ABSTRACT

This chapter presents data on the representation of minority ethnic groups amongst applicants to training for nursing provides an essential pre-requisite for targeted recruitment initiatives. Statistical data on applicants to training in nursing and midwifery were provided to education centres by the Nurses and Midwives Central Clearing House (NMCCH) in the early 1990s. The chapter suggests that three key elements in terms of which linked progress required to be made before effective positive action measures could be expected. These were: the availability/acceptance of a rationale for action, the availability of information about the ethnic composition of student populations and the local labour force, and the existence of a strategy for action. The chapter reports on the outcomes of investigation of positive action provisions in the eight institutions studied in our research. It presents approximately one-third of 81 respondent's occupied key managerial roles for the recruitment and selection of students, and their accounts inform the material.