Program brings international nurses to Youngstown hospitals
For National Nurses Week this year, Mahoning Matters highlights some of the nurses selflessly serving the Valley.
There’s a program bringing nurses worldwide to learn and work at Mercy Health hospitals within the Mahoning Valley.
Meet Kristel Syra Delos Santos; she’s been a nurse at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital since August of 2022, but she’s originally from the Philippines.
According to Cathy Ronci, RNA nurse manager, Delos Santos has set a precedent at the hospital for other nurses coming into the program. Delos Santos said she initially applied for the position through Worldwide Health Solutions.
“The international nurses have brought so much success already to my staff and our unit,” said Ronci. “Our teams were eager to welcome Kristel and our other international nurses and have done so with open arms. They have created a community for each other, especially as our nurses from around the world learn the Youngstown area.”
New environment at Mercy Health
Delos Santos said she is grateful for the opportunity to use more advanced technology to help patients than what she said was available in the Philippines.
“I have a friend who is a nurse here, she’s been working here, like, for two years now, but before, she worked for 15 years overseas, too,” Delos Santos said.
“Working in the United States is very different,” she continued. “The United States is far more advanced in healthcare, so you’re more equipped with certain equipment. Everything is like, a new world for me because I came from a third-world country and usually, we don’t have resources back there. It’s at times improvised... and there are limited resources, so it’s a very new environment.”
She’s hoping to earn enough to relocate members of her immediate family closer to her in Youngstown.
Delos Santos expressed how generous the nurses have been to her while working with patients and outside of the hospital, starting with a welcoming party.
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