Empowering Nursing Newcomers Program

In the Netherlands, more and more nurses with an international background, such as refugees and migrants, are starting to work in healthcare. Many of them already have a lot of knowledge and experience, but it is not always easy to quickly adapt to the Dutch healthcare system and a new language. That is why the programme "Empowering Newcomers Nurses" was developed.

This study aims to better understand how the programme works in practice. Participants and supervisors will be asked about their experiences to identify what works well and what could be improved. The costs and the benefits are also taken into account. The results will be used to further improve the programme.

It will also be assessed whether the work environment is inclusive and welcoming for participants. For example, this may involve (unconscious) microaggressions, exclusion, or negative comments, including those that may be discriminatory or racist. By making these experiences visible, it becomes easier to address them and make improvements. In addition, scientific articles will be published so that other hospitals can also learn from these insights.

Who can participate? Nursing newcomers who are already participating in the programme or who will start the programme soon are invited to take part in the study. Sometimes participants with another paramedical background also take part. For this study, it is expected that over a period of 9 years about 160-230 participants will take part in total, of whom 120-150 will be from the northern region of the Netherlands. This number is not strictly required, but it helps to better understand how the programme works, what works well, and where improvements may be possible. In this way, a more complete picture of the programme can be obtained.