Nursing In Ireland - An Indian Nurse's Experience

Q&A - Ireland

Where are you from? I’m from India (Chennai).

Can you give us a snapshot of your nursing career thus far? I gained my nursing degree from Dr. MGR medical university India in 2011, started to work as a staff nurse in MMM hospital Chennai and moved to Riyadh King Faisal hospital and research centre in 2014 and worked there till 2019 September in coronary care unit. Currently, I’m working in BlackRock clinic, Dublin in cardiac department.

When did you travel to Ireland? I came to Ireland on 4th October 2019.

When and why did you decide it was time to take your nursing career abroad? I thought to have some changes in my personal life, to develop my professional knowledge, to increase my financial stability and to make a new life style changes. I took my OET exam and started my Ireland processing from January 2019.

Why did you choose Ireland as your destination? I choose Ireland because it is a quiet country and also there is lot of opportunities for nurses especially in the workplace to built our nursing career with the support of hospital management.

What was the registration process like? You’re undertaking adaptation to complete your registration – what is that like? The registration process has various steps like completing the overseas application pack, forms to be filled by the relevant authorities like nursing college, past and current working experience and the nursing license , assessment of our application from the NMBI and issuing the decision letter. The registration process is quiet hard but less procedures and frustrating compared to other European countries.

How long have you been in Ireland? And how are you settling in? Are there a lot of differences between your home country and Ireland? What are you doing in order to adapt to your new environment? I’m in Ireland for the past 6 months, I had my aptitude and OSCE exam, had my hospital orientation and ward orientation in my first month. I completed my probationary period and well settled in my work.

There are lot of differences from my home country. The hospitals are well developed with new equipment, increased quality of care and well supportive management and colleagues.

What is your social life like? What do you do on your days off? We do have friends gathering occasionally especially on public holidays and birthday parties and also going out for shopping and dinner.

What part of your new life have you found the most surprising? I found the climatic changes are the most surprising in Ireland as there is four different climate everyday.

What are the positives of living in Ireland? Very good salary, easy to work and the kind-hearted people. The Irish people are so social and they like to talk more about us and more interested to know about our country and culture.

What is your most memorable moment so far? My memorable moment so far is the first Christmas celebration in Ireland with my new colleagues and Irish friends.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced and how have you manage them? The most challenging part is the OSCE exam but we can achieve this with our hardworking and prayers.

You’re currently working for the Blackrock Clinic - How did the hospital help with the transition from your old life to your new life? BlackRock clinic is one of the best hospital in Dublin. The hospital management and the supervisors are so friendly and supportive which helped me a lot to adapt and manage the new life changes.

How are you finding nursing in another country in general? What differences are there & how are you adapting to the differences? Nursing is a challenging career and the nursing care is same in all the country but the people’s approach to the nurses are different in some countries but here I feel much respected and homely atmosphere so adapting to this is more easy.

How are you finding your department in particular? What support is there and what are you colleagues like? I had some difficulties in the beginning to learn the routines work but the management and the colleagues are more supportive and helpful. The managers are so flexible and approachable, we are allowed to request duties and leaves are permitted as we wish.

What career opportunities or professional development have you found there? There are lot of speciality courses available here and we can choose from our own interest. And also the we are encouraged to attend continuous nursing education programmes in different hospitals.

How are you finding the cost of living in Dublin – is it very different to home? Yes, the cost is living in Ireland is much much expensive than home country especially the rent in Dublin is very much high. But the lifestyle, salary and working experience is much better than the home. So I feel more safe and satisfied here.

What were your goals before travelling to Ireland? Are you achieving what you set out to do or have these changed? My goals are to meet new people, see new places, career passion, personal satisfaction, financial stability and family support. I hope these things will happen in the coming days.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of travelling to Ireland? I would like to tell them that the registration process will be quiet slow but you can land within a year once you started your NMBI process. Prepare very well for the RCSI exams because it is quiet challenging for someone with minimum experience but everyone can go through this with great hard-work.

What is your overall opinion to date? I feel so happy and I’m very much thankful to Cathee and the overall CCM Recruitment team for helping and supporting me to achieve my goal. I’m also very much delighted to live and work in Ireland.