The migration of South African emergency care practitioners to the Middle East
Background: The loss of healthcare professionals because of migration remains a challenge for low- and middle-income countries. South African Emergency Care Practitioners (ECPs) are no exception with many choosing to leave South Africa (SA) to work in the Middle East (ME). Aim: To investigate and d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
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AOSIS
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Health SA Gesondheid: Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/article/view/2788 |
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| _version_ | 1849707412994392064 |
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| author | Siyanda I. Mthombeni Craig Vincent-Lambert |
| author_facet | Siyanda I. Mthombeni Craig Vincent-Lambert |
| author_sort | Siyanda I. Mthombeni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The loss of healthcare professionals because of migration remains a challenge for low- and middle-income countries. South African Emergency Care Practitioners (ECPs) are no exception with many choosing to leave South Africa (SA) to work in the Middle East (ME).
Aim: To investigate and describe the push and pull factors that are influencing ECPs to leave SA and work in the ME.
Setting: The study took place in the ME in an online setting.
Methods: A prospective mixed-method sequential design was adopted that made use of a purposively designed, pre-piloted, online questionnaire followed by a number of one-on-one interviews with a purposefully selected sample of participants to explore push and pull factors that influenced their decision to leave SA to work in the ME.
Results: The increased cost of living, low salaries, poor and unsafe working environments, and being undervalued by management in SA were the main push factors that emerged. Better pay, improved safety and security and a better quality of life in the ME were identified as core pull factors that are drawing South African ECPs to the ME.
Conclusion: To stem the ongoing exodus of ECPs, significant work has to be done to improve local salaries, working conditions and the overall job satisfaction experienced by operational ECPs in SA.
Contribution: Understanding why ECPs are leaving the country, and in particular why they choose the ME as their employment destination can assist Emergency Medical Services (EMS) managers to implement measures that aid in the retention of these highly skilled healthcare professionals. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a7ead30a4e7f4a839bdcba20871c01ef |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1025-9848 2071-9736 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health SA Gesondheid: Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-a7ead30a4e7f4a839bdcba20871c01ef2025-08-20T03:15:55ZafrAOSISHealth SA Gesondheid: Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences1025-98482071-97362025-02-01300e1e910.4102/hsag.v30i0.27881225The migration of South African emergency care practitioners to the Middle EastSiyanda I. Mthombeni0Craig Vincent-Lambert1Department of Emergency Medical Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, JohannesburgDepartment of Emergency Medical Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, JohannesburgBackground: The loss of healthcare professionals because of migration remains a challenge for low- and middle-income countries. South African Emergency Care Practitioners (ECPs) are no exception with many choosing to leave South Africa (SA) to work in the Middle East (ME). Aim: To investigate and describe the push and pull factors that are influencing ECPs to leave SA and work in the ME. Setting: The study took place in the ME in an online setting. Methods: A prospective mixed-method sequential design was adopted that made use of a purposively designed, pre-piloted, online questionnaire followed by a number of one-on-one interviews with a purposefully selected sample of participants to explore push and pull factors that influenced their decision to leave SA to work in the ME. Results: The increased cost of living, low salaries, poor and unsafe working environments, and being undervalued by management in SA were the main push factors that emerged. Better pay, improved safety and security and a better quality of life in the ME were identified as core pull factors that are drawing South African ECPs to the ME. Conclusion: To stem the ongoing exodus of ECPs, significant work has to be done to improve local salaries, working conditions and the overall job satisfaction experienced by operational ECPs in SA. Contribution: Understanding why ECPs are leaving the country, and in particular why they choose the ME as their employment destination can assist Emergency Medical Services (EMS) managers to implement measures that aid in the retention of these highly skilled healthcare professionals.https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/article/view/2788migrationemergency care practitionersouth africamiddle eastemploymentpush factorpull factor |
| spellingShingle | Siyanda I. Mthombeni Craig Vincent-Lambert The migration of South African emergency care practitioners to the Middle East Health SA Gesondheid: Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences migration emergency care practitioner south africa middle east employment push factor pull factor |
| title | The migration of South African emergency care practitioners to the Middle East |
| title_full | The migration of South African emergency care practitioners to the Middle East |
| title_fullStr | The migration of South African emergency care practitioners to the Middle East |
| title_full_unstemmed | The migration of South African emergency care practitioners to the Middle East |
| title_short | The migration of South African emergency care practitioners to the Middle East |
| title_sort | migration of south african emergency care practitioners to the middle east |
| topic | migration emergency care practitioner south africa middle east employment push factor pull factor |
| url | https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/article/view/2788 |
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