Nurses Move Mission

I’m Dina Paoloni, an internationally educated nurse, career coach, and the founder of Nurses Move®.

I’m Italian, and my nursing journey has taken me through emergency care, critical care, management, leadership, research, and coaching. In 2015 I moved abroad and, as a nurse and a mum, I learned the hard way how demanding it is to perform well at work while still being present at home—especially during a major life transition.

Research shows how stressful it is to move abroad. We also know how intense it is to be a nurse in a busy environment. When you combine both: new country, new system, new policies, new culture, often a new language, you don’t just “adapt” you SURVIVE! And too many nurses are forced to survive for far too long.

That’s why I created Nurses Move®: a movement of awareness and self-empowerment for nurses who migrate and move abroad, and for nurses in general. The aim has always been the same: to help each other, reduce stress, protect our wellbeing, and enjoy life at work and outside work, so we can offer better and more effective care to our patients.

Nurses Move® believes in nurses who responsibly take care of themselves in order to take better care of others. And Nurses Move® believes in nurses who responsibly take care of the planet, because environment and health are inseparable. Florence Nightingale taught us that a healthy environment is fundamental for healing and improving health, and that truth matters even more today.

Nurses move all around the world: preventing, rescuing, caring, educating, advocating. Nurses travel, they relocate, they rebuild, their role is essential!

Nurses Move® exists because I truly believe nurses can change the world for the better.

But I also know what many nurses face when they move: the pressure of proving themselves again, the weight of cultural and language barriers, and the shock of realising that being “needed” doesn’t always mean being valued. This is stressful, and it can become dangerous when nurses are left without belonging, psychological safety, or leadership support.

Over time, Nurses Move® has grown into a global career coaching community and training ecosystem with one clear purpose: to help nurses move from survival mode to strategy, so they can build careers with dignity, wellbeing, and leadership.

Because this is not only about relocation, it’s about what happens after the move:

• The cultural transition

• The emotional load

• The identity shift

• The leadership gap

• The need for belonging and psychological safety

That’s why my work integrates emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, and career design, because nursing excellence is not only clinical, it’s human.

And yes, leaders read Nurses Move® too. If you’re an NHS leader or organisational decision-maker, my message is simple: retention is not a recruitment strategy.

Nurses stay where they feel safe, valued, and able to grow. High performance is built through psychological safety, belonging, and leadership accountability.

This mission has been strengthened by recognised leadership and real-world outcomes, including being part of a national award-winning cardiac team (SCTS, St Bartholomew’s Hospital), participating in the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, serving as an NHS AI Ambassador, and becoming a Healthcare Leadership Academy (HLA) Nurse Leader and Mentor. I’m also Regional Director Europe for Nurses in Charge, supporting nurses across 25 countries, and the author of The Awakened Nurse.

Moving abroad is a hard task, especially when you don’t have the right information and a good plan!

Too many nurses move for a “juicy” job offer, forgetting their life and health, then endure stress and adopt bad habits as a palliative remedy for the wrong initial choices. The cost is high, for the nurse, for patients, and for the wider system.

Nurses Move® is here to educate nurses to move consciously and strategically, understand professional markets and employment laws, recognise scams, and make the right decisions with confidence.

Since 2015, I’ve helped nurses from different backgrounds move across different countries, and I’m passionate about helping because I’ve been there.

And I’ll tell you the truth straight away:

“Every change in life is the consequence of a feeling of discomfort.”

Dina Paoloni RGN

My story and my legacy

After I moved abroad, I thought the hardest part was behind me.

I had a good career position. I had a clear path in front of me. My family was finally settled in a place that felt safer and full of possibility.

And yet, in what should have been one of the happiest seasons of my life, I started to fall apart.

Endometriosis, the chronic condition I live with, reached a point where the pain and the exhaustion didn’t just affect my body, they affected my identity.

I remember feeling useless: for myself, for my family, and even for my patients.

In that moment I realised I had two choices: I could do nothing and slowly disappear into hopelessness, or I could do something, stop reacting, and start planning a path that could support my physical health, my mental health, and my future.

I had studied wellness and mindfulness before, I had used those tools in my life, but like many nurses, I had abandoned myself along the way: I kept going, I kept performing, I kept giving.

Until I couldn’t.

So I returned to what I knew was true: when your life is shaking, you don’t need more pressure, you need a system.

I embraced wellness and mindfulness again, not as a trend, but as a survival skill.

I started to focus on myself.

I began to tidy up my thoughts and feelings through meditation, journaling, and healthier choices for my body and my mind.

Mens sana in corpore sano, the ancient Latin says: a sound mind in a sound body.

And it’s true. After a few months of real self-focus, I felt better, happier, stronger.

I felt empowered again!

But the truth is: my frustrations didn’t start in the UK., they started years earlier.

Before moving abroad, my family was in a painful situation. Some days I wasn’t even sure I could buy milk for my children.

My husband and I were both without full-time jobs. We were working little, with no security. We weren’t only struggling financially, we were living with fear.

Fear that we could lose stability, fear that we could lose our dignity, fear that, one day, someone could decide we weren’t enough for our own children.

And this was happening in Italy, near Rome, in a place where it was hard to keep a job even when you have two strong professions: I was a critical care nurse, and my husband an architect.

So I made a decision: I didn’t want to escape, I wanted to build.

I didn’t want to accept any job abroad just to leave, I wanted the best opportunity for my family: a move that was ethical, strategic, and sustainable.

I did the research, I studied the systems, I chose carefully: I didn’t just plan a move, I planned a strategic move.

And when we arrived in the UK, I was able to provide what my family needed, not only a job and a salary, but a new life and a safer future.

While I was doing that, other nurses started reaching out. They were confused, overwhelmed, and scared.

So I shared what I had learned. I gave them the clearest advice I could, so they could make good choices for their own future.

But then something happened that I see again and again in international nurses: as soon as I moved abroad, I worked and worked and worked.

Because I had to provide.

And in that process, I put myself aside, I sacrificed my health, I paused my career growth: I told myself I didn’t need more, I just needed to survive.

The irony?

At the same time, I was giving career advice to other nurses.

I was teaching what I wasn’t living.

That’s when I realised: a shiny job offer can become a trap if you don’t have a strategy for your whole life, not just your payslip.

So I came back to myself again.

I started setting goals and building them step by step. And yes, this is a process. I’m still growing, still learning, still improving aspect by aspect.

But now I’m ready to share what I’ve learned with nurses who are ready to stop repeating the same cycle.

Because moving to another country can make us more vulnerable. It can expose stress that was already there. It can trigger psychosomatic reactions, and over time, that stress can contribute to chronic illness and deep burnout.

That’s why I believe you need goals for every part of your life before you move: health, identity, finances, career, family, belonging. You need a plan, and you need to reassess yourself periodically, to make sure your new life is actually becoming the life you wanted.

So let me ask you a question:

“What is your biggest frustration in your nursing career right now, and what makes you want to move abroad?”

If you have a reason, I honour it, and if you feel called to build something better, I’m here.

I’m here to share my story, my path, and my experience.

I’m here to help you free yourself from the toxicity of constant stress.

I’m here to help you plan a strategic and healthy move, so you can be truly happy once abroad.

If you’re ready to take the next step, start here:

• Join the FREE Nurses Move Career Coaching Community

• Explore the resources, programmes, books, and CPD training

• Book a free assessment call to understand your next move and whether you’re eligible for the Successful Expat Nurse Accelerator

Take care of yourself.

Nurse Dina and Nurses Move

NR Dina Paoloni