Abstract This article analyzes the international scenario of nurse s migration, an essential professional class in the organization of national health systems, focusing specially on the unbalance between central and peripheral countries. It depicts studies results performed by a department of the Australian government concerning nurses, qualifying and quantifying their insertion in the labor market, as well as suggesting measures to reintegrate the nurses leaving the labor market, pointing out the reasons for the lack of nurses in developed countries. It highlights the expressive growth of nursing schools in Brazil commenting on the possible consequences of the offer of this professional in the labor market establishing a parallel with the international situation.
