Series - Merchants of Care

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A worldwide bidding war for nurses is accelerating a migration from poor countries to rich ones. What happens to vulnerable care workers when they arrive in their new jobs far from home? And what happens to the vulnerable health systems they leave behind? With support from the Pulitzer Center and in partnership with Type Investigations, Quartz traveled the world to find out.

Merchants of Care

A hidden system of exploitation underpins US hospitals’ employment of foreign nurses

Faced with an unprecedented staffing crisis, some hospitals are turning to a captive workforce

Aurora Almendral

Merchants of Care

Rich countries are importing a solution to their nursing shortages—and poor countries are paying the price

As US healthcare workers quit in droves, record numbers of migrant nurses from the Philippines and elsewhere are filling the void

Aurora Almendral

Merchants of Care

An exodus of nurses has caused a “medical brain drain” in Nigeria. Are rich countries to blame?

The US and Europe are drawing healthcare workers from countries that can least afford to lose them

Aurora Almendral with additional reporting by Ibanga Isine

Merchants of Care

How Indian brokers take the shine off the dreams of migrant nurses

Indian care workers flock to the UK aspiring to eventually work for the NHS. Instead, they're fleeced and exploited.

Samanth Subramanian