How is the employment situation for

Finding a job in Italy is difficult. Also getting a work permit adds to the difficulties. Here is some information which may assist http://www.ipasvi.it/static/english/infermieri-stranieri.htm

I have never entered into this forum before, however this question prompted me to respond. Twenty years ago, as an American RN (CCRN Trauma resucitation) with intermediate Italian skills, I moved to Italy...certain that I would be able to find work in my field. Today, I realize how incredibley naive and ingenuous I was, so perhaps I can save someone else's time. 1. Italy has no reciprocity with the USA, for licensing of any sort. 2. The health care system in Italy is a state job..and highly sought after. To apply, you must have trained in Italy, and be able to fill infinite forms, have tremendous patience--and better yet, "know someone" who will move your application along in the competition process 3. The unemployment rate for 25yr olds and under is 43%...for over 25 less but still much, much higher than in the US. Italy is full right now with qualified Russian, Romanian and other foreign nurses who pick up a living as "badante"--home aides to elderly. Twenty years ago I was lucky enough to get a part time job as nurse adjunct to the US Consulate..You could try US/Nato bases around the country. Good luck.

Thank you.  

I have done a little research, but It seems hard...if you are over 35 you have to find a sponsor (also read that as a job) before you can apply for a work visa... And don't get me started on the Italian Nursing Council, I looked on their website to find out about getting registered in Italy, but the whole site is in Italian.. I am a New Zealander, and work as a diabetes nurse specialist, surely I have skills to offer... I feel Italy would also benefit from the skills of senior skilled and experienced nurses. They need to have an agency attached to the profession registration body that supports nurses to work through the myriad of processes.

Anna Maria,  That Italy might "benefit" from your skills--is totally not the point....unless you are applying for the open post as President of the Republic. That the Italian Nursing Council website is written in Italian, should come as no surprise. Before "feeling" that Italy should welcome "senior skilled and experienced" New Zealandese nurses, you have evidentally concluded--erroneously-- that Italian nurses are neither.Italian nurses, like all Italians today, are hanging on to any bit of a job that they can get. The fact  is  that our hospitals are closing departments; small hospitals are closing down completely.  We do not need "an agency ...to support (non Italian) nurses to work through the myriad of processes". We need jobs, lower taxes, corporate incentives, growth stimulation--and many say, to return to our own flexible currency.Come to Italy and you will be delighted and appreciated, as long as you remain a tourist. Try to make your living here and you will be frustrated and disillusioned...just like real Italians are. Your choice. 

I agree with the previous post and I would add that anyone wishing to get a job in Italy without a EU passport should consider the problems that an Italian - in this case a nurse, but it could be any other profession - would have trying to get a job, or a visa, in say... The USA, New Zealand, Australia or countries which are not part of the EU. Italian nurses, although highly qualified, have plenty of difficulties trying to get a job and the UK and Germany recruit some of these unemployed or under-employed professionals to fill up their vacancies. Also Italy has a reputation of excellence in the medical field and some of the best research centers on diseases such as diabetes are located in Italy.i must add that I feel a bit annoyed when I see comments regarding Italy, which seem to be based on stereotypes. This is why, I am posting again this link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LaXqHU32bm4

I would never try to say that Italian nurses are not highly skilled e mi Dispiace if my question led you to think that. I truly appreciate all that nurses offer and was only trying to say that I am working at the top of my field rather than demeaning the position of Italian nurses..  

AM. I am sure that you had no intention of demeaning any other nurse, however, I think what we have tried to explain to answer your query, is that Nursing is not the same round the world. In the USA where I trained and worked, nurses have excellant chances for professional support and advancement. Partially, I believe, because young doctors are fewer and older ones more specialized, and therefore the nurse finds many niches for expertise. In Italy, medical school and all university is essentially free, allowing for more young doctors who are anxious to insert lines, tubes, and generally do jobs that perhaps in other places would fall to the nursing staff. Secondly, the Italian system is almost totally public, meaning that a nurse is a state employee--and in a place where public service jobs are highly sought for their perceived stability. I, myself,  left nursing when I came to live here learned masonry skills and took to buying and renovating houses....TH

Not too sure why after a year a reply is made and this post re-opened, but hiltopierobon makes a great comment a year ago "how incredibley naive and ingenuous I was". I think this applies to a very large percentage of people that do eventually move to Italy (and likely elsewhere). The understanding and answers to resolve this before you arrive lie in many posts on this and other forums, read as many as you can and it may save you any hassle if you do move. Thankfully what we found was little to detract from a brilliant experience, but then again we do not have to work here.

I agree with LL's statement and I am also surprised about the sudden resurrection of this thread. As for the qualifications, training, experience of Italian nurses, I would simply refer you to some statistics rom the WHO regarding health care delivery around the world, where Italy ranks Number 2 from the top, immediately after France, while the USA ranks 37 and New Zealand 41.....http://thepatientfactor.com/canadian-health-care-information/world-health-organizations-ranking-of-the-worlds-health-systems/I should add that I am conversant with health care delivery in the three countries.i rest my case 

To Gala and LL, Thank you for the back up. After, 23 years of living in Italy I have come to the conclusion that  the best thing to be here is a TOURIST. A Landed Tourist, or even just a temporary one. Having to make a living here, certainly detracts from our ability to appreciate the numerous wonders and delights. And, I am a bilingual, dual citizen--my husband a native Piemontese. I have known too many foreigners who have followed dreams to Italy, with more hope than preparation, and found themselves deluded. I guess that it is our duty to burst a few bubbles...T.H

I must  agree with you, TH. Ir would be very difficult for anyone to find employment in Italy, which is an ideal place for retirement or for those with independent means. Yes, there will always be the possibility of finding a niche market and developing your own business... But I am afraid that the chances of success are slim and the difficulties enormous. Yes, we may be shattering a few dreams, but it is better to do that before they turn into nightmares. Italy is a wonderful country, warts and all, but it is not an easy place to make a living.