An insight into the experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic nurses within healthcare: a narrative literature review

Mashinkila, Wendy, Bosun-Arije, Foluke ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7813-9027 and Heyes, Kim ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9029-545X (2023) An insight into the experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic nurses within healthcare: a narrative literature review. International Journal of Advanced Nursing Education and Research, 8 (1). pp. 33-44. ISSN 2207-3981

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to highlight the issues faced by Black and Minoritized Nurses (BMN) and promote conversation to address the issues for every nurse to be treated with equity and fairness irrespective of their background. Discrimination and its impacts on BMN are toxic to staff performance and job satisfaction. These impacts are detrimental to the National Health Service (NHS) workforce. Therefore, it is pertinent that we explore the first-hand experiences of BMN in healthcare services. Using a narrative review approach, we explored the literature published on the discrimination BMN experience within healthcare services in the United Kingdom (UK) and throughout the Global North. Using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, keywords, and Boolean operators, we searched the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), PubMed, and Scopus for relevant research published between 2012 and 2021. For research quality assurance, we used the reporting guideline, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The findings reveal that BMN recounted their experiences which centered on bullying, discrimination, and exclusion, as well as unconscious bias, leading to feelings of isolation, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and mental health challenges as a result. We conclude that discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated. However, rather than promoting a blame culture, all people in healthcare environments should be supported to abolish the issues faced by BMN. This review has revealed the issues faced by BMN in their workplaces and recommended ways to abolish the issues. There should be zero tolerance for discrimination and reported cases of discrimination should be swiftly dealt with.