Black African nurses' experiences of equality of opportunity, racism, and discrimination in the NHS

Likupe, Gloria; Archibong, Uduak

Abstract

As the workforce in the British National Health Service (NHS) has become more diverse, several researchers have reported that experiences of overseas’ nurses have been largely negative. This paper explores black African nurses’ experiences of equal opportunities, racism, and discrimination in four NHS trusts in the North East of England. Thirty nurses from sub-Saharan countries working in four NHS trusts were interviewed between 2006 and 2008 using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to gain an insight into their experiences in the NHS. This study suggests that black African nurses experienced discrimination and racism emanating from white colleagues and other overseas nurses, managers, patients, and their relatives, as well as lack of opportunities in their workplaces. Managers seemed to be treating British and other overseas nurses more favorably than black African nurses. Although much progress has been made in valuing and embracing diversity in the NHS, this paper highlights areas in which more work is required.

Citation

Likupe, G., & Archibong, U. (2013). Black African nurses' experiences of equality of opportunity, racism, and discrimination in the NHS. Journal of psychological issues in organizational culture, 3(S1), 227-246. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpoc.21071

• Online Publication Date: May 30, 2013
• Publication Date: 2013-05
• Deposit Date: Dec 15, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2022
• Journal: Journal of psychological issues in organizational culture
• Electronic ISSN: 2041-8426
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Issue: S1
• Pages: 227-246
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jpoc.21071
• Keywords: Black African, Racism, Equal opportunities
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/382608
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jpoc.21071/epdf
• Additional Information: "This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Likupe, G and Archibong, U (2013) Black African nurses’ experiences of equality of opportunity, racism, and discrimination in the NHS in Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture 3(S1) pp.227-246, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jpoc.21071. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."