an exploratory mixed-method online survey in July 2014. Respondents provided rich responses to two free-text questions, one on health worker return (N = 343) and another on health professional emigration (N = 209) from the source country (Ireland).
resultsRespondents emigrated because of difficult working conditions in the Irish health system (long working hours, uncertain career progression), which compared poorly with conditions in the destination country. Respondents' experiences in the destination country vindicated the decision to emigrate and complicated the decision to return. Their return to Ireland was contingent upon significant reform of the Irish health system and an improvement in working conditions, expressed, for example, as: 'It's not about the money, it's about respect . . . we love working in medicine, but we love our families and health more' (RD283).
conclusionsThis paper highlights that doctors, nurses and midwives are emigrating from Ireland in search of better working conditions, clear career progression pathways and a better practice environment. The question for the source country is whether it can retain and attract back emigrant doctors, nurses and midwives by matching their expectations.
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