View article

Aim and objectives.  To explore nurses’ perceptions of the reality of practice based on data from the Nurses and Midwives e‐cohort Study which examined the workforce characteristics, work–life balance and health of nurses.

Background.  Recruitment and retention of the nursing workforce is of international concern as demands increase due to demographic changes, political pressure and community expectations, in a climate of economic constraint.

Design.  Qualitative analysis of data from a cohort of Australian, New Zealand and UK nurses.

Method.  Of the 7604 participants in the electronic cohort, 1909 provided qualitative comments of which 162 related to nursing practice; thematic analysis resulted in four high order themes. The analytical discussion is structured around ‘care’ as the organising construct.

Results.  Four themes emerged: ‘embodied care’ which discusses the impact of work on the nurse’s …