Download the audio file from the button at the top right of the player.
Speaker
Welcome to this first edition of the new People and Culture podcast.
Today we are interviewing Nisha Vellaplamuryil who originally came to the UK as a delegate on the Overseas Nursing Adaptation programme. She's now fulfilled her ambition of becoming a trainer on that very same programme. We hope you enjoy.
Interviewer
Hi Nisha, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed today.
Nisha
Hi Amelia, lovely to meet you.
Interviewer
We really appreciate you agreeing to be interviewed about your experience on the Overseas Nurse programme, so we'll dive right in, shall we?
Nisha
Yeah, definitely. It's my pleasure to have come here. And yeah, really.
Interviewer
Oh, thank you. So first of all, perhaps you could tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
Nisha
Yeah, so my name is Nisha and I am originally from Kerala but I'm born and brought up in Mumbai. So I have been practising nursing for the past six years. In 2016 I graduated my nursing and after that I worked in the medical surgical department of a hospital. And I worked for two years and then I thought, OK. So basically I am a person who likes to challenge myself, so I thought, why not give it a try. I want to challenge myself and why not do it with teaching and teaching is something which I have like, like when I was a kid, I used to love teaching since then. I mean, I remember admiring all my teachers and their good work and I thought one day I have to be a teacher but simultaneously nursing. Also, I'm a very caring and you know my friends tell me I'm very caring and a humble person and I do like to care for people, so I thought OK. So I've done, I have practised for two years, I have worked in the medical surgical department, now I'll try teaching because I came to know that in nursing also we can teach. So then I thought for nearly two years I was teaching the bachelors degree nursing students and also the midwifery students. I taught them different skills, procedures and also theory subjects like anatomy, Physiology, foundation of nursing.
Interviewer
Well, it definitely sounds like you're enjoying what you were doing, but what did you do next?
Nisha
So I was teaching for two years and I just loved teaching and think...
Interviewer
You talk about it very passionately.So that shows!
Nisha
Yeah, actually yeah. So I thought. OK, so I've done my two years of teaching now. What next? Like I need to do something more, something more different. I need to like challenge myself and do something more different. So then I just thought OK, why not go abroad?
Interviewer
So is that when you apply to the Overseas Nurse programme?
Nisha
So this was the third challenge and it was a big step in my career and also in my life. So then I applied and I mean I had to. So I just found out like how do I go to UK and what do I need? What do I need to do? So then I came to know that I have to appear for an English exam, which I did clear, and after the English exam was the computer based test. So the computer based test is a like it's an online test based on the medical knowledge or the nursing knowledge. So then I cracked that exam and then the third step was the interview.
Interviewer
So it sounds like you definitely had plenty to keep you busy, but what else did you do? What other research?
Nisha
So like I had to like, I was just thinking which hospital. So at interview, basically I had to surf online because I had no idea like, where or which hospital do I apply or you know?
Interviewer
I was thinking that. So how did you end up with Cardiff and Vale?
Nisha
Yeah, so actually so one of my uncles, one of my very close uncles is in Scotland so he's the one who motivated me and he encouraged me that Nisha, if you're coming to UK then please you have to come to Cardiff. I said, OK, uncle, why do you say that? Because I have no idea what is Cardiff. So he said that Cardiff is a very good place and he said that it's like it's a beautiful city. Calm and quiet City so I thought...
Interviewer
Unless the rugby is on!
Nisha
Yeah, rugby I know. Yeah so so that's also then I just surfed online because I had no clue about like how and what Cardiff is and how the hospital would be, how the people would be and and I knew nobody, so it was a challenge for me because even my uncle and family are not in Cardiff and I was like, OK, I'm not going to Scotland, neither am I going to London, where my friends are, but I'll go to Cardiff so this is the fourth challenge. Remember I was talking about the challenges, yeah? So then I also happened to see the videos on YouTube, I saw the videos of the staff nurses from Cardiff and Vale Health Board on a Facebook page and yeah, so I I had really had a very good impression of Cardiff.
Interviewer
That's brilliant! It sounds like...
Nisha
And I don't regret making that decision.
Interviewer
Ahh you had my question because, it's something all your research paid off.
Nisha
Definitely, absolutely! I I chose, like I said, I'll go to Cardiff and then I had to apply through an agency and then they interviewed me and I got selected in Cardiff and Vale.
Interviewer
Brilliant. So you got your your wish after all of that.
Nisha
Yeah.
Interviewer
Excellent. Lovely! And so, when you did arrive here, Nisha and you know I'm sure there were challenges attached to that.
Nisha
Yeah, true, so I came here in 2019 so as I said I knew nobody. So when I came when I landed here, I had not even a single friend and I remember I had two like two of them came with me and we met at the airport. We became friends and we were a lovely group, three group. So ours was the smallest group and that time, so when I came in 2019, so we were the third group of the Overseas Nurses Programme. So we had two like 2 batches ahead of me. And so we were like 3 batches and we were all just trying to figure out, like even they were quite new to the environment. It was really nice and I came here and I lived in the hospital accommodation and where we all the three batches were in the hospital so that is that, you know the hostel thing was a bit of, because it was a challenge for me. Coming like from a pampered atmosphere, I mean not very pampered, but as in I was I used to live with my parents and...
Interviewer
So you were used to that to the safe haven?
Nisha
Yeah, yeah and then here I am in a hostel with unknown people. But definitely I like talking to people, I interacted with them, I became friendly with them and I'm still in touch with them, so that's how. So the initial days were very challenging because I had to cook on my own.
Interviewer
Oh, is that something you miss, your mums cooking?
Nisha
But now you wouldn't believe it's two and a half years. Now my friends say I do cook, I cook excellent food.
Interviewer
Ah well done!
Nisha
Yeah, so a person who used to cook just rice. Now I can make biryani.
Interviewer
Very nice and so that there's many benefits to coming here isn’t there? Not just for your nursing career. And you did mention Nisha, that now actually you are a trainer on the OSCE programme, so everything comes full circle, hasn't it?
Nisha
Love it.
Interviewer
So, so you have an insight from perhaps both sides of the programme. What has been the best thing about your experience?
Nisha
I would say the overseas nursing programme, I'm really thankful to Cardiff and Vale Health Board for selecting me and for helping me be a part of this programme because the trainers here are really excellent. I mean, I remember so when I started off there was Mel and Liz, who still are here and there was also two trainers, Jackie and Steph, who work in different departments, but they really all four have really worked so hard and they have really contributed a lot for our success. So I have passed my OSCE successfully and I really give credit to them. They are so determined and they're very hard working and I'm truly so privileged and thankful that I'm working with my mentors and I'm working as a co-mentor with them, so it's really an achievement for me and every day is just a learning for me.
Interviewer
Thanks Nisha, so what is it that made you want to become an OSCE trainer after you finished the programme and had been in clinical practise for a while?
Nisha
I remember during the classes I used to just watch my mentors, as I mentioned their names earlier and I used to think oh, how do they do it so well? I mean, what is it that they have like what is there? I mean what have they donet o become a trainer? Because I used to really like the process of the OSCE and how they used to act as patients for us and like they used to be, they used to take up the role of a patient and we used to assess them. Do the observations on them. Perform different skills and so I used to really like how they so, and at the back of my mind I would say is to think oh how do they do it so well and I used to say to myself that one day I have to be there. I mean I have to be in this place and then, but I know it was too early for me at that time because I was just trying to figure out how to pass the OSCE. And eventually I did, so after passing my exam, I started as a staff nurse, but in meanwhile I remember I used to think oh how, I used to just find out like what how do I become a trainer? I mean then I knew it was too early for me. Maybe I just need to have some, maybe clinical experience in UK and then I can apply for it. And then I worked as a staff nurse in the lovely vascular ward. And yeah, my my manager was Rhiannon, so she's the one who said she's the one who motivated me because I expressed my thought like, and my ward manager, she really supported me, she made sure that I had the necessary, right training, attend the mentorship and the amount of satisfaction and contentment at the end of each shift that we say that a nurse is a one who saves lives, but I feel that I've given so much knowledge and I've given my best for the student nurse because tomorrow she will be responsible for those patients, for human lives, so I got I applied for this this OSCE trainer job came up and I applied for this job and I'm really thankful for all my, like all my colleagues, friends who have really supported me.
Interviewer
Well, it's so really lovely to hear about all of the support that you've had and since arriving here, Nisha. Perhaps an obvious question, but would you say your experience has helped you in your role now?
Nisha
I can completely relate to them because I myself have been in their place. Yeah, I've been in their shoes exactly. And yeah, I think I can understand how they feel and what pressure they feel and what they go through. And so I really feel like I am contributing very well because I can understand each and every person.
Interviewer
So I think I know the answer to this Nisha, but would you recommend the OSCE programme?
Nisha
Everyone who’s hearing this podcast that I will recommend you all to please be a part of our overseas, I mean whoever is overseas and wants to be a nurse in UK, please come to Cardiff and Vale because we have an excellent team, not only the OSCE trainers but whole of the Education Department. Every member is so warm, loving and even today, as a trainer, I feel one among them. You know, I don't feel I mean like, oh OK, I'm I'm, I'm an overseas nurse, I'm a trainee, I have just become a trainer, I feel welcomed and I feel one among them and that's really a big thing for me.
Interviewer
Lovely thank you and that's so great, isn't it that your two passions of nursing looking at caring for others and teaching, you know, OSCE, been a stepping stone in that career and allowing you to challenge yourself like you said that you enjoy doing. Thank you very much. I really appreciate you sharing your experience with us today. It's great having you as part of the team and you're a fantastic ambassador for the Overseas Programme. Thank you.
Nisha
Thank you, you Amelia. Thank you.