Human rights and nurse migration

Migration has been a fact of life from time immemorial. However, the current wave of migration is different in several ways from that which occurred in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The main characteristic difference is that current migration is no longer a mass movement of the poor, the wretched and the homeless, but primarily a movement of the elite from less prosperous countries to several of the richest countries in the world. This particular form of migration is popularly referred to as the “Brain Drain” or conversely, “Brain Gain”. It involves professionals of many disciplines, including physicians and nurses. Ethical and human rights questions are raised as nurse migratory patterns emerge.