International Nurses

We are delighted to welcome our overseas nurses and will endeavour to help you settle in Stoke On Trent and the surrounding area. To do this, we will arrange for you to have a support network of staff that arrived from overseas themselves and they will be happy to offer you advice.

Pastoral support will be offered by the Corporate Nursing team who will ensure- along with you line managers- that you are supported clinically in your area of practice. Support will also be available to prepare you for your OSCE examination.

The Trust prides itself on offering education and development to our staff and our close links with both Keele and Staffordshire University will ensure that you are able to access high quality academic tuition when you are ready to do so.

UHNM also offers ‘in house’ education and development and our Organisational Development team organise excellent Leadership and Management courses which will help with your career progression.

You will receive a yearly appraisal and personal development review with your line manager and this will give you the opportunity to set personal goals and highlight any training or development you believe you may need

Equality & Diversity

UHNM is proud to have a culturally diverse workforce. Our staff are treated equally regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, disability and sexual orientation. We have staff networks who provide support networks, which are detailed below

Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME)

The BAME staff network promote. the interests of BAME staff employed at UHNM . It provides a forum to discuss issues related to BAME staff at UHNM

We seek to improve the working environment of BAME staff across the whole organisation and provide an arena for staff to raise their concerns, in a safe and confidential environment .We also Identify good practice internally and externally from appropriate sources

Disability

Our disability staff network provides support for disabled staff at UHNM. We discuss any issues which affect disabled staff in the workplace and provide an arena for staff to raise any concerns that they may have

The network acts as a campaigning voice for disability issues within the Trust and gives staff opportunity to update each other on local and national initiatives.

Religion and Belief

All members of staff are welcome to use the prayer and chaplaincy centre which comprises of a chapel, mosque, contemplation room and these services are open all day.

Staff who observe Ramadan are supported throughout the month. Our chaplaincy team are always available for support, reflection and contemplation and prayer

Sexual Orientation

Our LGBT staff network promotes the interests of LGBT+ staff employed at UHNM. It provides mutual support, encouragement, mentoring and coaching to LGBT+ staff and an arena for staff to raise their concerns, in a safe and confidential environment

We Identify good practice internally and externally from appropriate sources and raise awareness of any LGBT issues at UHNM

The North Midlands and Stoke-On-Trent

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) sits in the centre of Staffordshire, with Derbyshire, Cheshire and Shropshire all within easy commuting distance. Across the region there are beautiful towns and villages surrounding the historic industrial city of Stoke-on-Trent and the county town of Stafford, where the Trust’s hospitals are located.

The area also has an abundance of excellent schools, a wide variety of housing, every amenity possible and the friendliest people in the country.

If you do need to escape this beautiful part of the world, the large metropolitan cities of Manchester and Birmingham are a stone’s throw away, each with an international airport.

And with London just 90 minutes on the train down the west coast mainline, which serves both our hospitals, the North Midlands really is a great place to be to work and live.

Stoke-on-Trent is the World Capital of Ceramics, a place where the skyline was once dominated by hundreds of distinct pottery kilns. Today people visit the city to explore the history of ceramics and the pottery industry with numerous visitor centres, museums and factory shops.

There is plenty to do for families at the Trentham Estate with the magnificent Trentham Gardens, Shopping Village and Monkey Forest.

Abraham Runsmon

My name is Abraham Runsmon, I am a clinical educator in the Cancer centre at University Hospital of North Midlands. I qualified as a registered nurse from India back in 1999. I started working here at UHNM as a staff nurse in 2004.

It was always my dream to become a nurse, and to look after patients with care and compassion.

I had the privilege to have different job roles within the last 17 years:

Senior staff nurse
Quality nurse
Deputy ward manager
And now clinical nurse educator

I also won the Quality Nurse Award twice in my career. I have reached these achievements due to the innovation and passion embedded into me by the UHNM leaders who have clear vision and they are efficient at sharing and articulating that vision. To me, this is imperative. I want to say to anybody who wants to join UHNM from overseas, this a friendly organisation with excellent values, provides phenomenal support to staff and compassionate care at the top of their agenda.

We welcome you, we are proud to care.

Lily Than

Hello, my name is Lily Than and I am currently the senior staff nurse for quality on the cardiothoracic surgery ward.

I came to the UK and studied for a diploma in nursing in 2005 and have been working with the cardiothoracic team at UHNM ever since. During this time I have had many opportunities to develop and have completed my Mentorship course which allowed me to teach student nurses. I have also completed my degree in nursing and a high dependency care course.

Our UHNM family is dynamic, proactive and friendly and we can’t wait for you to come and experience it for yourself. We look forward to working with you

Lily Than

Senior staff nurse for quality

Cardiothoracic surgery

Angelica Ambas

I arrived in the United Kingdom on the 20^th Feb 2002 after successfully being recruited by the UHNM NHS Trust. I was working as a critical care nurse in the National Heart Centre Singapore at that time before I was recruited to work in the UK. It was an exciting moment for me.

My first job was in cardiothoracic intensive ITU. The first six months were dedicated to our training and preceptorship programme, known as the adaptation period. After six months, I was nominated to enrol in the Enhanced Nursing Skills for Cardiothoracic surgery.

I was also given the chance to enrol in the Stepping Up Leadership programme for the BAME community. I have worked in IR for 12 years and moved on, currently working as Medicines Safety Nurse based in the Pharmacy Department of the Trust. I was fortunate enough to be given the task to be the nursing lead for training for the COVID 19 vaccination programme. This role has provided me the chance to meet the Corporate Executive Team and senior leaders of the Trust as I facilitated their training.

It was not easy, being uprooted to a country with a totally different culture, but the support of the community inside and outside of work helped tremendously to fight the homesickness. My family and I have now fully adjusted to life in the UK and I have now integrated into the community.

Angelica Ambas,

Medicines Safety Nurse