Simone helps found first support group for Italian nurses and midwives in the UK
A member of #TeamUHDB has teamed up with nursing colleagues from across the UK to form a new association for Italian nurses and midwives.
Simone Rizzi, Matron for Cardiology and Rheumatology, is one of the six founding members of the Italian Nurses and Midwives Association UK (INaMA-UK), which launches next week.
INaMA-UK aims to create a network of healthcare workers based in the UK with Italian heritage and will act an ambassador and advocate for equality Italian nurses and midwives and to aid career progression for members.
Simone said that, despite Italian being the fifth biggest nationality group of nurses and midwives in the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), there were no support groups available to them, which led to the creation of INaMA-UK:
“I was approached by three other Italian nurses through the Florence Nightingale Foundation who agreed that over the last two years, the need for a network of Italian healthcare professionals living and working in the UK became evident.
“There are no existing associations for Italian healthcare workers in the UK, despite there being more than 3,000 Italian colleagues currently registered with the NMC.”
Simone made the move from sunny southern Italy to the UK in 2014 in pursuit of better job prospects within nursing, and has worked his way through the ranks at UHDB ever since.
Now, he wants to draw on his experience and share his knowledge with his compatriots to help them pursue their careers in the NHS.
Simone added: “I am enthusiastic to support other Italian nurses and midwives and provide clinical and personal advice to as many people as I can. We are finally recognised as an official association and therefore we can have a bigger voice as a community of well-trained nurses and midwives, and I am also thrilled to be able to empower my colleagues in achieving a better development and work satisfaction.
INaMA-UK is hosting a launch event via MS Teams on Tuesday 31 May at 7pm which will allow attendees to find out more about the organisation and its plans for the future.