Milestones in the journey: The story of refugees becoming registered nurses in Australia

Abstract

The story of human flight in the modern era continues to be the story of refugees (and asylum seekers seeking refugee status; Viriasova, 2016;Weiwei, 2020). This is attested to by the abundance of literature about refugees who have made their way out of precarious situations dating back to World War I (Spitzer, 1999;Gatrell, 2008).Further, the stories of prisoners of war, people who have survived the holocaust and stories about the heroic feats of men and women during times of conflict continue to be told (Hately-Broad, 2005;Shmotkin et al., 2011). This paper covers the stories of refugees who became registered nurses (RNs) in Australia.

Practical advice for refugees aspiring to become registered nurses in Australia

“…This paper described practical advice from the participants for other refugees looking to become RNs in Australia. The authors wish to highlight that this paper complements a previous qualitative study that reported the same participants' experiences of becoming RNs (Ng Chok et al, 2021). The six identified themes in this paper provide a 'framework for success' for others, namely young people seeking to become an RN.…”

“…The six identified themes in this paper provide a ‘framework for success’ for others, namely young people seeking to become an RN. The practical advice provides tacit knowledge similarly reported in refugee studies that identify challenges and barriers for refugee students and even former health professionals entering the healthcare workforce (Khan‐Gökkaya & Moesko, 2021; Kong et al, 2016; National Health Service Employers, 2021; Ng Chok et al, 2021). As Weststrate and Glück (2017) reported, wisdom as being derived from exploratory processes and self‐reflection on both negative and positive life experiences.…”

“…The interviews were transcribed verbatim and uploaded into the NVivo11 program to assist qualitative data management (QSR International, 2014). Following the data analysis protocol (Ng Chok et al, 2021), HN read the transcripts and generated codes based on identified themes until no new themes were identified and data saturation was reached (Bowen 2008). These codes were validated by LW and verified by the research team.…”

“…The majority of refugee literature depicts the vulnerability of refugees facing pre‐migration trauma and ongoing post‐traumatic experiences (Willott & Stevenson, 2013). The participants in this study highlighted their moments of adversity, neurotic thinking, hardship, and feelings of depression across their milestones (Ng Chok et al, 2021). In addition, the practical advice of having an optimistic outlook, a sense of resilience, and being motivated by self‐belief despite life's hardships contributed to participants achieving their goal of becoming an RN.…”

“…Furthermore, the authors identified empirically that RNs with refugee backgrounds encounter myriad of extreme experiences vastly different to migrant internationally educated nurse (IENs) counterparts. The participants of this study previously provided their experience of overcoming unique ‘milestones’ along the trajectory of successfully becoming RNs in Australia (Ng Chok et al, 2021). These milestones include being a refugee ; resettling in Australia ; and becoming an RN .…”