Nine internationally educated nurses (IENs) attended an Introduction to OET session on Monday 16th May at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH).

The session was the first step in RUH’s popular HCA2RN programme, a 10-month supported plan which sees IENs progress from their current Band 2/3/4 post into Band 5 registered nurse roles.

“At the RUH we want to support IENs who have taken HCA roles in our hospital as their point of entry. We assist them with protected time and a training programme to help them meet the requirements of the NMC because we want them to fulfil their potential as fully registered nurses”, says Mark Doblas, Lead Clinical Practice Facilitator at the RUH.

The HCA2RN programme, now in its second year, has already seen ten HCAs get their PIN, with another fifteen now in the pipeline.

OET preparation is crucial to candidates’ success on HCA2RN. “We encourage candidates to focus on getting their OET before undertaking the other elements of the registration pathway”, says Mark. To give them a head start, Mark engaged the services of OET expert and Premium Preparation Provider Cath Leyshon of Pass Your English. Cath led a four-hour face-to-face workshop, providing an overview of the requirements of each OET sub-test with the chance for candidates to get hands-on with practice questions.

Registered nurse, Mary Jane Posa, herself an IEN and graduate of the HCA2RN scheme, stressed the importance of preparing for OET. “I focused strongly on the writing and speaking parts of the test in my review sessions as I knew these were my weakest areas. I was so pleased when my final scores were so much higher in those skills because of the extra work I put in.”

In fact, Mary Jane has been so successful in her transition from HCA to RN that she recently secured a new Band 6 post supporting Mark with running the HCA2RN programme.

“We pride ourselves on supporting our candidates even beyond their PIN, helping them get comfortable with the transition to registered nurse status and helping them map out their career.” Mary Jane is living proof of the effectiveness of their approach.

For more on the HCA2RN scheme at Royal United Hospitals Bath contact Mark Doblas mark.doblas@nhs.net

For details of OET preparation support from Cath Leyson, email passyourenglish@gmail.com https://passyourenglish.com