Edgeways Issue 13 - International Nurses Reunite

By Steven Johnson

Nurses reunited at Edge Hill’s Faculty of Health and Social Care Aintree Campus for a special event organised by Adaptation Coordinator, Delyth Owen.

In the last three years around 500 nurses travelled to Edge Hill from overseas, leaving their families behind to seek registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and improved job prospects.

Those from as far afield as Southern India, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana joined Edge Hill’s supervised programme and many have kept in touch with staff to keep them updated on how they are progressing in jobs in hospitals across the country.

Besides the demands of the course, the nurses had to adapt to a different way of life in an unfamiliar environment. Delyth Owen has organised the programme for the last three years, supported by Elizabeth Okeya who relocated from Nigeria to take an adaptation course herself, experiencing first-hand the difficulties of making the move.

Delyth said, “Over the last decade more and more nurses have travelled to the UK in search of better prospects, but making the move wasn’t always easy. The social and cultural differences between Britain and their own countries were difficult to get used to. That’s why we set up the adaptation programme, arranging not only placements for overseas nurses, but also providing study days when nurses took part in developing communication and IT skills, as well as confidence building”.

Under the guidance and support of ward mentors, the nurses successfully completed the programme. Delyth was particularly impressed with their wealth of clinical experience and expertise.

Delyth commented, “Everyone was highly motivated and keen to start work for the NHS specialising in their chosen fields. Many had lots of responsibility in their old jobs looking after many more patients than is the norm in the UK. They also had lots of all round experience and could deal with whatever came up”.

Edge Hill is planning to carry on supporting overseas nurses by providing educational input in collaboration with the NHS Trusts, whilst staff will be pleased to continue hearing how any previous adaptation course students are progressing in their careers.