I have only been working in the hospital for over a year when I decided to apply in the UK. My grandmother encouraged me to apply with the help of my aunt who has been recruiting nurses in the Philippines bound for UK.

Since I already have an existing IELTS at that time my aunt arranged for an interview with Wye Valley NHS Trust. Luckily I was hired immediately, and little did I know that my interviewer would be my current Line Manager/Ward Sister. Afterwards, I registered for the NMC then took my CBT.

After passing my exam I then started to process my registration with the help of Alliance. They have guided me through all the steps and answered all my questions earnestly. It took me almost 6 months to process everything including my visa application. By June of 2019 I was able to fly in the UK never knowing what awaits me.

I was anxious and nervous at the same time when I first arrived at Birmingham Airport. Out of 9 international nurses the trust deployed that month, I was the only Filipino. The first week was the hardest when I didn’t know anyone and felt so lost. However, when I attended my first OSCE training I realized it wasn’t that bad. My Practice Educators were very welcoming, understanding, and supportive.

I then met some of my Filipinos friends and 2 of them I have been sharing a house for the past year. I trained for the OSCE for 2 months while working as a Band 4 Senior Healthcare Assistant in the respiratory ward. The OSCE support of the trust was exceptional with our Practice Educators constantly there to assist us and each one of us helping each other during training sessions.

After passing the OSCE and qualifying, I then started to work as a Band 5 Staff Nurse. Nursing practice was quite different here compared to the Philippines’ where family members are the primary carers of the patients.

Working in the ward, you have the responsibility to make sure all your patients have been washed and fed. On top of that you also must make sure that all your patients have taken their medications on time. Safety and comfort of the patients whilst providing care in the best possible way is always the priority.

At the start of 2020, COVID-19 spread around the world affecting every country and people. This happened when I was only 6 months newly qualified and as I am working in the respiratory ward, we are the first in the hospital to cater COVID patients. Devastating is an understatement as we have been dealing with it for almost a year now. We have seen patients
die before us, alone without their family to be with them on their last hours.

It was not easy as we constantly think of the wellbeing of our family we left behind in our home country. Not only we were taking care of others, but we also had to take care of ourselves and the fear of contracting the virus that took away the lives of our patients still haunts us.

I have seen and experienced how difficult it is to be away from your loved ones. However difficult it was when I first started and seeing how things unfold in the past one and a half year I was here in the UK, I never regretted any of my decisions. The ups and downs I’ve experienced only made me a stronger individual, taught me countless of lessons and made me a resilient nurse.