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Where are our international nurses in the UK coming from?

Where are our international nurses in the UK coming from?

Looking at data provided by the NMC, it is obvious that new nurse registrations are dominated by a few nationalities – specifically India, the Philippines, and Nigeria. 

 

So why do we recruit from some countries much more than others? 

 

A key factor is the transferability of the qualification. India, the Philippines, and Nigeria have a very similar Adult Nursing Programme to the UK and therefore it is much easier for candidates to adapt to UK working practices. 

 

Of course, undeniably many international nurses for the UK are economic migrants seeking an improved standard of living. The UK economy is much more attractive to a candidate from Nigeria, than to a candidate from the United States for example. 

 

As discussed earlier, recruitment is also influenced by whether there is a government-to-government arrangement in place (though Nigeria is clearly a hotspot for international recruitment, in spite of it’s “red list” status suggesting a strong direct application to Employers approach). 

 

Certain countries, the Philippines included, also take a very deliberate approach to “exporting” nurses overseas who they send back monies to the local economy. In such countries, many more candidates are trained than are required domestically on the assumption a large proportion will relocate overseas.  

 

Despite this deliberate approach to increasing supply, if nursing pay rates are low in their native country, there is a strange anomaly whereby domestic nurse vacancy rates remain high, despite supply being high, because nurses opt either to relocate overseas or work in other industries where they can be paid more. 

 

Unsurprisingly, registrations from within the EU have dropped significantly since Brexit. 

 

Based on our experience, international nurses who are not relocating for economic purposes typically tend to remain in the UK for a couple of years for “the experience” of living abroad, thereafter returning to their home country, or stay due to existing family connections and these numbers tend to be much smaller. 

 

My Healthcare Recruit supports UK healthcare employers in the public, private, and care sector to find international nurses who are a great fit for their organization, by using market-leading video interviewing tools to connect them to our database of qualified candidates. Our innovative approach makes international candidates easier to find and more cost-effective to source than ever before. Find out more at www.myhealthcarerecruit.com.