Thousands of Finnish nurses work in Sweden, Norway and the UK

(Helsinki 17.06.2002 Juhani Artto) Thousands of Finnish nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and other health care professionals are currently working abroad. The Union of Health and Social Care Professionals - Tehy estimates that there are about 6,000 of these workers, which is a sizeable percentage of the total trained labour pool in the sector. More than a third of these 6,000 work in Norway, slightly fewer in Sweden, and a growing number in the UK. Tehy information officer Katriina Vasama reports that the organisation's rank and file are employed in some 140 countries.

Nobody knows the exact figures for Finnish health care professionals employed abroad. Even the present trends remain unknown, but Vasama believes that the number exercising this option is hardly decreasing. While there are also nurses of foreign origin in the Finnish labour market, their number does not really balance the outflow of Finnish professionals, as immigrants in the sector are counted only in hundreds.

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