Background As there is a critical shortage of healthcare personnel in Namibia that goes parallel with the global picture, many expatriate nurses come to Namibia. To our knowledge few studies have been made on the experience of Namibian registered nurses working with expatriate registered nurses, and their perception of the exchange.

Aim The aim of this study was to describe Namibian registered nurses’ experiences of the work exchange with expatriate registered nurses related to patient care.

Method Qualitative interviews were conducted with ten registered Namibian nurses working at two units in a public hospital in Windhoek, Namibia. The data were categorised into different themes through a content analysis

Results Three main themes with seven sub-themes were identified in the analysis of the transcribed interviews. The categories were; Difficulties from the exchange, Benefits from the exchange and Conditions for a good cooperation.

Conclusion This study reveals that the Namibian nurses experienced benefits and difficulties related to the cooperation. The participants experienced that the expatriate nurses benefits the healthcare through solving the acute shortage of staff and also through knowledge exchange. Difficulties mentioned are language barriers and culture differences, which may compromise the safety of the patients