Socio-cultural factors influencing Indonesian nurses to stay working in Indonesia: A qualitative study

Aim: To explore push, pull and retention factors affecting indonesian nurses decision to stay in the nursing profession. Introduction: Identifying influencing factors that determine Indonesian nurses’ decisions to remain working in Indonesia gives a better understanding of nurses’ migration and therefore are necessry to explore. Background: Studies examining nurse migration's push and pull factors have been carried out extensively. A study exploring factors that make nurses stay in their home countries, such as Indonesia needs to be conducted to provide different insights for related parties. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 52 managers and 181 nurses from hospitals and community health centres across four different regions in Indonesia, including DKI Jakarta, Lampung, South Kalimantan and West Nusa Tenggara. A purposive sampling method was used. The data were collected online (via Zoom) and offline through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. A content analysis was performed. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) was followed. Results: Five categories were developed: non-financial support, sense of togetherness, following the husband, social image and powerlessness. Discussion: Socio-cultural factors influence Indonesian nurses to stay working in their country despite their economic and career development difficulties. Conclusion: Socio-cultural circumstances have become powerful factors affecting Indonesian nurses to stay working in Indonesia. Implications for nursing practice and policy: There is a need for harmonisation of policies related to nursing migration between recipient and source countries. Moreover, policies should go beyond education, competency and credentialing regulations and include addressing social costs and needs, such as the possibility of migrating nurses’ families to the recipient countries.