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No / Within nursing, career breaks have an impact on women's career outcomes. However, the causal mechanisms that explain the transfer of women's relative reduced career outcomes remain unclear. This article examines the relationships between career breaks, part-time working, and access to training/updating skills in determining nurses' career outcomes. We consider this to be a mechanism of transferring disadvantage both within and between genders within nursing. This qualitative research involved in-depth interviews with 32 registered female nurses with and without children. They were employed in “acute” nursing and worked as registered Band 4 to “senior nurse managers” and were between 25 and 60 years old. They worked or had worked under a variety of employment conditions. Some, but not all, had taken career breaks or requested or attained postregistration training. We found that restricted access to training for part-time nurses and limited opportunity to update their skills following a return from a career break are determining factors affecting the career outcomes of nurses. The findings suggest that it is related to rationing of training for those returning from career breaks, based on the availability of a supply of newly qualified nurses meeting the numerical demand, financial constraints, operational imperatives, and organizational values.

No / In response to a recent report published by the Royal College of Nursing, Bryan McIntosh, Uduak Archibong and Louise Donaghy discuss the impact of motherhood, part-time hours and career breaks on the cultural perceptions and experiences of female healthcare professionals.

Purpose: After many years of equal opportunities legislation, motherhood still limits womens' career progress even in a feminized occupation such as nursing. While the effect of motherhood, working hours, career breaks and school aged children upon career progression has been discussed widely, its actual scale and magnitude has received less research attention. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of these factors individually and cumulatively. Design/methodology/approach: This paper considers the impact of the above through a longitudinal analysis of a demographically unique national database, comprising the 46,565 registered nursing workforces in NHS Scotland from 2000-2008. The variables examined include gender, employment grades, number and length of career breaks, lengths of service, age, working patterns, the number and age of dependent children. Findings: The results indicate: motherhood has a regressively detrimental effect on women's career progression. However, this is a simplistic term which covers a more complex process related to the age of dependent children, working hours and career breaks. The degree of women's restricted career progression is directly related to the school age of the dependent children: the younger the child the greater the detrimental impact. Women who take a career break of greater than two years see their careers depressed and restricted. The results confirm that whilst gender has a relatively positive effect on male career progression; a women's career progression is reduced incrementally as she has more children, and part-time workers have reduced career progression regardless of maternal or paternal circumstances. Originality/value: This paper is the only example internationally, of a national workforce being examined on this scale and therefore its findings are significant. For the first time the impact of motherhood upon a women's career progression and the related factors; dependent children, career breaks and part-time working are quantified. These findings are relevant across many areas of employment and they are significant in relation to broadening the debate around equal opportunities for women. Purpose - After many years of equal opportunities legislation, motherhood still limits womens' career progress even in a feminized occupation such as nursing. While the effect of motherhood, working hours, career breaks and school aged children upon career progression has been discussed widely, its actual scale and magnitude has received less research attention. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of these factors individually and cumulatively. Design/methodology/approach - This paper considers the impact of the above through a longitudinal analysis of a demographically unique national database, comprising the 46,565 registered nursing workforces in NHS Scotland from 2000-2008. The variables examined include gender, employment grades, number and length of career breaks, lengths of service, age, working patterns, the number and age of dependent children. Findings - The results indicate: motherhood has a regressively detrimental effect on women's career progression. However, this is a simplistic term which covers a more complex process related to the age of dependent children, working hours and career breaks. The degree of women's restricted career progression is directly related to the school age of the dependent children: the younger the child the greater the detrimental impact. Women who take a career break of greater than two years see their careers depressed and restricted. The results confirm that whilst gender has a relatively positive effect on male career progression; a women's career progression is reduced incrementally as she has more children, and part-time workers have reduced career progression regardless of maternal or paternal circumstances. Originality/value - This paper is the only example internationally, of a national workforce being examined on this scale and therefore its findings are significant. For the firs time the impact of motherhood upon a women's career progression and the related factors - dependent children, career breaks and part-time working are quantified. These findings are relevant across many areas of employment and they are significant in relation to broadening the debate around equal opportunities for women.

� McIntosh and Watt focus on a recent research that many female registered nurses who return from a career break at a lower grade relative to their experience and training. They note that the reintegration of the most highly trained and experience registered nurses will not only reduce the need and cost of training but will critically enhance the quality of delivery. The NHS must make greater use of these highly skilled and experienced registered nurses, not just for sound economic reasons but for improved health outcomes as well. Patients and clients all deserve the most skilled, experienced and able registered nurses, regardless of their life circumstances.; Many female registered nurses return from a career break at a lower grade relative to their experience and training, which has a detrimental implication for the National Health Service in terms of operational efficiency. It is imperative that human resources are used to the maximum benefit of the nursing service. Adapted from the source document.