Working with Solent NHS Trust.
A brand new initiative to get International nurses driving on UK roads
To meet the governments challenge of providing 50,000 nurses by 2024 it is essential that international nurses are recruited to help achieving this goal.
For nursing in the community , not only do the nurses have to be capable of giving excellent care but it is also essential that they can drive.
Almost 2 years ago, I was approached by the Solent NHS trust, I was a known driving instructor to them, and they asked if I could scope a new initiative they were working on.
My contact was Jill Young Head of Quality and Professions, she told me that the trust intended to recruit a number of nurses from other countries. The problem that they had was all of the nurses recruited would need to be able to drive for work at some point.
Nurses from different countries, different backgrounds , different experiences adding to varied UK licensing requirements for people coming from different countries seemed an interesting problem.
A number of meetings later , we had a plan.
Firstly all recruits would go through the same training.
A theory practice application would be made available to all recruits.
A 15 module module course was created, with provision to add additional lessons during or after the course to ensure that there would be enough practice. Each module would be 4 hours long.
Pupils would be taught in pairs, to give peer support, and a ready made chaperone.
March 2022 the first nurses arrive from Nigeria
From Left to right :Bolanle, Unwana, Prisca, Menmak, Priscilla, Mercy and Nelly ..me at the end.
On this day we also applied for the recruits licences.
We were a little worried bearing in mind you should normally reside in the country for 6 months before you apply for your licence, we found that provided the ladies could provide details of their employment and intension to stay beyond six months we overcame this hurdle too.
I didn’t see the ladies again for a few months, they were busy getting ready for their nursing exams.
Training began on the first full week in June, and I took out the first two recruits in the car. Bolanle (pictured) and Nelly.
Here I found out that in Nigeria most cars are automatic, my car is manual, so the ladies were very concerned about how things would go.
After 4 hours together in the car we had got to know each other a lot better and were having fun too.
Things have moved on quickly since then and the nurses all have theory tests, booked for the first week in September. It’s been quite a journey and will continue to be a very exciting project. I will keep updating on the progress.
(Pictured here is Mercy )
All pictures published are with the nurses permission.
A Mindful Road to Success in Driving 