Many of our nurses recruited from overseas got together in Grangemouth recently to celebrate Onam, a festival which brings together communities in the Indian state of Kerala.
This is one of the areas where many of the nurses recruited for NHS Scotland have come from and the celebration, a major annual event for Keralites, is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events.
The celebrations are held for ten days, beginning in the month of Chingam (August / September) as per the local calendar. Onam is famous for its grand scale and delicious food. The best part of Onam is Sadya! On the day of Thiruvonam, you are blessed with the traditional Onam Sadya which has more than 25 different types of dishes available which are served on banana leaves.
Since the International Recruitment programme began in early 2022, NHS Forth Valley has attracted 34 registered nurses, 24 of whom are currently working as Staff Nurses within hospital wards. Ten of our staff are undertaking their OSCE exams (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations) shortly and will join up with their respective clinical teams thereafter.
The 2023 Onam celebration showed the strong sense of community and support being built by our colleagues.
