For almost fifteen years, South Africa has been a target for developed countries' active recruitment of nurses and other healthcare professionals to their healthcare systems. South Africa is now a leading source of nurses for the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This study investigates the underlying factors behind nurse emigration from South Africa by examining the differences in the economic job factors between South Africa and the UK, the US, and Australia, the three countries where the highest percentage of South African nurses are emigrating to. The economic factors investigated include wages, salary advancement for experience and length of service, hours worked, and employment-based benefits such as pension benefits, medical aid/health insurance benefits, and paid leave. Although not a focus of the empirical work, other job factors, such as poor working conditions in South African hospitals, as well as broader societal factors influencing nurse emigration, are discussed. The study was motivated by the fact that although the underlying factors that are causing South African nurses to leave for greener pastures have been identified, there exists limited empirical literature on the shortcomings of working conditions. As emigration of nurses are driven by forces present in both sending and receiving countries, a cross-country comparison of these factors leads to a greater understanding of nurse emigration from South Africa. In turn, a greater understanding can lead to effective policies improving the working conditions for South African nurses and thus improving retention. By using comparative secondary data from 2006, the findings reveal that the main difference in economic job factors lie in wages, both average wages and the possibility for salary advancement over the lifetime, and working hours. The differences in access to employment-based benefits were less significant, as benefits in South Africa tend to be high among nurses as in the comparison countries. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The last decade has seen an exodus of South African nurses migrating to "greener pastures". As a result of this migration, the South African Healthcare Service has been drained of one of its most essential resources – nurses. Subsequently, the crippling flight of nurses has thrown the nursing profession into a state of crisis. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the more popular destinations for South African nurses, the main reason being the attractive financial rewards. One agency reports that they send an average of thirty nurses a month to various hospitals within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country. Due to the uniqueness of the enforcement of the Islamic faith and the Saudi culture, many restrictions are imposed, particularly on women. The challenges and problems facing the South African nurses were, therefore, unique compared to elsewhere in the world. This research study had a primary and a secondary objective: The primary objective of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of South African nurses related to living and working in Saudi Arabia; The secondary objective of this study was to develop orientation guidelines to support South African nurses working and living in Saudi Arabia. The researcher utilized a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design based on a phenomenological approach to inquiry, in an attempt to answer the question: "What are the professional and personal experiences of the South African registered nurses working and living in Saudi Arabia?" Eleven registered nurses were selected to participate by means of purposive sampling. These nurses had been living in Saudi Arabia between three and six months. Consent was obtained from participants and the ethics committee of both the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre. The central theme emanating from the study was recognized as being 'Cultural Diversity'. The sub-themes identified related to the registered nurses’: - Religious/spiritual adaptation - Environmental adaptation - Emotional/psychological adaptation - Professional adaptation Based on the identified themes, guidelines were formulated to assist South African registered nurses when migrating to Saudi Arabia. Utilization of these should assist the South African registered nurse in assimilating into both the cultural and working environment. However, in reality, the outcome showed that no one can be prepared fully for what awaits them in Saudi Arabia.