Investigation of Nursing Department Students' Attitudes Towards Brain Drain: A Cross-Sectional Study

8. Uluslararası 19. Ulusal Hemşirelik Kongresi, Ankara, Türkiye, 25 - 28 Eylül 2024, (Özet Bildiri)

Introduction and Aim: It is seen that brain drain is increasing in health and other sectors in

Turkey as well as in the world. The role of nurses in the rapidly increasing brain drain in the

field of health has become a situation that can affect the health policies of countries. Especially

when factors such as rapidly advancing technology, the speed of information dissemination and

the need for qualified labour force are taken into consideration, it becomes clear that countries

should pay more attention to this issue. The aim of this study was to determine the opinions and

attitudes of nursing students about brain drain.

Method: A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted between March and June 2024

with 300 nursing students who agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected using a

Personal Information Form including sociodemographic characteristics and a 16-item Attitude

Towards Brain Drain Scale (ATBS). SPSS 22.0 software was used for data analysis.

Results: The mean total score of the nursing students participating in the study was

56.73±11.21. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between

the variables of gender, class of study, geographical region where the family lived, family type,

income level of the family, success of health services in Turkey, society's approach to nurses,

and the status of being abroad before and the mean total score of BGYTÖ (p<0.05). However,

it was observed that the perception of brain drain changed according to factors such as age,

foreign language level, place of birth and place of residence for a long time (p<0.05).

Conclusion: In the study, it was seen that nursing students had positive attitudes towards brain

drain and their tendencies towards brain drain increased and their attitudes were affected by the

variables of age, foreign language level, place of birth and place of residence for a long time.