Nottingham Hospitals nurse to circumnavigate the globe looking at ‘Healthcare across Borders’ | Latest news

ENT outpatient nurse Kate McNamara will circumnavigate the globe looking at how Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) can better support their international staff.

Kate, from County Clare in Ireland, will be travelling to Zimbabwe, the Philippines and around North America thanks to a £5,000 scholarship titled ‘Healthcare across Borders – exploring excellence in supporting international staff’ awarded by the QMC League of Friends.

Kate will be visiting hospitals and training facilities in these countries, to learn more about how NUH can best support and develop nurses who travel from overseas.

She said: “We recruit a number of nurses from across Africa and the Philippines and we really don’t know a lot about the cultures that our staff are coming from. We want to find out more about how we can best support our international staff and what we can do to make Nottingham an attractive place to come to. We want to show the international community that they can make a life for themselves here.”

Kate, who has worked at QMC for the past four years, was able to design this project herself, focusing on countries that have large staff groups at NUH. She has been working with the international communities here in Nottingham to connect with locals who will assist her on her four-month long trip.

She said: “It has been brilliant being able to get in touch with so many local people. I will be staying with families while I’m away and even with a community of nuns in Zimbabwe. People seem really interested in what we are doing here and are keen to be involved.”

Kate has also been working with NUH’s Preceptorship Team, liaising with current international staff to find out what NUH can do to improve the recruitment process for them.

She said: “I remember coming over from Ireland, you would think that would be relatively easy but it wasn’t. Little things can become massive issues and we want to be able to streamline the process for our international staff.”

Kate’s findings will be presented as a report and recommendations, advising how NUH can improve lives for their international staff.

Jo Cooper, Assistant Director of Nursing said: “We are delighted again to be partnering with the QMC League of Friends in supporting this travel scholarship which Kate has been competitively awarded.  We are committed to constantly learning how best to support our staff development, including staff from diverse backgrounds.

“I would like to congratulate Kate and the Surgery Division for taking this work forward and look forward to supporting Kate throughout her award.  Many thanks to the QMC League of Friends for their generous support.”

Bertie Pinchera, Chairman of the QMC League of Friends said: “We are delighted to congratulate this year’s successful applicant for our Scholarship Award and to wish Kate every success with her research.”

If you would like to find out more about Kate and her travels, follow her blogs on Twitter at @Katelarry88.