{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T06:07:35Z","timestamp":1788934055758,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788825600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788825600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Nursing Inquiry"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan positions international recruitment as essential for present stability while projecting a future of reduced structural dependence on internationally educated nurses. This tension, conceptualised as the paradox of self\u2010sufficiency, forms the focus of this study. Drawing on a critical qualitative evidence synthesis, eight UK policy documents were analysed using Bacchi's \u2018What's the Problem Represented to Be?\u2019 (WPR) framework alongside thematic synthesis of 17 qualitative studies, sensitised by Social Identity Theory and Ontological Security. Policy analysis reveals that the Plan positions international recruitment as a short\u2010term necessity, treating domestic training as the preferred long\u2010term pathway while leaving internationally educated nurses uncertain about their long\u2010term place within the workforce. Three consistent patterns emerge from the qualitative evidence: prior expertise requires institutional revalidation before professional legitimacy is accorded; the burden of professional reconstruction falls disproportionately on internationally educated nurses, and belonging remains conditional rather than secure. These patterns are not incidental but are suggestive of underlying structural conditions mediated through organisational contexts but cannot be resolved by organisations alone. Sustainable workforce planning requires policy\u2010makers and nursing leadership to recognise internationally educated nurses as permanent contributors, ensure equitable career development and build organisational cultures in which belonging is unconditional.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/nin.70164","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T05:57:57Z","timestamp":1788933477000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Paradox of Workforce Self\u2010Sufficiency: Policy Narratives, Professional Identity and Internationally Educated Nurses in the United Kingdom"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"33","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1002-8117","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joshua Chidiebere","family":"Nwambo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Public and Allied Health Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8247-2508","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oladayo","family":"Bifarin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Public and Allied Health Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0795-7473","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karen","family":"Higginbotham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Public and Allied Health Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_13_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/imig.12107"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jonm.12141"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/scs.12014"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2702.2011.03922.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/ijn.12284"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jocn.12810"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_8_1","volume-title":"Analysing Policy: What's the Problem Represented to Be?","author":"Bacchi C.","year":"2009"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14649365.2011.545142"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3402\/gha.v7.24194"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijnurstu.2020.103693"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_12_1","volume-title":"Sustain and Retain in 2022 and Beyond: The Global Nursing Workforce and the COVID\u201019 Pandemic","author":"Buchan J.","year":"2022"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_13_1","volume-title":"A Critical Moment: NHS Staffing Trends, Retention and Attrition","author":"Buchan J.","year":"2019"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_14_1","volume-title":"Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel in England","author":"Department of Health and Social Care","year":"2023"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2288-6-35"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_16_1","volume-title":"The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth","author":"Edmondson A. 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