Objective: The aim of the study was to explore and describe nurses’ reports of situations with migrants in emergency care that have been experienced as problematic.

Research design and methods: An explorative study. A purposive sample was chosen. Forty-nine registered nurses, 32 women and 17 men, experienced in emergency care, documented their experiences in written descriptions of 64 problematic situations. The data were analysed using qualitative method.

Results: The results are described as nine main categories that emerged from the data. The nurses’ experiences of problematic encounters with migrants in emergency care were described as (1) difficulties related to different behaviour, (2) language barriers, (3) difficulties related to contact with relatives, (4) reliance on authorities, (5) complicating organisational factors, (6) difficulties related to gender roles, (7) situations perceived as threatening, and also (8) difficulties related to the patient’s earlier experiences of violence and (9) to the use of natural remedies.

Conclusions: The results showed that the main problem was related to communication difficulties including language barriers and cultural dissimilarities. In order to diminish the problems, the use of adequate interpreters is important and training programmes must be developed to improve knowledge about the care of migrants from different parts of the world. The importance of searching for the unique individual perspective is stressed.