Adapting to a New Country: Nurse Manuel’s Real Challenge
Moving to another country to pursue a nursing career is not an easy decision — it requires courage, sacrifice, and a great capacity to adapt. However, it can also be the first step toward the life and career you've always dreamed of. In this inspiring interview, Manuel, an Italian nurse currently working in the United Kingdom, shares his journey with us: the challenges, the achievements, and the personal and professional transformation he experienced after emigrating on his own.
Manuel’s story is a powerful opportunity for self-reflection for anyone considering working abroad and building an international career. What obstacles are you willing to face to get where you want to go? And what if, just like Manuel, you could also move forward in your career and transform your reality with determination and the right support?
What made you choose to work as a nurse in the UK?
My name is Manuel, and I come from Gradara, a small town on the border between Marche and Emilia Romagna (Italy). After six years of experience as a nurse at Fondazione ANT Italia Onlus, I moved to Southampton, a mid-sized city in the Hampshire region, in the south-central part of England.
Unfortunately, working conditions for nurses in Italy don’t really allow for true career success. Like in the rest of Northern Europe, the UK offers far better opportunities for professional growth and, as a result, a salary that allows for a comfortable life.
Let’s be honest—loving your job is important, but having a salary that reflects your professional responsibilities is just as crucial.
So, I decided to leave my family, friends, and swim team behi
nd and move here, facing all the challenges of starting over alone in a country with a completely different culture and mindset.
The opportunities, especially within my NHS Trust, are truly exciting. There are nurses who support you both professionally and in your training, and they genuinely care about your well-being, even on a social level. It almost feels like a dreamland in terms of career development—and in many ways, it is.
If you love your job and put in the effort, you’re almost always rewarded here. You don’t have to beg for study leave, career advancement, or university courses to move up the ladder.
To put things into perspective, a Band 7 nurse here—called an Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP)—can intubate patients, suture wounds, remove brain drains, perform lumbar punctures, carry out minor surgical procedures, and even prescribe medication!
Are you happy with your choice?
Saying I’m happy with my decision would be an understatement. Of course, there have been ups and downs—life is like that—but I’m 95% sure I made the right choice, and if I could go back, I’d probably do it even sooner.
Tell us a bit about your job, your career path, and the city where you live.
As I mentioned, I live in Southampton and work at Southampton General Hospital, a massive NHS Trust with about 1,400 beds and 14,000 employees.
It’s a teaching hospital, meaning it has a dedicated university training centre for doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals—something I had no idea even existed before moving here.
Every department includes doctors, nurses, psychologists, dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists (a role that doesn’t exist in Italy), and speech and language therapists (also non-existent in the Italian healthcare system).
Right now, I work in the Neurosciences Department, where we care for neurology, neurosurgery, spinal, and stroke patients.
I’ve always had a preference for surgical and critical care areas, and I’ve just applied for a position in the Surgical High Dependency Unit (SHDU). This unit admits complex post-surgical patients from general, thoracic, orthopaedic, and spinal surgery, who are too unstable for a regular ward.
Here, the nurse-to-patient ratio is 2:1, meaning each nurse looks after only two patients. These patients receive hemodynamic support, but they are not intubated. If a patient becomes too critical for SHDU, they are transferred to ICU before being "stepped down" once they are stable enough.
What has been the biggest challenge you've faced?
The hardest challenge for me came about six months after moving—I struggled with a deep sense of loss. I experienced depression, but thanks to psychological and medical support, I learned to understand myself better and figure out what I needed.
I started looking for other Italian expats to spend time with, and eventually, we built a fantastic group that now includes nearly 30 people.
Now, I feel great, but I still go back to Italy every 2–3 months.
I remember a time when I felt completely lost—it was like I didn’t belong anywhere. In Italy, I felt like a tourist, and in the UK, there were days when I felt like nothing truly belonged to me.
But it passed—or at least, it did for me. Now, when I visit Italy, I feel like a tourist, and everyone spoils me. And when I return to the UK, it feels like home.
Vitae Professionals was truly a gift that life gave me—and one that I actively sought out.
It wasn’t easy. My English was terrible, and after two years of studying while working in Italy, I finally passed the English language exam—but not without some challenges.
I failed twice—once in Rome, where at the time, they didn’t even provide headphones for the listening test (I wouldn’t recommend taking the exam there), and again in Porto, where I attended a fantastic bootcamp organised by Vitae Professionals. I would do that experience again a thousand times over because it was amazing to finally meet in person the people who had been supporting me for two years.
That time, I barely missed passing.
Then, I took the exam in Milan—and I passed. I couldn’t believe it.
Vitae Professionals helped me immensely with the language aspect, and I have to give a huge shout-out to Professor Marcia Martins, who never stopped believing in me. She even acted as a therapist at times when I was on the verge of breaking down.
On the documentation side, I was lucky to be guided by Eleonora Marinucci, who helped me through every step of the process, from acquiring the necessary documents to getting everything approved.
Manuel’s story is a true example that, with determination, the right support, and a strong will to grow, it’s possible to transform not just a career, but an entire life. By facing the challenges of emigrating on his own, he proved that even during the toughest moments, it’s worth persevering when you believe in a greater goal.
At Vitae Professionals, we are incredibly proud to have been part of this journey — from supporting his language preparation to helping him achieve his dream of working abroad. A special thank you to Manuel, not only for trusting us but also for sharing his experience in such an authentic and inspiring way.
Our mission is to continue supporting healthcare professionals like you in achieving not only their career goals but also a more fulfilling life. Because yes — just like Manuel did, you can do it too.
