There’s a lot to coordinate when your international nurse arrives in the UK: accommodation; flights; orientation; induction; integration.

However, like the famous line “It ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings”, the relocation process isn’t complete until your nurse has passed their Objective Structured Clinical Examination – better known as the OSCE.

Nurses that are recruited from outside the EEA cannot receive their NMC pin until they have moved to the UK and passed their practical examination at one of the approved test centres. This means that they enter the UK as an equivalent Band 3 or Band 4 level team member, and only become fully qualified once they have successfully completed the final stage of the process.

We cannot emphasise enough how important it is for you to help prepare your nurse for this test. It is a challenging exam and one that a nurse cannot be expected to pass without the right support and level of study.

The pass rates for this test aren’t as good as we’d like them to be – around 55% for the first sitting of the test, and 65% for the second sitting – indicating that the test is both gruelling and technical.

At My Healthcare Recruit, we recommend a bare minimum of three full days of OSCE study in advance of this exam. Bear in mind that until the nurse passes this test they cannot perform their full operational duties, and if they fail it twice (or three times if they applied to the NMC after April 2017) their visa will be invalidated. At almost £1000 for each attempt, it’s also not a cheap test to have to resit!

Larger organisations often have staff who have attended an OSCE Train the Trainer course so they can provide the support for this in-house which is great. However, it is important that the nurse is relieved of their day to day responsibilities during their allocated study time to ensure they can take full advantage of the learning opportunities.

Smaller organisations who don’t have the capacity to train international nurses for this test themselves can also opt to send them on an external residential course to develop the requisite skills. Your recruitment agency will probably be able to recommend a course.

The key message here is that when your nurse arrives in the UK please don’t assume that the relocation process is over. With adequate preparation and support, the OSCE is very achievable, but it should be given the time and attention it deserves to enable a positive outcome for both you as an employer and the nurse sitting the test.

My Healthcare Recruit supports UK healthcare employers in the public, private, and care sector to find international nurses who are a great fit for their organization, by using market-leading video interviewing tools to connect them to our database of qualified candidates. Our innovative approach makes international candidates easier to find and more cost-effective to source than ever before. Find out more at www.myhealthcarerecruit.com