Ciao! Becoming a Nurse Practitioner in Italy

I’ve been to Italy once, and if there’s one place I would like to return in future travels, it’s this land of wine, pasta, and picturesque landscapes. From exploring historical sites in Rome to soaking up rays of sunshine on the coast, Italy has an endless array of experiences to offer. As nurse practitioners, our careers are quite flexible and may even allow us to practice in international locations such as this. If you’re an NP certified in the United States, how can you take your career to Italy?

This week, we’re looking at how nurse practitioners can practice in European countries. We started with the United Kingdom and France. But, if Italy’s more your style, here’s a quick look at the process of becoming a nurse practitioner in Italy.

Scope of Practice 

In 2006 the Italian Parliament created a national regulation that set forth education requirements and established the advanced practice nursing role, which it titled as a Nurse Specialist. But as seen with many other European countries, progress and implementation of the profession have been slow.

In addition to an excess of physicians in the country, perhaps the biggest hindrance in progression is due in large part to the current role of nursing in Italy and its lack of separation between the scope of practice of a registered nurse and a nurse specialist. Apart from prescriptive authority and medical diagnosis, nurses in Italy are able to perform any kind of technique and task in accordance with his or her experience and education such as ET intubation, manual defibrillation and invasive procedures; scopes of practice that are typically limited to physicians in most other countries.

Certification and Licensure

Nurses in Italy are overseen by and are required to register with The Federation of the Ipasvi Colleges. The Ipasvi represents the nursing profession on a national basis and coordinates the Provincial Colleges, which are non-profit bodies by public law. The Colleges aim to protect registered nurses in the county by ensuring their level of competence and provide support services that help nurses practice their profession; in addition to keeping the Registers of nurses. Since the Nurse Specialist role is still in development, there is not currently a separate process for registering as an advanced practice nurse.

As a NP certified and educated in the U.S., before registering with Ipasvi, you must first contact the Italian Ministry of Health to have your professional qualifications and education recognized. According to the Ministry of Health, you will likely be required to travel to Italy to take aptitude tests that relate to the recognition of your profession; of which includes written, oral and practical components.

Once your qualifications are deemed as acceptable, you will be given a decree of recognition from the Ministry of Health, allowing you to proceed in registering; but not without first passing an exam to test your knowledge of the Italian language and as well as exam on the special provisions that rule the nursing practice in Italy.

In the event that the Italian Ministry of Health decides that your professional qualifications are not up to par, you may be required to complete additional schooling in Italy. 

Other Considerations

As a U.S. citizen you may also be required to apply for a work permit and visa to live and maintain employment in Italy.

Landing a nurse practitioner job in Italy may be difficult given the vague scope of practice and early stages of development of the profession in the country. But, NPs willing to brave the Italy’s ill defined scope of practice will find the country an exciting place to live and work.

 

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