Nepal’s overworked and underpaid nurses quit for higher wages, better work conditions abroad: ‘no future here’

But as she and several dozen other nurses prepare to leave, the bilateral government pilot under which they were recruited has fuelled concerns about an acute shortage of nurses and other medical professionals in the South Asian country.

Though only 43 nurses were accepted for the pilot phase, an official at the country’s Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) said a second phase was planned and that Britain eventually wanted to recruit 10,000 Nepali nurses.

While that would help Britain plug labour gaps in the National Health Service, it could exacerbate Nepal’s shortages, nursing officials said.

“The situation is already worrying,” said Hira Kumari Niraula, director of Nepal’s Nursing and Social Security Division (NSSD), a government body involved in the provision of public health services.

“Recently we started community health nursing and school nurse programmes to make nursing service available in needy communities. But the challenge is in many places we are not able to find nurses who are willing to work,” Niraula added.

Nepal currently has less than half of the 45,000 nurses that it needs working in the country’s hospital, rural clinics and other healthcare facilities, according to the NSSD.

“We are in a shortage situation but the government is encouraging nurses to migrate. Then who will stay in Nepal?” Niraula said.

The DoFE has defended the agreement signed with Britain, saying such accords ensure migrant nurses’ rights and help deter illegal migration and labour exploitation.

“There is news that Nepali nurses are being cheated, abused, and exploited abroad as they take back door entries,” said DoFE information officer Kabiraj Upreti. “This agreement can be a milestone.”

In Nepal, more than one-third of the 115,900