5 candidates (3 to be exact) will present themselves for 2.839 nursing positions at Humanitas Gradenigo in Turin on the pre-selection date of 22 May next. Also in Turin after other similar cases (like last year in Genoa, over 12.000 candidates for 200 positions, and in other Italian cities) yet another paradox: 3 for only 5 positions while in 2018 Orienta – Employment Agency – has opened the search for 200 nursing positions in London, but it has difficulty covering the requests that require everyone to be employed on a permanent contract. Do young Italian nurses therefore prefer to attempt a very difficult undertaking such as the one offered by the health facilities in Turin these days rather than going where there is work?
In fact, they grow job opportunities for young Italian nurses in healthcare facilities abroad, especially in Great Britain. For more than two years, in fact, the Health Division of Orienta SpA (Employment Agencies) has been researching and selecting nurses in Italy to be sent across the Channel. More than 200 young Italians have already left and in 2018 there are another 200 active searches. Furthermore, there are also requests from Germany. The real difficulty is not in finding work for these young people but in covering the many requests that arrive. The goal of companies like Orienta is to make the meeting between the growing requests that arrive above all from England and the ambitions of young Italian nurses who are still unemployed as fluid as possible.
The paradox, in this period, is the difficulty of coping with the great demand for nurses especially due to limitations related to the knowledge of the English language. To date, in fact, only 15 percent of requests received from British health facilities are successful. And, of course, we are dealing with many missed opportunities because they are inevitably covered by young people from other countries. The opportunities, therefore, are there and of quality but the only barrier, so to speak, is the knowledge of the English language and for some the will not to move abroad. Preferring, in fact, to compete in many for only 5 places in Turin, for example.
“The parable of the nursing profession in Italy in recent years has undergone a significant downsizing from the point of view of employment opportunities. – explains Giuseppe Biazzo, CEO of Orienta SpA -. Since 2010 there has been a big change and we have gone from an "importing" country of nurses, especially from Ukraine and Romania, to face the strong internal demand for these professionals, to an exporting country". Before this drop in domestic demand, young people one year after graduation had 100 per 100 guaranteed employability. The profession of nurse offered one of the greatest guarantees of employment opportunities. Today the percentage has dropped to 40 percent and in Southern Italy things are even worse.
Within a short time we ended up with one overabundance of young nurses compared to market demands, as the facts of the hospital of Alessandria, Genoa and Turin demonstrate in a disruptive way, just to mention the best known cases. In this context, however, we realized that in some European countries there is an opposite situation, especially in the public health system of Great Britain which offers permanent prospects. We have thus organized ourselves to offer new employment opportunities to the many young Italian nurses. You need to look for work where it exists, even if this involves the sacrifice (but also the opportunity) of having to move to a European city».
There are two main figures required. The nurses, with a degree in nursing which provides for registered nurses on the NMC (the UK nurses' register) an indicative starting salary of £21.500-28-500 (from 25.288,17 to 33.521,52 euros annually) which it then rises according to the level of seniority and experience. For those not yet enrolled in the register, on the other hand, salaries are approximately between £16.800 and £19.461 (approx. 19.760-22.889,91 euros). The Healthcare Assistants, i.e. the equivalent of the social health worker in Italy, who performs "inferior" tasks for which a degree is not required as they do not administer drugs and are supportive to nurses. For these figures, even a short experience is sufficient, in line with the figure sought, and a specific educational qualification regardless of the level of study. The hourly wage varies from £6,70 (7,87 euros) to £8,15 (9,58 euros). Nurses are placed primarily in large public hospitals or large clusters of nursing homes. Healthcare Assistants, on the other hand, in nursing homes or at the patients' homes, also acting as carers.
Since 18 January 2017, the IELTS level C1 certification (International English Language System), which is the most widespread test for certifying knowledge of the English language in the world. For this reason, a one-off £110 will be refunded to those who register on the NMC site before this date. Those who want to evaluate the possibility of transfer after January 18 will have the opportunity to have a free training to obtain the certification.
