Taking action on discrimination

I am writing in this issue about some key insight work from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) published this August. I am hopeful that this first ‘Spotlight’ report, which aims to support sector-wide learning and improvement for the benefit of people who receive care, is shared widely and provokes professional debate (NMC, 2023). We all need to consider what our personal professional response is, and how we will influence the teams in which we work to make the improvements that we really cannot deny are needed.

Alongside a powerful context landscape, the report focuses on three key areas:

Although there is learning for nursing in all three areas, my focus for this piece is the first two. The recruitment of internationally educated nurses is no new thing. I have written, as have many, about the issues that are highlighted in this report, including colleagues' experiences of:

The ‘Spotlight’ report (NMC, 2023) states that discrimination exists in health and care, and there is evidence that it undermines the care that people receive.