Spanish nurses receiving Finnish language training
Spanish nurses are receiving Finnish language education for four months prior to their arrival in Finland. The aim is to provide nurses with a basic knowledge of the language and assist them in their new jobs. The first nurses are due in Finland by mid-October.
Some 21 young nurses are taking part in the training provided in the Spanish city of Bilbao. Three EU-backed European Social Fund projects are financing the training, one of which is based in Ostrobothnia.
A decision to recruit Spanish nurses for the social and health service sector in the city of Vaasa was taken earlier this summer. Two similar projects operate in the Satakunta region and southwest Finland.
Students for the Finnish courses were selected on the basis of applications and several interviews.
”It is a major challenge for us to instill the necessary language skills in a short space of time. Naturally, it won’t be enough and more training will continue here in Finland,” says Pirjo Raunio, a project organiser.
She also stresses that employers must allow time for language studies, especially as they have recruited staff from abroad.
