The Attitudes of Generation Z Nursing Students Toward Brain Drain from Türkiye: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: In recent years, certain countries began to demand a skilled workforce from Turkey, in particular, in the fields of information and health. This, in turn, paves the way for an increase in brain drain from Turkey. The research was conducted to analyze the attitudes of Generation Z nursing students toward brain drain from Turkey. Method: It is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The research was carried out at the Faculty of Health Sciences of a public university in Turkey. A total of 356 nursing students participated in the research. The research data were collected online in August – November 2022 with the Descriptive Characteristics Form and the Attitude Scale for Brain Drain. Results: It was determined that the Z generation nursing students' attitudes towards brain drain were 34.43±9.14 (min:16, max:61). In addition, it was determined that the factors that pull students abroad are 26.26±7.33 (min:12, max:49) and the factors that push them are 6.87±2.76 (min:4, max:18) on average. Generation Z nursing students stated that they wanted to immigrate from Turkey mostly for economic reasons (71.5%) and career development (67.8%). Conclusion: To prevent nursing students from migrating from Turkey and avoid a likely nurse shortage, the domestic factors pushing nurses to migrate from Turkey as well as external factors enticing nurses to migrate to foreign countries should be examined. Also, measures to improve the working and economic conditions of future nurses should be taken, and professional and career development opportunities should be enlarged in nursing.