The contribution of nursing staff from Southeast Asia to the UK’s health and care system is immense. Nursing staff, like myself, hailing from across the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia can be found in every health and care setting across the four countries of the UK.

During my career, I have been actively involved in the in the development of nursing and healthcare in Nepal, where I am originally from, and have been able to build up a network of colleagues and peers across Asia.

So, I was delighted to have the recent opportunity to attend a joint conference in Manila between the Critical Care Nursing Association of Philippines, Inc (CCNAPI) and the Southeast Asian Federation of Critical Care Nurses, as I saw this as a chance to give something back to the health care systems who have given so much.

The conference focussed on Values, Outcomes, Innovation, Compassion and Excellence (VOICE) – a framework that the organisations recognise as a beacon for transformative practices in critical care. 

I was invited to speak about Sepsis and was privileged to participate in conversations with colleagues attending virtually and in person from across the globe, sharing my knowledge and experience and learning from others.

The conference was also an excellent opportunity to represent the RCN internationally and I was particularly pleased to be able to tell attendees about our RCN Nursing Workforce Standards and how they can be used to promote safe and effective nurse staffing anywhere in the world.

Health care in developing countries is currently predominantly led by medical professionals, but one of my aims and ambitions is to empower nurses to step into leadership roles and become active leaders of their multi-disciplinary teams. I can demonstrate this from my personal journey to an NHS Consultant Nurse.

The conference was attended by around 450 critical care nurses in person as well as 1000 who joined virtually from across Philippines and East Asian countries. There was so much enthusiasm for learning and development but there were also times of sadness when hearing reflections from local nursing leaders who spoke about the current realities of nursing, particularly around overseas nursing recruitment, and at times, the devastating impact this can have on the health care systems of source countries.

Hearing their testimonies really hardened my resolve to ensure that the RCN continues to raise the issue of ethical nursing recruitment – both here in the UK, and further afield.

I would like to thank the RCN Foundation and the RCN Nursing Practice Academy for supporting me with travel grant to attend this event.