Racism in the NHS against BME nurses - Research Paper Example

urses not born within the UK but the lack of historical awareness has led to the failure to address the discrimination this population faces (Snow & Jones 1). By 1949, nurses were being recruited from the Caribbean to fill the void created by WWII. The BME’s working lives have been structured by discrimination that includes racism and public and institutionalised stereotyping that has largely affected their relations with their managers and colleagues and resulted in their exclusion in training programmes and promotions yet they are equally qualified as their White counterparts (Dhaliwal & McKay 59).

Historically, nurses from the BME group have not been offered equal opportunities as White nurses to enhance their individual leadership skills and be able to define their long-term career objectives. This has kept their numbers in senior posts at a questionable minimum. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has also shown that BME nurses have typically been working longer to achieve higher grades such as senior ward sister and also go through more harassment and bullying than White nurses. BME nurses are subjected to systematic discrimination that includes working hours that entail long working days and complex shift patterns as well as discriminatory pay and grading especially affecting those who have managed to rise within the hierarchy to senior posts essentially making their careers incompatible with their lives (Dhaliwal & McKay 4).

Such discrimination has been made possible by the existence of unscrupulous ways of circumventing antidiscrimination Labour Laws. Further, since the discrimination hinders the potential of BME nurses, effective change can be implemented at the societal rather than regulatory level. It is therefore recommended that BME nurses strengthen their own networks and at the same time have confidence that they can be proportionately represented in the industry. As early as 1949, trade unionists made up of White nurses imposed a quota system