The Rise of Outsourcing and Casualisation of Nurses in the Private Hospital Sector

Abstract

Nurses perform essential care work, yet many face precarious employment that undermines their economic security and wellbeing. In South Africa’s private hospital sector, nursing agencies offer flexibility to healthcare institutions while often shifting employment risks onto nurses. This paper explores agency nurses’ experiences of precarious work, examining how workplace insecurity affects family life, financial stability, and social wellbeing. It highlights how nurses navigate these challenges through informal support networks, alternative income sources, and individual and collective resistance. The paper contributes to broader debates on labour precarity, agency work and care work by showing how nurses negotiate exploitative working conditions while developing strategies for survival, resilience and collective wellbeing.