The Meaning of Work for Immigrant Women Nurses in Finland
Otim, Anna; Simon, Bertha (2009)
Otim, Anna
Simon, Bertha
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2009
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-200906093831
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-200906093831
Tiivistelmä
The Finnish government survey,outlook on the future (2004), undertook a survey in which it was suggested that more international labour market would be called for in future as the country faces shortages in the number of labour force due to the aging population. The baby boomers are expected to reach retirement by 2010, Tanner(2004) thereby creating a job gap since there are few young Finns to fill in the gap created. Relating to nursing, this translates into few nurses and a higher nurse-client ratio.
In Finland at present, there exists already a national shortage of labour within the health care sector forcing some employers to travel abroad to recruit foreign nurses.This shortage offers a good opportunity to make use of the human labour of immigrant nurses who are already living in Finland more effectively into the employment markets.
Keeping this in mind, this thesis was carried out to explore and describe the meaning that women attribute to work in a group of participants of immigrant nurses working in Aurorakoti in the city of Espoo. The major tasks were to attain a deeper understanding of what work means to the participants and reveal those meaning from the participants own perspectives.
Qualitative unstructured interviews were conducted in English language with six immigrant women nurses working in Aurorakoti in Espoo.Data was analysed using phenomenological descriptive method according to Collaizzi.With the aim of describing the experiences of work for the immigrant nurses,six core themes and ten sub themes emerged that relate to the phenomenon of the study. The core themes are;work offers professional career development, work fulfils social interaction and integration needs,work meets monetary needs, work provides sense of self worth and value, work enables immigrant women to function as productive members of society, work provides psychological refreshment.Most themes were explicated through two or three sub themes.
The uncovered meanings enhanced our understandings that work is vital to immigrant women’s functioning and their well being. The finding shows the importance of work in the women’s lives and work’s provision of meaning that meets their complex needs. The study findings may be put in use by a number of organisations to attract, retain and effectively manage their multicultural organisations.
Main concepts: Immigrant,work,meaning,women
In Finland at present, there exists already a national shortage of labour within the health care sector forcing some employers to travel abroad to recruit foreign nurses.This shortage offers a good opportunity to make use of the human labour of immigrant nurses who are already living in Finland more effectively into the employment markets.
Keeping this in mind, this thesis was carried out to explore and describe the meaning that women attribute to work in a group of participants of immigrant nurses working in Aurorakoti in the city of Espoo. The major tasks were to attain a deeper understanding of what work means to the participants and reveal those meaning from the participants own perspectives.
Qualitative unstructured interviews were conducted in English language with six immigrant women nurses working in Aurorakoti in Espoo.Data was analysed using phenomenological descriptive method according to Collaizzi.With the aim of describing the experiences of work for the immigrant nurses,six core themes and ten sub themes emerged that relate to the phenomenon of the study. The core themes are;work offers professional career development, work fulfils social interaction and integration needs,work meets monetary needs, work provides sense of self worth and value, work enables immigrant women to function as productive members of society, work provides psychological refreshment.Most themes were explicated through two or three sub themes.
The uncovered meanings enhanced our understandings that work is vital to immigrant women’s functioning and their well being. The finding shows the importance of work in the women’s lives and work’s provision of meaning that meets their complex needs. The study findings may be put in use by a number of organisations to attract, retain and effectively manage their multicultural organisations.
Main concepts: Immigrant,work,meaning,women