A year-long campaign to recruit 40 oversees nurses to the region is under way to address staff shortages.
The first four – Shincy, Sonja, Yafika and Vidya – were welcomed to Dumfries at the weekend and will join the region’s nursing community of more than 2,000.
Finding their feet in the town this week, Shincy said the long flight to reach Scotland was worth it and they were delighted to be met by an NHS Dumfries and Galloway team at the airport.
She said: “On Saturday we were shown around Dumfries and met some lovely people from the Multicultural Association who kindly gave us a food parcel and a warm coat.
“It has made us feel really welcome and we are really excited to be here and get started.”
The campaign’s project lead, workforce sustainability manager for NHS Dumfries and Galloway, Vic McDade, said: “It has been a long time in the making, so it is great to have our first cohort arrive. What is more exciting is that we have a further one arriving in May and another ten offers. Checks are being progressed for a start in July.”
All of the four new nurses are fully trained and very experienced in their own country but need to gain their UK registration to practice.
Once registered, three of the overseas nurses will be working in the Critical Care Unit at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and one will join the team at the community hospital at Mountainhall.
They will now undergo up to 12 weeks of intense training to secure their UK NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) registration before they can fully practice as a nurse.
Clinical Education Lead, Christina Hoare, said: “There is a lot of pressure on Carla Young and the team to ensure these nurses pass their registration. We are one of the first boards along with Fife and Grampian to start the programme. We have every confidence that the training we have in place and the integrated approach between training and shadowing will give them the time to build relationships in work and the community before jumping into a busy work life.”
The workforce team are appealing to anyone living in the region who has previously practiced as a nurse and gained their primary qualifications outside of the UK – and would like to now explore a career in nursing – to contact them by email at dg.jobs@nhs.scot.
