Drivers for emigration among healthcare professionals: Testing an analytical model in a primary healthcare setting

• Published in: Health policy (Amsterdam) 2020-07, Vol.124 (7), p.751-757
• Main Authors: Ferreira, Pedro L., Raposo, Vitor, Tavares, Aida Isabel, Correia, Tiago
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Burnout; Drivers; Emigration; Health administration; Health care; Health care professionals; Job satisfaction; Medical personnel; Nurses; Portugal; Primary care; Primary health care professionals; Professionals; Workforce
• ISSN: 0168-8510; 1872-6054
• DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2020.04.009

•The international flow of migrant health professionals is likely to continue.•The challenges posed to health systems requires improved analytical models.•Most emigration drivers are mediated by professional belonging.•Need to improve retention and recruitment policies tailored to health professions. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on health workforce migration, notably by testing an analytical model of the individual drivers for a professional to decide to emigrate. A large database was obtained from all primary health care units on mainland Portugal. A professional satisfaction survey was conducted and information on social-economic, labour and job satisfaction characteristics, including burnout, was obtained. Results showed that healthcare professionals who reported intention to emigrate are mostly male, young, not married, and more educated; they consider their income insufficient for their needs, and show higher levels of burnout at work and professional dissatisfaction. This profile is slightly different for GPs and nurses. The results obtained contribute to the discussion on what motivates primary health care professionals, including GPs and nurses, to emigrate. They also provide insight into the design of policy measures that may mitigate the intention of these healthcare professionals in general to emigrate.