A student nurse in the Day Medicine Unit at Forth Valley Royal Hospital is appealing to Spanish nurses at home and abroad to get in touch to help support healthcare colleagues in Spain who are considering a move to the UK as well as those who have recently arrived.
Ana Casillas was part of a group of healthcare workers, mainly nurses, who wanted to provide support, advice and guidance to Spanish nurses already working in the UK and to new recruits coming from Spain.
After a year of hard work, the Isabel Zendal Association of Spanish Nurses and Healthcare Workers in the UK was recently founded and is in the process of obtaining charitable status.
The Association was named in honour of an inspirational Spanish nurse who supported efforts to eradicate smallpox through vaccination in the early 1800s. The aim of the Association is to support Spanish health workers who are both new and settled in this country and to help reverse the decline in recruits coming from Spain since Brexit. As part of this they want to set up a mentorship program to help bring healthcare staff currently living in Spain, as well as those who have recently relocated, in touch with Spanish nurses and healthcare staff already working in the UK.
Ana, who arrived in Stirling in 2013 due to her husband’s job said “I am now on my final placement in the Day Medicine Unit at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, my first since the pandemic started and I’m finding things really different. However, my team and my mentors have supported me to settle well. I feel really lucky to have trained in NHS Forth Valley and would like to help more nurses to come and work here. I’ve personally felt very welcome in Scotland and believe it is one of the best places in the world to develop a health service career.”
For more information see the Isabel Zenda Association of Spanish Nurses and Healthcare Workers website visit ASNH or email info@isabelzendal.co.uk.
