Career mobility among immigrant registered nurses in Canada: Experiences of Caribbean women.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 243
Subjects: Nurses, Black -- Canada -- Social conditions.; Antilleans -- Canada -- Social conditions.; Women immigrants -- Canada -- Social conditions.
Description: Since the late 1950s, the Canadian nursing workforce especially during periods of nursing shortage has added to its numbers through immigration. Changes in immigration laws since the 1960s have opened doors for increased numbers of immigrants from Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean coming to work in Canada. This qualitative research study investigated the experiences of immigrant women from the Caribbean who are registered nurses (RNs) in Canada. There has been no previously published studies that documented experiences of immigrant women of colour related to career mobility in nursing.A convenience sample of 14 women from the Caribbean, who migrated to Canada between the 1960s and the early 1990s, was recruited for the study. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, using a semi-structured interview guide. Demographic data were also obtained using a questionnaire that elicited written responses.The analysis of data demonstrated that participants encountered significant barriers in navigating their careers as RNs. These barriers appeared to be related to systemic practices that influenced the regulation of nursing, as well as relationships in work environments. In spite of their experiences in encountering many barriers, participants had developed individual strategies of resistance, and moved forward in their careers in nursing. The study proposes antiracism strategies to create equitable status and rewards for immigrant and minority groups in nursing, as well as for the profession as a whole.The conceptual framework for the research drew from a synthesis of concepts from several bodies of literature; the most significant included critical feminist theories and antiracism discursive frameworks. Foucault's methods contributed to an analysis of the links between power, knowledge and resistance. Among the themes that contributed to an integrated conceptual framework for this research were history, identity, representation, marginalization, power, knowledge, agency and resistance. The research questions were: What factors create barriers or act as facilitators to career mobility among immigrant women of color who are RNs in Canada? How were their lived experiences as RNs mediated through race, gender and class?
Notes: Adviser: George Dei.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Toronto, 2004.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-05, Section: A, page: 1982.