Registered Nurses in Policy: The Betwixt and Between of Self-Employment and Contracting
Authors: Manning Elizabeth , Cook Catherine , Carryer Jenny 
Published: July 2024

Nursing offers multiple career choices in a variety of settings, both clinical and non-clinical. A very small number of registered nurses choose to become self-employed, continuing to work as nurses in non-clinical environments, such as policy. This study aimed to explore the experiences of registered nurses transitioning into, and practising as, solo self-employed contractors within the practice area of professional advice and policy. Thirteen registered nurses participated in this ethnographic qualitative study. Data were collected in 2018, with a specific focus on exploring the transitional elements of nurses as they moved from traditional nursing employment models to being self-employed as contractors, working from home. The findings identified various reasons for this change to self-employment, including as an exit option from a challenging employment situation, feeling ‘burned out’, or searching for a healthier lifestyle. Amid their move to a new way of working they experienced challenges in managing finances and navigating the complex dynamics of profession, home, and their own gendered subjectivities. This novel research offers an insight into the experiences of registered nurses who, at watershed moments in their careers, recognised their agency and chose to shift to solo self-employment, ultimately persisting in a liminal, or transitioning relationship between belonging to nursing and business, home and work. Te reo Māori translation Ngā Tapuhi Rēhita i roto i ngā Kaupapa Here: Te noho i waenga pū i te mahi whaiaro me te mahi kirimana Ngā Ariā Matua He maha ngā whiringa ara mahi i te ao tapuhi, i te huhua o ngā horopaki, ahakoa taurima tūroro, ahakoa mahi kē. Tērā te rōpū tapuhi rēhita iti kia kōwhiri i te ara mahi whaiaro, kia mahi tonu hei tapuhi i ngā horopaki i waho i te taurima tūroro, pēnei i ngā mahi kaupapa here. Ko te whāinga o tēnei tirohanga he tūhura i ngā wheako o ngā tapuhi rēhita e whakawhiti ana ki te ao mahi o te kirimana mahi whaiaro takitahi, i roto i te wāhanga mahi o te whakamaherehere ngaio me ngā kaupapa here. Tekau mā toru ngā tapuhi rēhita i whai wāhi mai ki tēnei tirohanga kounga momo iwi. I kohia he raraunga i te tau 2018 me te arotahi pū ki te tūhura i ngā āhuatanga whakawhiti o ngā tapuhi, i a rātou e anga kē atu ana i ngā ritenga whiwhinga mahi tuku iho o mua, kia mahi hei kaikirimana mahi takitahi, mahi i te kāinga. Kei ngā kitenga i tohua ētahi take mō tēnei huringa ki te mahi whaiaro, tae atu ki te rapunga putanga ki waho i tētahi wāhi mahi uaua, te whakaaro ‘kua whati te tuarā’, te rapunga ara mahi hauora kē atu rānei. I roto i ā rātou ahunga ki ēnei tikanga mahi hou, i tūpono rātou ki ngā uauatanga whakahaere moni, whakatere hoki i te ao umanga, ao o te kāinga, me te kawe anō i ō rātou tuakiri ira tangata. Tā tēnei rangahau hou he tāpae māramatanga mō ngā wheako o ētahi tapuhi rēhita i kōwhiri i te ara mana motuhake whaiaro, i tētahi pekanga nui o te huarahi, arā, kia hīkoi i te ara mahi whaiaro takitahi, me te noho i tētahi ao whakawhiti i waenga i te mahi tapuhi, i te pakihi, i te kāinga me te mahi. Ngā kupu matua mana motuhake, mātai momo iwi, tū ā-whakawhiti, mahi whaiaro, tapuhi, kaupapa here, whakawhitinga