This paper, commissioned by the International Centre for Nurse Migration, focuses on some of the challenges and the opportunities created by migration of nurses, specifically focusing on the issue of return. Divided into five main sections, the paper looks at migration and population mobility in general to set the context, then focuses on the migration of health professionals. The literature on return migration is reviewed, with particular reference to skilled migrants and to nurse migration.

The paper also highlights current strategies to manage the migration of health workers, and concludes with a discussion of initiatives to facilitate return migration of nurses. The underlying assumption is that, properly managed, return migration of nurses could be an important tool to strengthen health systems in their countries of origin.