Seventeenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

In 1948, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) was established. Following the end of World War 2, the recruitment campaigns to fill post-war shortages and rebuild the economy encouraged Africans from the Commonwealth to settle in Britain. Working in the NHS became a viable career path and training opportunity for nurses from former colonies. Yet, historical evidence shows the presence of Nigerian nurses in the United Kingdom as early as the 1930s. This paper explores the dynamic relationship between the professionalization of nursing in Nigeria and the migration of these nurses to the United Kingdom (UK). Drawing on labor and migration reports, newspapers, photographs, and oral interviews in Nigeria and the UK, I present a case for centering the everyday experiences of migrant nurses in national and transnational histories. By situating the histories of nurses in global migration, I trace the historical trajectory of nursing across colonial terrains. Despite the growing literature on African migrations, scholars primarily focus on the ‘illegality’ of such a process. This paper addresses an understudied aspect of African migration to Europe- professional migrants. Thus, this paper argues for integrating the history of nursing and African migration into global histories.