Migration Intention and the Related Factors among Nursing Students in Iran: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Nurses’ migration as key personnel in healthcare organizations can negatively affect the nursing profession and the healthcare system. The intention and desire to migrate among nursing students, as the future nursing workforce, can pose additional challenges to the healthcare system. Methods In a descriptive cross-sectional study, 248 nursing students of the nursing and midwifery faculties of Guilan University of Medical Sciences were selected by multi-stage and convenience sampling method. The data was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire about the desire to migrate and the factors related to it. Results The results overall, revealed that the mean age of the students was 22.81 ± 3.55 years, the majority of students were female (%54.0), single (%92.3), engaged in bachelor’s degree (%88.3), interested in nursing (%70.6) and were in favor of emigrating from the country (%61.7). The average score of willingness to migrate was 66.3 ± 20.3. According to the regression results, experience living abroad (b = 13.12, P = 0.017), choosing nursing as a channel for immigration (b = 8.78, P = 0.017), medium foreign language proficiency (b = 6.36, P = 0.007), origin attraction (b = 0.39, P < 0.001) and destination attraction (b = 0.54, P < 0.001) exhibited a statistically correlation relationship with desire to migration (p < 0.05). Conclusion The desire of nursing students to migrate in this study was above average. Therefore, policymakers need to design and implement strategies such as improving the economic conditions of nurses and reforming educational policies to enhance the attractiveness of the nursing profession within the country and retain nursing graduates.