Transnational Spaces of Care: Migrant Nurses in Norway

Abstract

This article argues that international nurse recruitment from Latvia to Norway is not a win–win situation. The gains and losses of nurse migration are unevenly distributed between sender and receiver countries. On the basis of empirical research and interviews with Latvian nurses and families they left behind, this article argues that nurse migration transforms families and communities and that national health services now become global workplaces. Some decades ago feminist research pointed to the fact that the welfare state was based on a male breadwinner family and women’s unpaid production of care work at home. Today this production of unpaid care is “outsourced” from richer to poorer countries and is related to an emergence of transnational spaces of care. International nurse recruitment and global nurse care chains in Norway increasingly provide the labor that prevents the new adult worker model and gender equality politics from being disrupted in times where families are overloaded with elder care loads.

Global Nursing-a literature review in the field of education and practice

“…England, 2015; Xu, 2015). Widding Isaksen (2012) described how the Norwegian welfare state is becoming a global employer and global nurse recruitment generates transnational spaces of care. Furthermore, international nurse recruitment is not a win–win situation and the idealized image of social justice and gender equality needs to be critically examined.…”

‘I Work With my Heart’: Experiences of Migrant Care Workers in a Northern, Rural Context

“…Increasingly, migrants constitute an important supplement to 'native' professional care workers in Norway. Migrant care workers arrive in Norway through public recruitment campaigns of nurses from Latvia (Isaksen, 2012) and Poland (Riemsdijk, 2006(Riemsdijk, , 2010(Riemsdijk, , 2013, through individual labour migration from Southern and Eastern Europe, as refugees or as marriage migrants. In order to work in Norway as, e.g., a registered medical doctor, nurse or healthcare worker, an immigrant must obtain authorisation from the Norwegian Public Office for Health Care Professionals (SAFH).…”

“…Women in Norway still constitute the majority of informal care givers (Isaksen, 2012;Szebehely, 2005). Today, however, almost as many women as men work for wages outside the family sphere (Kitterød & Pettersen, 2006).…”

“…Hence, as part of the Nordic welfare model, formal care services are provided at a relatively low expense to all citizens in need of care, regardless of their age, income or family relations (Vabø et al 2013, Riemsdijk 2010. Since the 1990s, however, Norway has experienced a shortage of healthcare workers, and employers are often unable to fill vacancies (Isaksen, 2012). Skilled immigrant care workers play an increasingly important role in mitigating this situation of 'care deficit' (ibid.).…”

“…Despite the growing share and importance of migrants in qualified health and care work throughout Norway, with the exception of a few studies (Christensen & Guldvik, 2014;Isaksen, 2010Isaksen, , 2012Riemsdijk, 2006Riemsdijk, , 2010Riemsdijk, , 2013, relatively little has been written about this group.…”