STYLISA FoundHers September: Why Dina Paoloni Believes Nurses Should Move Abroad with Strategy, Not Survival

Around the world, millions of nurses leave home in search of new opportunities. They relocate with ambition, determination and the hope of building a better future for themselves and their families. Yet behind those decisions are often complex realities that extend far beyond finding a new job.

For STYLISA FoundHers September, I speak with Dina Paoloni, founder of P&B Service Solution Ltd, internationally educated nurse, career coach and author. Having experienced relocation herself, Dina has built a business dedicated to helping internationally educated nurses make informed decisions about their careers and navigate the challenges of working overseas with greater confidence and clarity.

Throughout our conversation, Dina reflects on the realities many internationally educated nurses face, from navigating unfamiliar healthcare systems and workplace cultures to understanding employment contracts, career progression and long-term professional development. She also shares why she believes relocating abroad should never be driven purely by urgency, but by careful planning, informed choices and a clear sense of purpose.

Whether you work in healthcare or not, this conversation offers a thoughtful insight into leadership, resilience and the importance of creating opportunities that enable people not simply to succeed, but to thrive.

Why This Conversation Matters

Healthcare has never been more global. Countries increasingly rely on internationally educated professionals to strengthen their healthcare systems, yet the experiences of those individuals are rarely part of the wider conversation.

Too often, discussions about workforce shortages focus on numbers rather than people. We hear about recruitment targets, vacancies and demand, but far less about what happens after someone has made the life-changing decision to leave home and build a career in another country.

That is what makes this conversation so important.

Dina Paoloni reminds us that relocation is about far more than employment. It is about identity, belonging, confidence, wellbeing and creating a sustainable future. Her work challenges the idea that internationally educated nurses should simply be grateful for an opportunity. Instead, she argues that they deserve the information, support and respect needed to make informed decisions and build careers that genuinely reflect their skills and potential.

At its heart, STYLISA FoundHers exists to shine a light on women who are creating meaningful change through their work. Dina is doing exactly that. By helping internationally educated nurses move from reacting to planning, and from uncertainty to confidence, she is not only supporting individual careers but contributing to stronger healthcare systems and better outcomes for the communities those nurses go on to serve.

Dina Paoloni, Founder of P&B Service Solution Ltd.

Let’s begin at the beginning. You started your career as an internationally educated nurse before becoming a career coach and founder. Can you share the story behind that journey and what ultimately led you to build P&B Service Solution Ltd?

I started my nursing career in Italy, where I worked for 12 years and, alongside that, volunteered with the Italian Red Cross for nearly 12 years. Service was never something I “added on” to my life, it was and it is part of who I am. So when I moved abroad, I didn’t stop wanting to help people, I simply shifted how I helped.

At the beginning, I wasn’t trying to build a business, I started helping Italian nurses move abroad because I knew how confusing and isolating that process can be, and because, at the time, there weren’t many Italians already working overseas who could share real, practical guidance.

I created a Facebook group to support them, answer questions, and share what I was learning.

To find accurate information, I began using LinkedIn more intentionally: researching, connecting with professionals, and gathering insights I could bring back to the community.

Over time, something powerful happened: my Facebook group grew, my LinkedIn presence grew, and nurses began asking me for more than information, in fact, they wanted support, structure, and coaching.

That was the turning point, so I decided to take it seriously. I trained in transformational coaching and career coaching, and I created my first programme, the Successful Expat Nurse Accelerator. With my early clients, I tested and refined what became the Nurses Move System,  a strategic, ethical approach to relocation and career growth that protects nurses from avoidable mistakes and helps them make decisions with clarity and confidence.

I didn’t want this to be informal advice on the side. I trained in leadership and entrepreneurship so I could build something sustainable, ethical, and scalable: something that could truly serve nurses long-term.

That is how P&B Service Solution Ltd (trading as Nurses Move) was born, from volunteering roots, a community-first mission, and a very real need I could see every day: nurses moving with hope, but without a strategy.

I later captured the full method and mindset behind this work in my book The Awakened Nurse, so nurses could have a roadmap even before they join a programme.

Now I also work in a project with the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur programme to retain Internationally educated nurses in the UK, moreover I became a CPD Provider and I also train experienced nurses to become successful career coaches with my programme “Successful Career Coach Accelerator”. My work exists to make sure internationally educated nurses are not only welcomed, but empowered.

Many internationally educated nurses move abroad with hope and ambition, yet the reality can sometimes be very different. From your own experience, what are some of the challenges that people rarely talk about when relocating to work in healthcare overseas?

Many people expect the biggest challenges to be the paperwork, the exam, or learning a new clinical system. Those are real, but the hardest parts are often the ones nobody prepares you for because they’re emotional, cultural, and deeply human.

One of the most overlooked challenges is the identity shift. You arrive as a competent professional, but you can suddenly feel like a beginner again: not because you lack skills, but because the environment, language, and unwritten rules are different. That can create a quiet loss of confidence, especially when you’re trying to prove yourself every day.

Another challenge is the hidden culture of hierarchy and belonging. Internationally educated nurses often have to work twice as hard to be seen as “safe” or “good enough,” while also navigating accents, communication styles, and workplace dynamics that can be difficult to decode (and racism is often embedded in it). Micro‑exclusions, subgrouping, subtle bias, or being overlooked for development opportunities can happen without anyone calling it out directly, and that silence is exhausting.

People also rarely talk about the contract and recruitment risks. Many nurses sign agreements without fully understanding conditions, deductions, role expectations, or what support they will actually receive once they arrive. When reality doesn’t match the promise, they can feel trapped, financially, emotionally, and sometimes even legally.

And finally, there’s the personal cost: loneliness, guilt, and the pressure to “make it worth it.” You’re carrying the hopes of your family, your children, and often an entire community back home. When you struggle, you don’t always feel you have permission to say it out loud, because you represent the successful nurse abroad!

That’s why I teach nurses to relocate consciously, with strategy, clarity, and support, so they don’t just survive the move, but build a career and a life abroad that feels safe, aligned, sustainable and successful for real!

You often speak about helping nurses move from survival mode to strategy. What does survival mode look like in real terms, and what shifts when someone begins to approach their career more strategically?

Survival mode is when a nurse is constantly reacting instead of choosing. In real terms, it looks like taking shifts, roles, or contracts out of fear: fear of losing income, risking a visa, upsetting a manager, or being seen as “difficult.” It’s overworking to prove your worth, staying quiet even when something feels wrong, and living with a constant mental load: “Am I good enough here? Do I belong?”

Strategy begins when the question changes from “How do I cope?” to “What am I building?” and “What is my WHY”?

That shift brings clarity and power: nurses start making decisions based on long‑term goals, solid information (not promises), skills and positioning, and clear boundaries. The biggest change is agency and mindset: they stop feeling like the system is happening to them, and start designing their next move with intention and with career design. They don’t react anymore, they strategically position themselves in a place of power for what they want to achieve in life and in nursing.

Dina Paoloni is helping internationally educated nurses build careers with confidence.

Your work focuses not only on career development but also on helping nurses relocate consciously and safely. Why is this distinction so important, and what are some of the risks that internationally educated nurses face if they don’t have the right information before signing a contract?

Relocating as an internationally educated nurse isn’t just a career step, it’s a legal, financial, and professional commitment. A I always say: “we don’t move abroad for a new job, when we move abroad we do for a new life”. That’s why I make a clear distinction between career development and conscious, safe relocation. Career growth is about where you want to go. Safe relocation is about making sure the pathway you choose doesn’t put you at risk before you even arrive: you can’t have a successful career if you don’t experience a safe and conscious relocation.

If nurses don’t have the right information before signing a contract, the risks are very real. The most common ones I see are:

• Restrictive clauses that make it difficult or expensive to leave and that last at least 3 years (repayment clauses, penalties, long lock-ins)

• Hidden costs and deductions that reduce take-home pay far more than expected (making difficult remittance for their family at home)

• Role mismatch: the job, location, or conditions are not what was promised

• Unsafe environments: poor induction, inadequate supervision, or being placed into high-pressure settings too quickly

• Visa/sponsorship vulnerability: not understanding what affects their ability to change employer or protect their status

• Exploitation through urgency: being pushed to sign quickly, without time to compare options or ask the right questions

• Scams: so many pretend to be relocation agencies, recruiting agencies, migration agencies or language schools to make nurses enroll in their programmes and pay for them only for leaving them without a job abroad and with an empty pocket.

And in today’s healthcare landscape, with AI, climate pressures, and generational shifts reshaping the workforce, making a rushed decision is even riskier! Nurses need to relocate with clarity, not panic, so they can build a stable foundation and position themselves for long-term growth, not just short-term survival.

There is a growing global demand for healthcare professionals, yet internationally trained nurses can still feel invisible or undervalued within the system. Why do you think this disconnect exists?

The disconnect exists because demand doesn’t automatically create dignity or effective resources. It often creates dependency on labour, and internationally educated nurses can be treated as a “solution to staffing” or “a good for exchange between countries” rather than as skilled professionals with leadership potential who can make a real difference in their special area of expertise.

A few things drive that invisibility:

Systems don’t recognise experience equally and fail overseas nurses expertise: many nurses arrive with years of high-level practice, but their previous expertise is not fully understood, trusted, or translated into the new system’s language and pathways. They can be treated like “new” nurses again: in fact they start in the new system as newly graduated nurses.

Power imbalance is often associated with vulnerability: when your job is tied to sponsorship and Visa, probation, or relocation costs, it’s harder to advocate for yourself, you have to bow your head and accept what has been put in front of you. That vulnerability can silence nurses and reinforce the idea that they should be grateful rather than valued, when in fact it should be the exact opposite: countries in need of healthcare professionals should thank nurses for having chosen them among others especially for the high global demand (globally we are in deficit of 6 Millions nurses!)

Unspoken bias and “fit” culture make everything more complicated. Accents, communication styles, and cultural differences can be misread as lack of competence; add micro‑exclusions and limited access to development opportunities, and nurses stay overlooked even when they’re performing at a high level and bring specialised skills and competencies.

A lack of structured support: Countries are often good to recruit but not to retain nursing excellence. Many organisations recruit internationally, but don’t invest enough in induction, cultural integration, mentorship, and transparent progression routes, so nurses survive, but don’t thrive and often leave for another country or for another profession.

That’s why I teach nurses to move from survival mode to strategy: to make themselves visible through positioning, evidence, and confidence, and to choose workplaces that don’t just need them, but will actually grow them.

What are some of the most common misconceptions that internationally educated nurses have when they are planning to relocate to another country?

Some of the most common misconceptions I see are not about intelligence, they’re about missing information and unrealistic expectations created especially by social media, recruiters, or word of mouth.

One big misconception is: “If a country needs nurses, they will automatically value me.” Demand doesn’t always equal respect, support, or fair conditions. Nurses can still face hierarchy, bias, and limited progression if they don’t understand how the system works.

Another is: “A job offer means I’m safe.” Many nurses assume that once they have a contract, everything will be fine. But contracts can include repayment clauses, hidden deductions, unclear role expectations, or conditions that make it hard to change employers, especially when visas and sponsorship are involved.

A third misconception is: “My experience will translate exactly the same.” Nurses often expect their seniority, skills, and confidence to transfer smoothly, but every country has different clinical standards, documentation, communication styles, and “unwritten rules.” Without preparation, even excellent nurses can feel like beginners again.

Many also believe: “Relocation is mostly paperwork.” In reality, the hardest part is often the identity shift, cultural adaptation, and learning how to advocate for yourself in a new hierarchy while building a new life.

Another is: “I just need to get there, then I’ll figure it out.” That mindset is what keeps nurses in survival mode. Relocation works best when it’s strategic: choosing the right country, the right employer, and the right pathway based on long-term career design.

And finally: “I can ignore AI and the big changes in healthcare for now.” Especially now, with healthcare changing rapidly due to AI, climate pressures, and generational shifts, nurses need orientation, not fear. That’s why I created Nursing Career Mastery: AI & Climate Change in a Shifting Healthcare Landscape: to give nurses awareness, career direction, and a practical way to engage with AI, with a clear map and orientation without fear.

You now guide nurses through the process of choosing the right country, role and workplace. What are the key factors someone should consider before making such a life-changing decision?

I guide nurses to choose from strategy, not urgency. I’m not against recruiting agencies, but I want nurses to be the creators of their own future. Even if they use an agency, it should be a strategic choice, not a blind handover of power.

Here are the key factors I recommend assessing (this is exactly why I created the Best Country Toolkit, free for my community):

• Scope of practice and professional autonomy: what you’re legally allowed to do, how nursing is respected, and how much voice you’ll have. Nursing is different country by country with different levels of autonomy, you should inform yourself before choosing.

• Career pathway: progression, specialisation options, CPD/ continuous education access, and leadership opportunities. These are different country by country and you should be aware about what you can and can not achieve abroad.

• Real salary vs real life: pay after deductions, taxes, cost of living, housing, childcare, and whether you can actually build stability. Many nurses send remittance abroad and if you choose without calculating the salary against the real cost of living you could live in poverty abroad.

• Safety and human rights: crime levels, freedom of religion, freedom of sexual orientation, and overall personal safety and belonging are always overlooked but actually are the foundation of our spiritual life and mental health.

• Climate and lifestyle fit: because climate impacts health, wellbeing, and long-term sustainability, especially for families, especially if your preferred leisure activity are outside and the weather doesn’t allow them.

• Family needs: schools, childcare, partner opportunities, and community support (this is huge for nurse-mums). There are countries where childcare is very expensive and can destroy a family's economy.

• Healthcare system realities: staffing, induction, mentorship, and how internationally educated nurses are supported day-to-day.

• Visa and flexibility: sponsorship conditions and how easily you can change employers if the role isn’t what you were promised. Nurses are often stuck in the same profession for years because of that.

These tools are also grounded in the principles I share in my book “The Awakened Nurse”, because relocation is career design, not luck

When nurses evaluate these factors upfront, they don’t just “move abroad”, they relocate consciously, building a life and career that’s safe, aligned, and future-ready.

Dina shares a roadmap for internationally educated nurses through her book, The Awakened Nurse.

Coaching requires both empathy and honesty. When nurses come to you feeling overwhelmed or exploited, how do you help them rebuild confidence and regain control of their professional path?

When nurses come to me overwhelmed or exploited, I start by doing two things at the same time: I validate their experience and I bring them back to clarity. Many internationally educated nurses have been carrying stress in silence for months, sometimes years, and they’ve started to believe the problem is them. It’s not.

But once clarity is reached, we also don’t stay in the pain: we turn it into a plan.

Practically, I help them rebuild confidence by:

• Naming what’s happening (burnout, power imbalance, contract traps, micro‑exclusions) so they stop internalising it as personal failure.

• Stabilising the basics first: safety, visa/sponsorship reality, finances, and what options they truly have right now. We can identify the immediate next action to do within the 72 hours to make the change happening.

• Rebuilding professional identity: we map their strengths, scope of practice, transferable skills, and what makes them valuable in their system. Understand who they are in the present moment and who they want to become.

• Shifting from emotion to strategy: boundaries, communication scripts, and a step-by-step career plan so they stop reacting and start choosing. I help them learn how to understand and manage emotion to overcome survival mode and achieve confidence.

• Positioning for the next level: CV and LinkedIn optimisation are basic things that “improvised career coaches” do for a cheap price. I help my clients tailor their CV for the job opportunity of their dream, helping them build a LinkedIn narrative that helps them build a supportive network for their career goals and ambitions, evidence of impact, and a pathway toward progression, not just coping.

• Empathy is the doorway, but honesty is the bridge. I tell nurses the truth with care: they don’t need to beg to be valued, they need to reposition themselves for success, get informed, and make decisions from power. When they see their options clearly again, confidence comes back fast, because it was never gone, it was just buried under survival mode.

Your work sits at the intersection of migration, healthcare and career empowerment. From your perspective, what changes would you like to see within global healthcare systems to better support internationally educated nurses?

I would like to see global healthcare systems stop treating internationally educated nurses as a “staffing solution” or “goodies for exchange” and start treating them as a strategic workforce with expertise, leadership potential, and rights. That requires changes at system level, not just resilience at individual level.

The changes I would like to see are:

• Ethical recruitment with real accountability: transparent contracts, no hidden deductions, no predatory repayment clauses, and consequences for agencies or employers who mislead nurses.

• Standardised, funded transition pathways: strong induction, supervised practice, cultural integration support, and protected learning time, not “sink or swim” that is just unfair for nurses and highly risky for patients.

• Recognition of overseas experience: clearer frameworks to translate competencies and seniority, so nurses don’t restart as newly graduated every time they cross a border, training and shadowing opportunity where it is possible with bridging programmes that can enable previous skills to integrate and thrive abroad.

• Visa and sponsorship reform that reduces vulnerability: nurses should be able to change employers without fear, because dependency creates silence and exploitation. A facilitated or speed entry for nurses and healthcare professionals where they are most needed.

• Mentorship combined with leadership pipelines for IENs: representation matters. International nurses should have access to development, specialist roles, and leadership, not just the hardest shifts that often see nurses with enormous potential kept at the lowest role for 3 years contract or more only because they were in need of leaving their country.

• A future-ready workforce strategy: AI, climate pressures, and generational shifts are reshaping healthcare. Systems should invest in education and career coaching so nurses can adapt, progress, and stay, not burn out and leave. This is true for all nurses, not only overseas nurses.

• International nurses are already contributing massively to patient care and system stability. The next step is building systems that not only recruit them, but retain, protect, and grow them for better and high quality patient centred care.

Founders often build businesses from deeply personal experiences. How has your own journey shaped the way you lead and grow P&B Service Solution Ltd today?

My journey shaped my leadership in one main way: it made me build this company community-first, evidence-based, and deeply human.

I didn’t start as a “business person.” I started as an internationally educated nurse and a volunteer, someone who saw a gap and simply began serving. That’s why, even today, I don’t build from trends, I build from real problems nurses are living every day.

Moving from Italy to the UK taught me that talent is not enough if you don’t understand the system, the culture, and the power dynamics.

It also taught me that nurses can lose confidence not because they are weak, but because they are unsupported. As a founder, that experience made me obsessive about two things: clarity and protection. I want nurses to have the right information, the right strategy, and the right support so they don’t have to learn everything the hard way and alone.

My journey also taught me to lead with what I call homeostasis, not perfect balance, but adaptive stability. I’m a mother, a nurse, and an entrepreneur and suffer from chronic conditions, I’ve had to learn how to grow in seasons, make intentional trade-offs, and build systems that are sustainable. That’s why P&B Service Solution Ltd is designed to scale impact without exploiting nurses’ time, energy, or hope.

And finally, because healthcare is changing rapidly, with AI, climate pressures, and generational shifts, I lead with a future-facing mindset. Nurses don’t just need motivation; they need orientation and career design. That’s why I grew from supporting relocation into building programmes that develop nurse leaders and train experienced nurses to become career coaches. My leadership is shaped by one belief: nurses are not a disposable workforce. They are the future of healthcare, and they deserve to be positioned accordingly.

For nurses who are currently feeling stuck, undervalued, or unsure about their next move abroad, what is the first step they can take to begin shifting their situation?

The first step is to stop trying to figure it out alone.

When a nurse feels stuck, undervalued, or unsure about their next move abroad, isolation becomes the biggest risk, because you start making decisions from fear, rumours, or urgency. Many trends and a sense of urgency are created by influencers, often nurses already abroad sharing videos on social media, and they don’t always represent reality. In fact, they can mislead you and create confusion. I’ve seen many nurses let themselves down because they followed the latest trend instead of finding reliable information or asking for support from the right people.

The fastest way to shift your situation is to get into the right environment: a space where you can access accurate information, see what’s possible, and rebuild confidence through community and strategy.

That’s why my call to action is simple: join my FREE Nurses Move Career Coaching community. Inside, you’ll be supported and nurtured by like-minded, ambitious nurses who are also relocating, progressing, or redesigning their careers. You’ll learn the right questions to ask, the mistakes to avoid, and how to move from survival mode to strategy, step by step. Also I am there guiding nurses towards their quest.

Because clarity doesn’t come from overthinking, it comes from support, structure, and a plan.

And if you need a starting point and you don’t want to expose yourself, my book “The Awakened Nurse” is the roadmap I wish I had when I moved abroad.

Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for the impact you would like your work to have within the global nursing community?

My long-term vision is to help build a global nursing community that is not only mobile, but strategic, protected, and future-ready.

Healthcare is already being reshaped by AI, climate pressures, and generational shifts. In that landscape, nurses will need more than resilience or retention strategy, they will need career design, positioning, and guidance. That’s why I believe nurse career coaches will become more and more in demand: not as a luxury, but as a necessity for retention, progression, and wellbeing.

This is exactly why I am developing my “Awakened Nurse Theory” and why I created the “Successful Career Coach Accelerator”. My goal is to train experienced nurses to become ethical, highly skilled career coaches who can support other nurses through relocation, reinvention, leadership, and the identity shifts that come with working in a changing system. And I want them to build sustainable coaching businesses without burnout, aligned with the season of life they are in: because success should never require self-sacrifice.

If I do my work well, the impact is bigger than one programme or one community: it’s a ripple effect. More nurses making informed moves (not just around the world but in their career), more nurses staying in the profession with dignity, and more nurse-led leadership shaping the future of healthcare from the inside out.

Finally, STYLISA FoundHers always ends with the same question. What three pieces of advice would you give to women and girls who want to build a meaningful career and create opportunities for themselves, even when the path is not always straightforward?

You are enough: you are already “ready.” You are perfect as you are. Of course you can always improve, but the best start is to start now, as you are. Bring your vision and your idea to the right people, instead of waiting to feel more confident or more qualified and never start.

Validate small before you scale. Start with a small group of early adopters. Make them feel special and part of something meaningful. They will give you the most valuable insights, so you can refine your product, strengthen your message, and then grow to a bigger audience with confidence.

Success is shaped by the “Who.” In my entrepreneurial journey, I learned it’s not only the what or the why (even though they matter) that matters the most, but it’s the who: the clients who buy, the sponsors who open doors, the investors who back your vision, the community who amplifies your work. Stay honest to who you are, serve the people who align with your values, and build relationships with the “who” that matches your vision, because your niche is you, and you are the expert of your innovation.

STYLISA FoundHers Takeaways

Strategy Creates Better Outcomes

Moving abroad should never be driven by urgency alone. Taking time to understand employment contracts, career pathways and long-term opportunities can make the difference between simply coping and building a fulfilling career.

Career Decisions Shape Lives

Relocating overseas is about far more than accepting a new job. It affects financial security, family life, wellbeing and future opportunities, making informed decision-making essential.

Information Is a Form of Empowerment

Access to accurate, practical information enables people to ask better questions, recognise potential risks and make choices with greater confidence.

Leadership Begins with Self-Advocacy

Internationally educated nurses often bring years of valuable experience. Recognising that value and learning how to communicate it effectively is an important part of professional growth.

Community Makes Change Possible

Isolation can leave people feeling overwhelmed and uncertain. Supportive communities provide knowledge, encouragement and reassurance at times when it is needed most

Ethical Leadership Matters

Whether recruiting, coaching or leading organisations, people have a responsibility to place integrity and transparency at the centre of their work.

The Future Requires Continuous Learning

Healthcare continues to evolve through technological advances, changing workforce expectations and wider global challenges. Remaining curious and adaptable will be increasingly important for every healthcare professional.

STYLISA FoundHers Glossary: September Edition

Because understanding the language is half the battle.

Career Coach: A professional who helps people develop their careers, identify opportunities and achieve their professional goals.

CPD (Continuing Professional Development): Ongoing learning and training that helps professionals maintain and develop their knowledge and skills throughout their careers.

Internationally Educated Nurse (IEN): A nurse who completed their professional nursing education outside the country in which they are currently practising.

Micro-exclusions: Subtle behaviours or actions that can make someone feel excluded, overlooked or less valued within a workplace or community.

Professional Autonomy: The ability to make informed professional decisions and practise independently within the scope of one’s role.

Scope of Practice: The duties, responsibilities and clinical activities that a healthcare professional is qualified and legally permitted to undertake.

Sponsorship: An arrangement in which an employer supports a worker’s visa, allowing them to live and work legally in another country.

Transformational Coaching: A coaching approach that focuses on helping people change the way they think, develop greater self-awareness and achieve long-term personal and professional growth.

Visa Sponsorship: Permission granted through an employer that allows an individual to work legally in another country under immigration rules.

A massive thank you to Dina Paoloni, for agreeing to be interviewed and becoming a part of the STYLISA FoundHers community. If you’re interested in finding out more about her work:

Discover P&B Service Solution (Nurses Move)

Connect with Dina on LinkedIn