Exploring Irish Nursing Careers in the British National Health Service.

Abstract

Title: Exploring Irish Nursing Careers in the British National Health Service.
Background: The experiences of minority ethnic groups working in the NHS have been explored from a perspective of race ideas, primarily colour. Little is known about Irish nurses as a key group of actors and agents who have played a significant role in the reserve army of labour filling the ranks of the British health service. There are unanswered questions about their career progress and any commonalities and differences with other white and black nurses.
Aims: The study explores questions around career progress, specialisation and settlement in the UK for Irish men and women.
Design: The research is empirical and employs substantial secondary analyses of two large scale data sets.
Findings: Irish nurses are not merely a historical feature of the National Health Service; they continue to play a significant part in service delivery, management and education. Core peripheral relations continue to act as a mechanism in the numbers of Irish men and women seeking to pursue nursing work in the UK. They have achieved relative career success in comparison to other minority ethnic groups. The Irish appear to be collectively rewarded as a subaltern group in this post colonial job nurse market. Gender is highly significant with regard to career success.
Conclusions: The findings contribute to a more complex picture of Irish working lives in UK, from in relation to questions of ethnicity, gender, and occupational progress.