Experienced overseas nurses forced into entry-level roles in NHS
Posted 13 April 2023 - 09:00
Dashed hopes of career progression mean many with decades of nursing experience are left heartbroken by their treatment after arriving in UK, report says
Overseas nurses have reported feeling frustrated and heartbroken after being placed in entry-level roles within the NHS despite having decades of experience under their belt.
Experienced overseas nurses have been placed in band 5 roles alongside newly qualified nurses after moving to England in search of career progression, according to a report by the University of Huddersfield.
Some 50 out of 655 internationally educated nurses surveyed for the report highlighted a mismatch between their previous knowledge and their experience of their new nursing role.
Employers urged to take nurses’ prior experience into account to help keep them in NHS longer
One nurse quoted in the report said it was ‘heartbreaking’ being made to start at band 5 despite having 15 years of nursing experience.
Another said: ‘I am in the graduate programme which is meant for newly qualified nurses, however I have close to two decades of nursing experience and ten of these have been in critical care.’
The lack of recognition of their experience and qualifications, coupled with entry-level pay, left many feeling ‘unsettled, dissatisfied and frustrated’, the report said.
Experts urged employers to take overseas nurses’ prior experience into account when considering them for roles in the NHS in a bid to keep them in the health service for longer.
An average 1,900 internationally educated nurses and midwives left UK register annually in 2014-19
The report, commissioned by NHS England, warned that an average of 1,900 internationally educated nurses and midwives had left the UK register each year between 2014 and 2019.
All Pakistan Nurses Association president Zeba Arif, a retired forensic psychiatric nurse, told Nursing Standard overseas nurses with extensive experience should be placed in appropriate roles rather than starting in entry-level positions.
Ms Arif said: ‘I feel strongly that when international nurses are recruited in the NHS, their past experience has to be taken into account. Why would you want an overqualified person in a more junior position? The employers are only doing themselves more harm there, it is their loss.’
Career progression was the most common reason for internationally educated nurses to relocate to England, according to the report, but many found there was a lack of advancement when they started working in the NHS.
One nurse was quoted as saying: ‘I feel I am not in the right role and there is no clear pathway for advancement as an international nurse.’
To address the issues, experts recommended employers to implement and monitor ‘robust’ zero-tolerance policies for racism and discrimination and equip managers to support overseas nurses ‘compassionately and holistically’.
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