Celebrating internationally educated professionals this Black History Month
This October, as we honour the courage of civil rights leaders and changemakers in Black History Month, we also turn the spotlight inward to celebrate our own heroes - the dedicated internationally educated nurses (IENs) and allied healthcare professionals (AHPs) who came to Devon to care, support and lead.
Many are key members of our Ethnic Minorities Staff Network, speaking up, taking action and helping shape a more inclusive future for us all.
One of them is Elizabeth Okesola, fondly known as Queen, who was one of the first IENs to join us from Nigeria in early 2022. Queen began as a senior community mental health practitioner, but her passion for supporting fellow international educated professionals (IEPs) soon led her to become our Trust's first international pastoral coordinator. Today, she works as both a practice educator and specialist medicines optimisation nurse.
One of her biggest achievements has been setting up a new practical objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) support training room. OSCEs test a nurse's clinical and communication skills and decide if they are ready to practise in the UK. With her own lived experience and hands-on coaching, Queen has helped many international colleagues feel confident and succeed in these exams.
Next month, Queen is taking inclusion one step further. She has organised two meet and greet sessions for internationally education professionals (IEPs) to connect with our new Chief Nursing Officer, Hazel Powell, along with other senior leaders.
These sessions are more than symbolic. For IEPs, meeting directly with the Chief Nursing Officer gives them a voice, builds belonging, strengthens retention and helps drive real change.
Queen shared: "My accent didn't fade. My courage didn't falter. My care never wavered. This October, we rise not in memory, but in action standing together with our Chief Nursing Officer as essential members of our organisation."
As we mark Black History Month, follow along on our social media for highlights from these events.