International nurses join orthopaedic hospital after recruitment drive
An international recruitment drive has led to 12 new nurses joining Shropshire's orthopaedic hospital.
Five of these nurses have joined The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital from countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Their arrival is timely, given the well-recognised shortage of nurses currently available in the UK, which has made conventional recruitment challenging.
One of the nurses who has joined the Oswestry-based hospital is Felix Otieno, from Kenya, who will be working as a scrub nurse in theatre.
He said: “It’s been a long journey to get to this point, but it’s been a smooth ride.
"I think the change in culture, and the weather, has been the biggest shock.
“Everyone we have met so far has been amazing and really supportive and I know I speak for the rest of the cohort when I say we all look forward to being part of RJAH, which is an incredible hospital, and caring for our patients.”
All the nurses who have joined are trained and experienced in their home countries and the trust is currently supporting them with their objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).
If passed, they are able to obtain registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and work as a registered nurse.
