According to the OE, these countries are offering "free annual contracts, transport and accommodation", stressing that the proposals "are now with more advantageous conditions from hospitals, but also from nursing homes".

"From Spain alone there have been five contacts in recent days, from Galicia to the Canary Islands, with offers of €30,000 per year. The Netherlands, on the other hand, is offering, in addition to the best conditions of remuneration, home, transport and travel".

The Order recalls that "although the recognition of nurses is unanimous, there is no incentive, risk or painful subsidies, nor decent pay". In 2019 alone more than 4,000 nurses asked the Order for the declaration for emigration purposes, a record number that tripled compared to 2017 and represents an increase of 64% compared to 2018.

In a statement, the OE stresses that "there are almost 20,000 nurses abroad" and that "the Government should be concerned with creating means for them to return."

"Given the situation we are going through, after eight months into the pandemic with exhausted nurses it is imperative that the way nurses are hired, as well as their working conditions must be improved," he says. "We can't continue to export nurses," says OE Bâtonnier Ana Rita Cavaco, quoted in the statement.