Lebanon is a country said to be suffering from unwarranted nurse migration due to several reasons. The country's nursing community shows low job satisfaction in the country thus the lower retention rate of registered nurses. A study was conducted to find out what these reasons are to help the country counter the excessive migration of its nurses.



The result is alarming as the study found out that of the 1,793 nurses surveyed from 69 hospitals in Lebanon 67.5 percent were planning to leave their current position within one to three years. Furthermore, 36.7 percent of those nurses disclosed that they are planning to leave the country to find better nursing jobs abroad.

The study which aims to shed light on the cause of low retention of nurses in Lebanon found out that 1 in 5 Lebanese nurse migrate 1 to 2 years after completing their studies and becoming registered nurses. This is alarming as further studies showed that the turnover rate has increased sharply in the last few years. And if the cause for the dissatisfaction of so many nurses is not addressed, Lebanon is looking at a bad picture for the future of their healthcare system.

The study also found out that nurses believe that they can leave their nursing job and look for another job in a different field. Nurses believe that their academic credentials are enough to make them a good fit for other industries. The study conducted in Lebanon showed that the nurses who are looking to leave their current post are not exactly keen on jumping at another nursing job. In fact, a substantial percentage of nurses who are looking to opt out of their current post are looking to work in a different industry.

Another fact uncovered by the study is that unmarried nurses are more likely to leave the country to either find a job in the health sector abroad or work for in another industry. On the other hand married nurses are more likely to either find a new nursing job or work in a different industry in Lebanon.

It is now widely known that job dissatisfaction is the main reason for nurses leaving their jobs and even trading in their lab coats as they jump to another industry. Therefore, Lebanon should pay attention to its healthcare system. Nurses are very important for the industry. And the longer they serve, the better they are at what they do. If younger nurses are leaving the profession, the future of the industry is looking bleak.

Older nurses serve as mentor to these young nurses. With younger nurses going in and out of that revolving door, the passing of valuable experiences will be lost. The time will come when older Lebanese nurses will also be leaving their post and by that time, it would be a big problem for the health sector to find nurses to serve as mentors to young nurses who just graduated. Therefore, if the high turnover of nurses is not stopped, Lebanon would be facing a bleak future indeed.