Simply not there: the impact of international migration of nurses and midwives--perspectives from Guyana.

The shortage of nurses and midwives across the world and the migratory trends of these scarce professionals--primarily from low-income countries to fill staffing needs in high-income countries--are critical international health care issues. This article reviews some of the demographic, educational, and socioeconomic factors driving this global trend, the impact on health care delivery in low-income countries, and the effect on the implementation of global public health initiatives. Nurses and midwives migrate from low-income nations while concurrently qualified applicants are rejected from educational programs in high-income countries.