Exploring Global Career Aspirations: A Study on FEU Nursing Students' Intentions and Factors Influencing International Employment Choices

The pressing issues of nursing shortages and inadequate staffing in the country continue to pose a threat to patient care, highlighting the need to create strategies to help nursing students achieve their goals and ensure that the nursing workforce is diverse, well-trained, and able to meet the rising demand for healthcare services globally. Thus, descriptive quantitative research was conducted to determine the intentions and factors influencing FEU nursing students' decisions on international employment choices and their perceptions of contemporary healthcare. The findings show that most respondents express an apparent inclination to work overseas, citing motivations such as pursuing a better life, economic stability, and professional development. Students' concerns about service delivery, marked by uncertainty and resource scarcity, reflect the challenges arising from a lack of hands-on clinical experience. Additionally, a resounding dissatisfaction with compensation is evident, with 95.918% strongly disagreeing that Filipino nurses receive fair and sufficient compensation. Regarding the motivational factors, economic reasons emerged as the most influential factor among the four factors cited, describing the respondents as financially and externally motivated to migrate and leave the country. With this, the researchers recommended solutions to address the pressing need for healthcare reforms and improved working conditions within the Philippines to retain its nursing workforce