Reasons Behind Immigration of Iranian Nurses: A Qualitative Study

There are many reasons for nurses to immigrate abroad in different countries. This study was designed to identify the reasons behind Iranian nurses' immigration.

The present study was a qualitative study with a content analysis approach. Data were collected between December 2021 and April 2022. Iranian nurses who decided to immigrate were included in the study through purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. Interviews continued until data saturation. Fifteen nurses participated in this study. Data analysis was performed using the conventional content analysis.Lincoln and Guba criteria including credibility, confirmability, dependability and transferability were used for assessment of data trustworthiness.

A total of 204 codes were extracted from the analysis of the interviews. From these codes, 24 subcategories, 11 categories, and finally 5 main themes were extracted. Thus, the concepts that nurses proposed as the reasons for their immigration were classified under 5 main themes of (I) professional disappointment, (II) lack of professional value, (III) social chaos, (IV) economic chaos, and (V) promotion.

Nurses immigrate to other countries to dispose of the existing unstable conditions and to find a better life. Therefore, providing a suitable environment for employment and education with reasonable salary and facilities may prevent immigration of nurses.