Abstract
Title: Surviving through adversity: The experiences of overseas black and minority ethnic nurses in the NHS in the south of England. Aim: The aims of this study were to explore, describe and develop a greater understanding of the experiences of overseas black and minority ethnic nurses in the NHS in the south of England. Methods: This study utilised a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches underpinned by interpretive phenomenology. The qualitative phase consisted of 12 semi-structured face-to-face interviews and the findings informed the focus group interviews, of which four were conducted. The quantitative phase, a survey, informed by the findings of the qualitative phase was conducted with 188 overseas nurses across 15 NHS Trust hospitals in the south of England. Findings: The qualitative findings revealed five main themes such as: Being thrown into an unfamiliar world, encountering marginalisation and experiencing inequalities in the world, surviving in an everyday world, living in an everyday world and making a new world and these themes encapsulated their experiences. Overseas nurses indicated that they had encountered discrimination, lack of equal opportunity, bullying, separateness and a host of other encounters that appeared to have affected their experiences of the NHS. The survey showed that overseas nurses employed in NHS hospitals in London were more likely to perceive themselves to have been promoted, supported and have aggressive behaviour directed at them in comparison to those in NHS hospitals in non-London regions. The survey also revealed that African nurses were more likely to perceive themselves as being treated less favourably than their overseas counterparts. Conclusion: Both phases showed that overseas nurses encountered difficulties and variations in treatment in the NHS in the south of England and combining the two approaches helped to confirm and reinforce the findings. This study's results add considerably to the body of knowledge on the experiences of overseas nurses and have significant implications for nursing practice, management and health policy.