A whole world of opportunities has opened up before the nurses from Kerala in the post-Covid era. A lot many of them are learning new languages and flying abroad. While they used to migrate to the Gulf earlier, an increasing number of nurses are now preferring European and American countries. Though the cost of living is relatively higher in these countries, the excellent pay and a high standard of living are drawing them in large numbers to these destinations of late.

Goedemorgan! As Anju C Babu wishes ‘good morning’ in Dutch over the phone from Bruges in Belgium, the hearts of her dear ones back home, at Iritty in Kannur, are filled with pride and joy. She learned the new language when she was 27. And there was a specific reason behind it.

After working as a nurse in various private hospitals in Mangaluru, Wayanad, Kannur, and even in the Gulf, she returned home, determined to change her fortunes for good. An ad that she came across while lazily flipping through the newspaper pages one day caught her attention and she felt a sudden sparkle of hope. 'Wanted! nurses for Belgium’, it read.

But then there was one hurdle. The knowledge of the English language alone won’t suffice. One should also need to know Dutch. She decided to learn a language that she hadn’t even heard of till then. She joined a training institute in Kochi and secured a B-1 level after six months of classes. She then flew to Belgium in January. Presently, she is working as a nurse in a hospital in Bruges.

“I plan to bring along my husband and son here next year,” Anju, who was filled with high hopes, told Manorama over WhatsApp call.

This is just the story of one of those hundreds of Kerala nurses who fly to Europe every year in search of greener pastures. A whole world of opportunities has opened up before them post Covid.

Europe the preferred destination

At one time, Kerala nurses migrated en masse to the Gulf nations. As per the 2016 report, 57% of Malayali nurses working abroad were in the Gulf. But there was a change in the trend post-Covid. Now European nations are laying the red carpet for the nurses from God’s Own Country. And they enjoy a host of benefits there – an opportunity to become a permanent citizen, they can take the family along, purchase a house, free education for their children, and the like.

"Nurses used to migrate to European countries after working in the Gulf for a brief period. This system has changed abruptly in the post-pandemic period. The pattern and trends of their migration have changed with the sharp rise in demand for trained nurses across the globe, noted Harikrishnan Namboothiri, CEO of NORKA Roots.

Some are moving out of the UK, a preferred destination for Malayali nurses for long, to other countries as well. There is a sharp rise in the number of nurses shifting to Australia from the UK. A fat pay package and a climate similar to that of Kerala are the key factors that lure people to work Down Under.

Besides the US and European nations, a lot many countries like Japan, New Zealand, and Israel have a presence of Malayali nurses. The Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, have realised this changing trend and are attempting to recruit more nurses.

“The UK provides good opportunities for nurses to grow professionally. There are many factors like excellent salaries, occupational prestige, high standard of living, free education to children, and free treatment that hold us back here,” Anjali Devi Jithin, a nurse with the Telford NHS Hospital.

1.06 crore nursing jobs by 2030

After the Covid-19 outbreak, most of the major nations are strengthening their health sector. The State of the World Nursing (2020) reports that by 2030, the world will need 1.06 crore new nurses. A total of 74% of the nations in the world will increase their number of nurses. To meet this need, the nursing institutes will have to increase their seats by 8% every year.

The US alone needs an average of 1.94 lakh new nurses every year. By 2025, Germany will need 1.50 lakh nurses and the UK 69,000 nurses. Switzerland will recruit 65,000 nurses in seven years.

If earlier nurses used to go abroad after serving in a hospital back home for a year, the trend is changing now. The number of those going abroad just after studies is increasing steadily.

India pips the Philippines

Earlier the Philippines was the number one country providing nurses to the world. And India was second. But after Covid, India leapfrogged the Philippines. When Covid began to spread, the Philippines prohibited its nurses from going abroad in April 2020. This benefited Indian nurses, especially Malayali nurses. To meet the shortage of nurses during Covid-19, countries like the UK looked up to Kerala.

"Kerala is the nurses’ capital of India. Although there has been no significant change in the number of nursing graduates passing out each year, the demand for nurses has increased considerably. Recruiters from abroad are now coming down in search of our nurses, and this marks a major change," said the CEO of NORKA Roots.

Hopes soar

Bindu Rajesh started her own YouTube channel ‘Nursing Tips’ and began to narrate her life story; the one about her first trip to the UK from Kerala's Mundakkayam in 2007, leaving behind her husband and two kids. She first landed in the country on a Senior Care visa. To retrieve the Rs 5 lakh fee that she paid to her agent, she worked hard round the clock and overcame many challenges to join a hospital under the National health Services Trust as a nurse. Soon, she took her family along and their life gradually entered the greener pastures of hope.

The UK has become the most preferred destination for thousands of nurses from Kerala like Bindu. As per estimates, about 10,000 Kerala nurses are leaving for the UK on a year-on-year basis. Last year, a whopping 52,000 nurses took registration in the UK and of this, as many as 25,000 were from outside that country. Notably, a bulk of these belonged to India.

Higher pay and higher costs

The initial annual salary for those entering the nursing job in the UK as a registered nurse in the band 5 category is around Rs 27 lakh, which comes to around Rs 2.25 lakh per month. The amount will rise slightly further if the overtime and night duty allowances are added up.

The abrupt rise in salary that comes with a shift to the UK, however, will also be reflected in the cost of living as well. For instance, the average monthly home rent in the country varies between Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.20 lakh per month. Effectively managing the cost of living is thus going to pose a serious question to families that have just one earning member. Ideally, two persons in a family will have to work to sustain themselves economically.

The usual practice is to meet the day-to-day costs of living using the salary of one member and save the partner’s salary for meeting the future expenditures.

NORKA's role

NORKA, which is the Department of Non Resident Keralite's Affairs, facilitates safe migration of nurses.

"Recruitments through the NORKA are being carried out in accordance with the agreements struck with the governments of foreign countries. This helps candidates seek employment in foreign countries directly, without any intermediaries. The priority is on bringing down the cost and time involved in this process and the same has helped in the creation of an eco-system favourable for migration," said its CEO Harikrishnan Namboothiri.