L’Italia non è un paese per infermieri.

The European Parliament has spoken out on the issue of unpaid internships, defining them not only as a form of exploitation of young people's labor, but also a violation of their rights.

The lack of payment for internships is also an obstacle for those families who cannot afford to support a young person, maybe for three years, away from home, renting, with all the additional expenses that come with it. All for an unpaid internship. 

It's no coincidence that in Italy the inactive youth (NEET - not in education, employment, or training) are 23.4%, a European record in 2019. 

An internship should be a period of guidance, experience, and training. Too often, in some cases, it turns into real exploitation. 

Among all internships, the most demanding, delicate, and risky is undoubtedly that of the nurse. Unlike the internship for doctors, it is not paid, nor are there any reimbursements. 

A real army preparing to learn what is considered the most difficult and among the most dangerous professions in the world (tuberculosis, HCV, HIV, COVID-19, killer bacteria and fungi, etc, etc).  

All at their own expense, for those who can afford it. It's no coincidence that more and more students are dropping out, already from the first year.  

You can't blame them.

Italy lacks nurses, perhaps they could make the profession more attractive by increasing salaries to the OECD average and proportional to the cost of living. 

To you students we will tell the truth: A worker (for example at Lidl), earns almost the same as a nurse, if not more, but without the risk of contracting a deadly disease, without the risk of transmitting it to your loved ones. Without the risk of harming someone, maybe out of tiredness, because you worked three nights in a row or skipped two rest days.

Without the risk of being sued or having to compensate someone for thousands of euros, for a mistake you may have been led to make and that you will carry on your conscience forever.

Think carefully, being a nurse in Italy is not at all simple, but above all it doesn't pay.

We confirm that it is the most beautiful and noble profession, rich in personal satisfaction, coming from those we care for. When someone shakes your hand and thanks you from the heart, looking you straight in the eyes, nothing compares. Our managers and politicians can't even imagine it.

Believe me, if you take up this profession, over the years, you will realize that it's not worth it.

They ask too many sacrifices of us, and not only from us, but also from our children, who will not only grow up with an absent parent at night, on holidays. Financially, you won't even be able to give them what they deserve. The writer, with two children and a wife to support, earns 1600 euros a month.

A worker, compared to a nurse, has the same, if not better, financial treatment (the fridge technician asked me 50 euros just for the call-out), you won't work nights, you won't work on holidays. 

Unfortunately, Italy is not a country for nurses.