Contextualizing the global nursing care chain: international migration and the status of nursing in Kerala, India

Abstract

In this article I explore the issue of nursing status in Kerala, India and how over time a colonial discourse of caste‐based pollution has given way to a discourse of sexual pollution under expanding migratory opportunities. Based on survey and qualitative research findings, I caution that the improving occupational status of nursing in India is not directly mapped onto social status, and this is particularly evident in the matrimonial market. In the light of these findings I argue that global nursing care chain (GNCC) analysis must assess more than just workplace contexts in order to conceptualize how global care chains (GCCs) interlock, and how they are differentiated from each other.

Femininity, mobility and family fears: Indian international student migration and transnational parental control

“…Nursing was selected as the occupational entry point for this research because it is one of the few professions that boast a tradition of female-led migration from India (George 2005;Nair 2012;Walton-Roberts 2012). Indian nursing has traditionally been associated with the stigma of touching lower-caste patients, the taboo of handling bodily fluids and the shame of women interacting with non-related males (Mohan 1985).…”

The development of the nursing profession in a globalised context: A qualitative case study in Kerala, India

“…The migration of nurses is clearly a gendered phenomenon, part of a global 'care chain' (Hochschild 2000, Walton-Roberts 2012, Thomas 2008, though women's migration remains neglected analytically. Connell (2010) considers the impact of migration on countries within the global South, and analyses policy responses to migration by health systems in these countries, though without taking an explicit 'sociology of professions' standpoint.…”

How Learning to be a Nurse in the Clinical Environment Occurs for the International Student

“…Recently, Scott, Matthews and Kirwan argued that some common concepts such as safe, quality and compassionate care are identified in international nursing literature, however practice variations persist [4]. Walton-Roberts presented a comprehensive argument to support the notion that that the work and practice of nursing is considerably different across cultures [5]. What this means for a clinical nurse educator is that the international student's context requires understanding so that appropriate learning support is enacted.…”