Rome – The Italian healthcare system is facing an unprecedented crisis: every year, over 10.000 nurses are abandoning the National Health Service (NHS), a hemorrhage that risks seriously compromising the future of healthcare in the country.
The alarm was raised by the Gimbe Foundation, which denounced unsustainable working conditions, inadequate salaries and a growing risk of burnout and violence for professionals in the sector.
An alarming picture:
Staff shortage: Italy has only 6,5 nurses per 1.000 inhabitants, well below the OECD average (9,8) and the EU average (9). In Europe, only Spain, Poland and Hungary have worse figures.
Escape from the NHS: In the three-year period 2020-2022, 16.192 nurses left the public service, and in 2024 alone there were 10.230 cancellations from the Fnopi Register, an essential requirement for practicing the profession.
Aging workforce: One in four nurses is approaching retirement, and a wave of retirements is feared in the coming years.
Low wages: Italian nurses earn some of the lowest salaries in Europe, with annual gross earnings $9.463 lower than the OECD average.
Violence and burnout: Professionals in the sector are increasingly exposed to episodes of violence (260.000 cases of aggression in 2024 alone) and to a high risk of burnout.
Consequences and requests:
The shortage of nurses puts at risk the reform of territorial assistance, which foresees a key role for these professionals in community homes and hospitals. The Gimbe Foundation calls for an extraordinary plan for the profession, with urgent interventions on salaries, working conditions and training.
Contract blocking:
To make matters worse, the blockage of negotiations for the renewal of the healthcare sector contract, which provides for a salary increase of 180 euros gross per month for nurses, and the impossibility of starting negotiations for the 2025-27 contract, which would bring a further increase of over 200 euros.
The appeal:
Gimbe president Nino Cartabellotta warns that the current situation “compromises the functioning of public health and undermines equity in access to care”. Nursind union secretary Andrea Bottega hopes that negotiations for the contract renewal can restart after the RSU elections.
Article published on March 25, 2025 - 19pm
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