PREDICTORS OF BRAIN DRAIN AND QUALITY OF NURSING CARE IN TERTIARY HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

The healthcare system in Nigeria is increasingly burdened by the exodus of healthcare 
professionals, particularly nurses, from the country’s tertiary healthcare institutions. This 
research examined Predictors of Brain Drain and Quality of Nursing Care in Tertiary Healthcare 
Institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria. The Push-Pull Theory by Everett Lee (1966) was 
adopted for the study. It was a cross-sectional study using questionnaires with 308 participants. 
Population of the study consisted all staffed Nurses in tertiary healthcare institutions in Cross 
River State with an inclusion rationale that they are Nigerians and must have worked for at least 
five years. The sample size was 308 respondents. Quantitative data was analyzed using the 
Population T-test at 0.05 levels of significance via SPSS. Findings showed a statistically 
significant effect of poor remuneration, workload, and insecurity on quality of Nursing care. It 
revealed that poor remuneration, workload and insecurity were determinants of Nurses brain 
drain which negatively affects the quality of nursing care delivery in the University of Calabar 
Teaching hospital (UCTH) and Federal Neuro-Psychiatry Hospital Calabar (FNPH). 
Conclusion was drawn that dependable and a well coordinated predictors of brain drain in terms 
of remuneration, workload and security are very imperative to enhance quality of Nursing care 
delivery in tertiary health care institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria. It is recommended 
among others that the government should increase the salaries and wages of Nurses in the tertiary healthcare institutions as a way to curb brain drain and boosts the quality of Nursing 
care delivery.