A DRIVE to train more student nurses at Bury General Hospital has attracted recruits from as far away as South Africa and Kenya.
In a bid to boost numbers, nursing chiefs at the hospital have more than trebled the number of trainee nurses they take on board.
During an average year, around 30 nurses learn practical skills at Bury General, on placement from Salford University. This year, 46 started training in autumn, with another 52 arriving last month.
The extra training places are intended to help remedy current shortages, with 15,000 vacancies available nationally.
The new students will specialise in mental health, paediatrics or adult nursing, learning aspects of the job such as resuscitation and patient care.
The director of nursing services for Bury NHS Trust, Mrs Angela Abbott, said: "Each ward has done an awful lot of work to create a learning environment for the students. It is part of our way of life to have students helping, shadowing and observing at all times.
"Hopefully the nurses will come back to Bury once they are qualified. We have a good success rate at keeping our students."
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