Incentives to attract and retain qualified health workers to under-served areas within low and middle income countries
Exploring the Problem of Scarcity of Nurses in Underserved Areas in the Middle East: Factors, Reasons and Incentives for Recruitment and Retention
A number of affluent Middle Eastern countries, particularly oil-rich Gulf countries, rely on attracting foreign-trained health workers to rectify the problem of under-supply of nationally trained health workers in their countries. The migration of these workers in turn may exacerbate the shortage of health professionals in under-served areas in the source countries. We intend to explore this situation and its implications for recruitment and retention strategies via a three-country study to be conducted in Jordan (a lower middle-income country), Lebanon (an upper middle-income country) and the United Arab Emirates (a high-income country), all of which face nursing shortages. Lebanon and Jordan face considerable out-migration of their nursing workforce and are known to be prominent source countries for the Gulf.
The objectives of this study are to
- describe the current and proposed human resources for health (HRH) policies and practices in Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with regard to under-served areas of healthcare provision and to the deployment of both international and national nursing workforces in these areas. The study will also locate these trends within their historical and geo-political contexts;
- analyse the available routine data and databases on nursing staff deployment and the characteristics of nursing staff working in healthcare provision in underserved areas in the three settings;
- explore the origins, roles, motivations, career decisions, incentives, experiences and discourses of foreign-trained nurses deployed in the destination country (UAE), with particular reference to those who are working in ‘difficult to staff’ areas of provision, and to nurses from the two named source countries (Lebanon and Jordan);
- explore the origins, roles, motivations, career decisions, incentives, experiences and discourses of internally and externally trained nurses who are working in ‘difficult to staff’ areas of provision in the two source countries, and to compare and contrast findings from the two settings; and
- identify and outline policy relevant recommendations and practical incentives for nurses to practice in underserved areas.
This mixed methods qualitative and quantitative study aims at exploring the interface between international mobility of the nursing workforce and the challenges of staffing of healthcare services in underserved areas. It will consider geopolitical context and workforce policy and practice, and will explore, elaborate and contextualise the aspirations and life-course decisions of nurses who stay in their own country and work in underserved areas, of nurses who migrate and work in underserved areas in other countries, and of nurses who return home after working overseas.
Project description
Programme:Incentives to attract and retain qualified health workers to under-served areas within low and middle income countries
Research title:Exploring the Problem of Scarcity of Nurses in Underserved Areas in the Middle East: Factors, Reasons and Incentives for Recruitment and Retention
Thematic Research Area: Human Resources for Health
Grantee Country:Lebanon
Grantee Institution:American University of Beirut, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Health Management and Policy
Program Coordinator/Principle Investigator: Dr Fadi El-Jardal
Start date: March 2009
Status of grant: Completed