New cohort of foreign nurses settle in at Pilgrim

Speaking to The Standard, they revealed how nervous they had been when they first arrived, but said they had quickly settled in to Boston.

The new cohort includes two families from Poland and several friends from Romania.

Justyna Durak, 29, who came here with husband Karol, 31, their two-and-a-half year-old daughter, and brother Radoslaw Tetych, 31, said they had learned a lot since they arrived..

They have Mr and Mrs Durak have both been working on the Intensive Care Unit.

Mrs Durak said: “Staff have been really nice and explained everything.”

Karolina Jurczuk-Andrzejuk came here with husband Radoslaw, both 29, her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and ‘grandma’ - who is staying to look after the child until she goes to nursery.

She said: “People on the ward have been really nice and helpful. They have introduced us and helped us practice the differences between our countries.

“They have also helped us with language and everything.”

Mr Tetych said: “It’s a big revelation for us because of the change of background. Our families and friends stayed [in Poland] so everything is different.”

Romanian friends Paula Balint and Diana Sevescu, both, 25, came to the country together where they met with fellow Romanians Gabriela Jarlaianu, 39, Andreea Florea, 23, and Christina Paulet, 28.

Miss Balint said the nurses had been able to learn ‘techniques and technologies’ they had not been taught in their own countries.

On arriving in Boston, she said: “We were terrified. We didn’t now anyone and it was a new environment. Everything here is new.

“We didn’t know if there were any other Romanians – when we found out there were we felt better.”

She said Boston was a ‘beautiful town’, while Miss Paulet said she had already joined the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex.

One of those introducing the new nurses to their role in England has praised the new nurses for their ‘enthusiasm’.

Clinical education nurse Kai Brownhill has been teaching the new nurses.

He said: “They’re doing very well and their English is very good and very clear. They are very enthusiastic.”

The education is part of an inducation programme which has evolved over time asUnited Lincolnshire Hospital’s Trust, which runs the Pilgrim, has taken on more foreign nurses. It takes place over a series of weeks, with time spent on wards.

There is also a support programme which enables the nurses, and any others with any issues they may have.

On teaching the students, he said: “We have broken everything back to the basics. We are helping them to understand what is expected of them as staff nurses and what they are expected to do.”

Mr Brownhill said: “We have a very proactive outline in how we support and integrate them to the hospital and the area. That integration is what’s going to keep them here long term.”

He said the new nurses had to learn different techniques here due to the difference in nurse roles - for example, in Romania there might be two nurses to 40 patients, whereas here the ratio might be one to eight.

There is also a difference in the role of staff nurses, for example in Romania they may perform similar roles to junior doctors.