Draining the specialized nursing brains, the emigration paradigm of Ghana: A cross‐sectional study

AIM: The study aimed to determine the emigration intentions of specialist nurses (SNs) and ascertain the influencing factors, implications and mitigating factors in Ghana. DESIGN: A cross‐sectional study. METHODS: The sample was composed of 225 participants conveniently selected from a tertiary facility in Ghana. A turnover intention scale and the researchers' developed questionnaire were used to collect the data between June 1 and September 30, 2021. Data were analysed through descriptive statistics and linear regression. RESULTS: The composite mean score for specialist nurses' intention to migrate was high (mean = 3.43); and the push factors accounted for the intentions explaining 48.6% of the variation (R (2) = 0.486, F ((5, 219)) = 38.46, p < 0.001). The associated challenges of specialist nurses' emigration are increased cost of training new specialist nurses, poor quality of specialist nursing care, burnout syndrome among staff and poor patient health outcomes.