abstract: 'Background: Securing employment after qualification is of utmost

  importance to newly qualified nurses to consolidate knowledge and

  skills. The factors that influence success in gaining this first post

  are not known.

  Objectives: The study aimed to describe the first post gained after

  qualification in terms of setting, nature of employment contract and

  geographical distribution and explore the relationship between a range

  of factors (including ethnicity) and employment at the point of

  qualification.

  Design: An exploratory study using structured questionnaires and

  secondary analysis of data routinely collected by the universities about

  students and their progress during their course.

  Settings: The study was conducted in eight universities within a large,

  multicultural city in the UK as part of the `Readiness for Work''

  research programme.

  Participants: Eight hundred and four newly qualified nurses who had

  successfully completed a diploma or degree from one of the universities;

  a response rate of 77\% representing 49\% of all graduating students in

  the study population.

  Methods: Data were collected by self-completed semi-structured

  questionnaires administered to students at the time of qualification and

  at three months post-qualification. Routinely collected data from the

  universities were also collected.

  Results: Fifty two percent of participants had been offered a job at the

  point of qualification (85\% of those who had applied and been

  interviewed). Of these, 99\% had been offered a nursing post, 88\% in

  the city studied, 67\% in the healthcare setting where they had

  completed a course placement. 44\% felt ``confident{''''} and 32\% ``very

  confident{''''} about their employment prospects. Predictors of employment

  success included ethnicity, specialty of nursing and university

  attended. Predictors of confidence and preparedness for job seeking

  included ethnicity, nursing specialty, gender and grade of degree. Newly

  qualified nurses from non-White/British ethnic groups were less likely

  to get a job and feel confident about and prepared for job seeking.

  Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that ethnicity does lead to

  employment disadvantage for newly qualified nurses. This is an important

  contribution towards recognizing and describing the evidence so that

  appropriate responses and interventions can be developed. It is

  important that universities and healthcare institutions work closely

  together to support students at this important time in their nursing

  career. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.'
affiliation: 'Harris, R (Corresponding Author), Univ Kingston, Fac Hlth \& Social
  Care Sci, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, England.

  Harris, Ruth; Ooms, Ann; Grant, Robert; Marshall-Lucette, Sylvie; Chu, Christine
  Sek Fun, Univ Kingston, Fac Hlth \& Social Care Sci, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey,
  England.

  Harris, Ruth; Ooms, Ann; Grant, Robert; Marshall-Lucette, Sylvie; Chu, Christine
  Sek Fun, Univ London, London WC1E 7HU, England.

  Sayer, Jane, South London \& Maudsley NHS Fdn Trust, London, England.

  Burke, Linda, Univ Greenwich, Sch Hlth \& Social Care, London SE18 6PF, England.'
author: Harris, Ruth and Ooms, Ann and Grant, Robert and Marshall-Lucette, Sylvie
  and Chu, Christine Sek Fun and Sayer, Jane and Burke, Linda
author-email: Ruth.Harris@sgul.kingston.ac.uk
author_list:
- family: Harris
  given: Ruth
- family: Ooms
  given: Ann
- family: Grant
  given: Robert
- family: Marshall-Lucette
  given: Sylvie
- family: Chu
  given: Christine Sek Fun
- family: Sayer
  given: Jane
- family: Burke
  given: Linda
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.10.008
eissn: 1873-491X
files: []
issn: 0020-7489
journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING STUDIES
keywords: 'Employability; Ethnicity; Newly qualified nurses; Occupational

  inequality'
keywords-plus: 'NATIONAL-HEALTH-SERVICE; QUALIFIED NURSE; EXPERIENCES; PROGRESSION;

  TRANSITION; STUDENTS'
language: English
month: MAR
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '44'
orcid-numbers: 'Ooms, Ann/0000-0002-5217-1907

  Ooms, Ann/0000-0002-5217-1907

  Harris, Ruth/0000-0002-4377-5063'
pages: 303-313
papis_id: 9a007fdc5dee84f9aa3955c52b19653b
ref: Harris2013equalityemployment
researcherid-numbers: 'Ooms, Ann/HLH-5127-2023

  Ooms, Ann/AAT-7588-2020

  Harris, Ruth/A-7542-2010

  '
times-cited: '15'
title: 'Equality of employment opportunities for nurses at the point of qualification:
  An exploratory study'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000315239700002
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '36'
volume: '50'
web-of-science-categories: Nursing
year: '2013'