Stay and Thrive

Every month, we welcome many internationally recruited staff from overseas into the Trust.

We know that this is a big transition, so we are proud to have launched Stay and Thrive, which is a project aimed to improve the experience of our internationally educated colleagues (IEC’s).

The Trust commenced its ambitious international recruitment campaign in August 2020, which has now seen 230 international educated nurses (IEN) join the organisation, with a commitment to support a further 68 within the next 6 months. The Trust also supports the recruitment of Internationally educated midwives, allied health professionals and medical staff.

These internationally educated colleagues bring with them a wealth of experience, historically both nationally and locally. We aim to ensure that all IECs will settle well, develop well, and achieve their career goals.

More information on the national stay and thrive initiative can be found on Twitter.

How we support our nurses

The MY Stay and Thrive team support newly recruited international educated colleagues (IEC’s) to settle into their new roles and communities, through the following methods:

Pastoral buddy - any members of our international workforce (regardless of staff group) with lived experience - to help with settlement.
OSCE Buddy - an IEN who has passed their OSCE exam, to provide additional OSCE support and exam preparation.
Clinical Buddy - a registered Nurse that provides additional informal support i.e. clinical scenarios, reflection, to support successful transitions into a role.
MY career café - a new scheme to the Trust, providing staff who are wishing to pursue or develop a career within Nursing, Midwifery and/or Allied Health Professionals the opportunity to have a personalised 1:1 discussion with a Lead Clinical Educator.
WhatsApp groups to stay connected.

We ensure our international colleagues are support from the point of recruitment, through OCSE exams with professional development within their careers in the NHS.

What our Internationally Educated Nurses say

Feedback from IENs

“I got my result yesterday and I am pleased to let you know that I finally made it, I want to thank you for the constant push and encouragement, thank you for this great opportunity to also work at Mid Yorks, words alone can’t appreciate you, I'm really grateful”

Feedback from IENs

“I want to sincerely thank you and your team for the support, caring and loving attitude towards we the international nurses”

IEN feedback

“It wouldn’t be possible without the support of great mentors. You all are amazing team. Ready to help the students at any time. Even though you all were so busy and packed up, you arranged for extra practice sessions for me which gave me more confidence to attend the exam. I’m extremely grateful for all your hard work in shaping our careers. Thank you”

IEN feedback v4

My mentor was brilliant. She treated me as an experienced nurse that I was. She took time to get to know me as a nurse and what I brought to the team. She then facilitated me to get up to my experience level with what trainings I needed. She listened to me and advised me when I needed additional advice. She was a great allay in setting the right tone and culture for the rest of the team as I was the first and only IEN in in the team for years.

IEN feedback v5

Since arriving in the UK more than 2 years ago I have had an amazing experience I would say. Right from the point of arrival when we received a very warm reception with lots of welcome treats. I have been able to acclimatize and develop successfully into a band 6 with the help of the trust.

Case studies and reflections

At Mid Yorkshire, we are very proud to recruit internationally educated nurses to support our nursing and midwifery workforce and our patients.

We now have colleagues from all over the world, each bringing an individual set of experiences and skills that strengthen our workforce and the service we provide.

Hear from our colleagues on their experiences joining Mid Yorkshire:

Stay and Thrive: Carlos Del Rosario

Stay and Thrive: Joseph Ensong