ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the supply of trained nurses available for work fell far short of the demand for their services. This shortage can be attributed to various influences; however, an increased demand in industrializing countries for institutional nurses, high occupational attrition and competition for women labourers from other, more attractive, occupations were prominent causal factors. Owing to the nursing shortage, efforts to induce young women into the profession were pursued through many channels and in many countries. This proved beneficial for thousands of young women by offering to them the opportunity to enter into a career that provided them with a skilled education, certain employment and the chance to travel to countries around the world. Both Canada and the UK experienced chronic shortages in their nursing workforce and for both countries part of the solution appeared in the form of immigrant nursing labour; nurses went in sizeable numbers from the Caribbean to the UK, and from the Caribbean and the UK to Canada.
