Implications of Flexibility in the Recruitment and Retention of International Nurses on UKs Health Care Sector - Essay Example

?Implications of Flexibility in the Recruitment and Retention of International Nurses on UK’s Health Care Sector Introduction The United Kingdom has customarily been a recipient of migrant nurses from developing countries, more particularly, from South Africa, Australia, and the Philippines (n.a. 2011). Nevertheless, this current scarcity in the supply of nurses has placed recruitment and, consequently, retention a primary concern in UK’s international human resource management (IHRM) arena. The management of migrant nurses raises a complicated set of issues for IHRM. These issues, and potential solutions to these problems, are discussed in the article Here to Stay? International Nurses in the UK. This paper analyses the need for flexibility in international recruitment and retention of nurses in the UK in light of the discussion in the abovementioned article. The International Council of Nurses Workforce Forum (2002 as cited in Parker & McMillan 2007) reported that majority of developed nations is or will be confronting shortages in the supply of nurses stemming from a shrinking availability of nurses alongside heightened needs for healthcare services. As the involvement of the UK in the international community expands, it is fundamental to explore likely implications for the growth of IHRM. With intensified advertising intended to persuade nurse to seek for employment opportunities abroad, as stated by Dowling (2007), the population of nurses vacating their current position to fill a vacancy in a richer nation, or those refusing to return to their native soil after obtaining their diplomas in Western colleges or universities is enlarging. Therefore, there is an immediate need to identify the effects of such trends on healthcare provision and to explore techniques in which recruiting organisations and firms can cope successfully. In the context of the current shortage of nurses, recruitment of health care workers by richer nations, like the UK, may witness critically scarce supply of highly trained and experienced nurses in nations where they are in demand. Certainly this is by now the situation in developing countries where vast population of nurses was employed by health care organisations in the UK. Flexibility in the Recruitment and Retention of Migrant Nurses in the UK Nurses wanting to work abroad should be informed of a broad range of recruitment and qualification barriers. Some of these major challenges are expensive and demanding immigration processes, adjusting to diverse clinical traditions, the requirement to become proficient in a new language, the expense of migration, and the requalification procedure (n.a. 2010). Although the procedure could be restructured in a number of instances in behalf of immigration, official endorsement is an indispensable patient and specialised security process that should be rigidly sustained (Connell 2007). National regulatory agencies, according to Choy (2010), are assigned to guarantee the quality and aptitude of migrant nurses. Communication is one of the obstacles to migration, but regarded a foundation of health care organisations. Patients communicate their problems, express their physical or emotional issues, and provide descriptions of their health concerns to healthcare providers (Hearnden 2007). Nurses should be capable of communicating with other stakeholders, including families of patients and health care personnel. They require the technical and existing language proficiency to converse under pressure and constraint. Language has been a significant consideration in the choice of destination country (Hearnden 2007). Nevertheless, according to Kingma (2008), while the supply of nurses in major source nations decreases new source countries are sought for and migration obstacles are not impervious anymore. In the UK, even though nurses offer important health care provisions and nursing is an attractive profession, there exists a critical problem. Budget cuts have led to unsafe and intolerable working conditions. Inflexible recruitment practices leading to unreasonable workloads, and the absence of career growth and development prospects, have resulted in a physically, psychologically, and emotionally drained migrant nurses (Vance & Paik 2010). Due to these evident barriers and problems to the recruitment and retention of migrant nurses in the UK, the author of the article Here to Stay? International Nurses in the UK strongly proposed flexible IHRM practices in UK’s health care organisations. As stated in the article, there are two major issues linked to the intensification of recruitment of nurses from source countries, namely, (1) ethical and (2) efficiency. Career decisions frequently allow nurses to attain own professional objectives, career growth and enhance the standard of their living. This consequently encourages competence in the nursing profession and job satisfaction and empowerment while dealing with the recruitment and retention of nurses (Slevin & Basford 2003). Nevertheless, the risks should be identified and understood. Nurses might be recruited deceptively or misinformed as to the work requirements and terms. According to Massey and Taylor (2003), migrant nurses could be specifically exposed to these risks as employment terms are more difficult to authenticate when language and distance create considerable obstacles. Another issue is international nurses’ work preparedness and the ability of health care institutions to offer additional training and assistance for them. International nurses usually confront problems with technology and language, as previously mentioned, and might be culturally and financially challenged than nurses coming from English speaking nations like Australia and the United States (Hernandez 2009). Health care structures and processes are prone to be quite divergent which may lead to emotional problems and conflict for many. According to Massey and Taylor (2003), usually there are travel permit constraints to prompt hiring of international nurses, which may result in irregular work schedules and the failure to immediately act in response to recruitment shortages. Present-day IHRM practices in the UK involve the necessity of staffing trained and experienced employees from abroad, but it is stated in the article that such a method is not an alternative for developing a sustainable supply of qualified workers through professional training and appropriate education in the country. Despite of the problems related with the existing shortage in the availability of qualified workers, recruitment and retention of an international nursing staff has the capability of promoting flexibility and competence in healthcare organisations in the UK (Schober & Affara 2006). The article mentions different kinds of mistreatment, mismanagement, and discrimination existing in the recruitment procedure, prior to the formal admission of the migrant nurse to the workplace. Hence, there have been growing demands for ethical standards for the recruitment of international nurses. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) declares that it “denounces unethical recruitment practices that exploit nurses or mislead them into accepting job responsibilities and working conditions that are incompatible with their qualifications, skills and experience. ICN and its member national nurses’ associations call for a regulated recruitment process based on ethical principles that guide informed decision-making and reinforce sound employment policies on the part of governments, employers and nurses” (Kingma 2008, 199). Some major components of these primary ideals, according to Kingma (2008), are recruitment regulation, job trials, professional training, secured work environment, freedom to complain or express grievances, protection from abuse and discrimination, freedom of association, trustworthy nursing policies, and flexible human resources management. These ideals, although especially relevant for susceptible international workforces, must also be exercised in the staffing of locally trained nurses. They offer a paradigm that promotes competence in the provision of services, efficiency of health care organisations, and flexible human resources management (Storey, Wright, & Ulrich 2008). The possible risks of abuse and discrimination are present when initiating a professional decision that entail transferring to other countries. Quite frequently, this may lead to risked personal security, poor occupational standing, and reduced earnings. Educated decisions and actions are one of the potential solutions (Walsh, Crumbie & Reveley 1999). Dissemination of vital information should be guaranteed and supervised by professional nursing organisations. Decisions to work abroad should be made on the bases of trustworthy information on primary individuals, organisations, and institutions involved, required fees, terms of work contract, work requirements and conditions, and the effect on the quality of life of international nurses (Schober & Affara 2003). Once these concerns have been properly taken into account and job offer abroad has been accepted, IHRM processes and policies should be established (Kraut & Korman 1999) to maximise the skills of migrant nurses and their ability to develop professionally. The favourable impact of flexible working environments for migrant nurses is empirically substantiated in the article’s case studies. The findings show that a workplace that encourages the involvement of migrant nurses in the decision making process, promotes career development, offers prospects for continuous learning, and ensures nurses’ security has a tendency to have an efficient, dedicated, and empowered pool of international nurses. These IHRM practices encourage improved patient outcomes, greater job satisfaction, and lesser exhaustion and stress. As argued by Kristensen (1999 as cited in Kingma 2008, 199), there are several IHRM factors needed to promote high psychological and social security in a culturally diverse workplace. These are (Kingma 2008, 199): (1) demands that fit the resources of the person (absence of work pressures); (2) a high level of predictability (job security and workplace safety); (3) good social support from colleagues and managers and access to education and professional development opportunities (team work, study leave); (4) meaningful work (professional identity); (5) a high level of influence (autonomy, control over scheduling, leadership); and (6) a balance between effort and reward (remuneration, recognition, rewards). The connection between these aspects and the incidences of migrant nurse mismanagement is well documented. It is not unexpected that the maximisation of the abilities, knowledge, and experiences of migrant nurses will rely greatly on their assimilation into the organisational culture (Burke & Cooper 2005). This consequently will rely on the flexibility of the IHRM system. Dealing with migrant nurses justly, with etiquette and courtesy, is the groundwork and rule of flexible IHRM (Dowling 2007). Workplace concerns should be dealt with if the job performance and work environment of the migrant nurse are to be enhanced. There are several flexible IHRM practices created for the integration of migrant nurses internationally. They are usually oriented or affected by educational norms, ethical recruitment procedures, mutual agreements, the progressive campaigns of several national nurses groups, and equality policies (Briscoe & Schuler 2004). Employing organisations are building flexible IHRM practices with career development and education assistance, language training, and inclusive orientation courses. The advantages of such a strategy are acknowledged by expert regulatory agencies in the UK, as well as specialised bodies (Schober & Affara 2006). Cultural awareness initiatives for migrant nurses and home-grown ones are ever more being proposed and carried out, helping patients, their families, and nurses successfully. Conclusions and Recommendations As stated in the article, in order to promote strong and permanent retention and integration of migrant nurses, it is important to have reliable and well-built HRM structures that are able to adjust to diverse and evolving environments. Customarily, IHRM practices in UK’s health care organisations have less primacy in the policy programme. This has quite certainly added to the traditionally high rates of turnover among migrant nurses that weaken the foundations of health care organisations and severely reduces the capacity of health systems to efficiently cater to patients (Sparrow, Brewster & Harris 2004). Other outcomes of inflexible work environments, as claimed by Kamoche (2001), are greater costs, weakened productivity, interrupted communication networks, heightened levels of employee dissatisfaction, and loss of care stability. IHRM strategies that promote empowerment, teamwork, informed and fair recruitment, employee self-determination, and dedication to education and growth are related to high retention rates and improved performance and outcomes. A multifaceted strategy is needed for the successful recruitment and retention of migrant nurses. The procedure should assess and notify international applicants, inform current employees prior to the start date of the migrant nurse and, ultimately, offer continuous assistance through equitable IHRM policies (Carryer et al. 2007). Before establishing an organisation-wide integration process, the entire workforce, in discussion with nurse delegates, should understand the major challenges and opportunities confronting migrant nurses in their workplace. This will entail an established communication network, competent conflict resolution processes, efficient problem-solving practices, and an accurate identification of the problems (Briscoe & Schuler 2004) to be resolved. The case studies in the article demonstrate that there are key aspects to be considered when aiming to train and retain migrant nurses. These are accessibility of resources and support, promotion of health care competence, development of communication proficiencies, and integration to the nursing profession. Developing flexible work settings will reinforce the assimilation of migrant nurses, assist international nurses in the foreign workplace and help in the formation of an involved and committed group by respecting and utilising the knowledge and experiences of each nurse. The profound cultural baggage migrant nurses carry with them to the workplace should enable information sharing with respect to a broad array of cultural traditions and health practices (Connell 2007). An enhanced knowledge in this aspect will enable the growth of culturally efficient care mechanisms that nurses are obliged to. These practices should be incorporated in professional training if provisions of health care to multifaceted patient group are to be successful (Connell 2007). Concurrently, migrant nurses will have to gain cultural knowledge of the foreign society, its health beliefs, medical practices, and work environments. The article basically argues that flexible health care environments are crucial if effective patient care is to be ascertained. The provision of productive, helpful and safe health care services relies on the capability of health care providers and a workplace that promotes productivity. The continuous budget cuts in the UK’s health sector have led to a destabilisation of working circumstances (Vance & Paik 2010). This has had a major unfavourable effect on the recruitment and retention of international nurses, the outcomes and efficiency of health care organisations, and finally on patient outcomes (n.a. 2011). The UK government initiated a global campaign to deal with and mitigate the large-scale deficits present in the work setting of UK’s health care organisations (n.a. 2011). 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