The public health care lacks 70 thousand nurses, far more than doctors, and the crisis in Italy is going to develop more and more. Young people, in fact, prefer to study something else: this year at the selection exam for admittance to the degree course there will be a negative record of candidates for the three-year course of study necessary to become a nurse. Indeed, the number of applications has never been lower since the admission exams were administered. For the selection on September 5, 21,250 applicants are anticipated to compete for 20,714 available positions. In actuality, we have arrived at the "candidate for a vacant position" stage, which is particularly problematic in institutions in the Central and Northern regions due to the paradoxical situation where there are occasionally more test slots available than applicants. The genuinely disturbing reality is that for nursing there is not just a decline in applications, but also that of actual graduates. The problem is the poor attractiveness of a profession, that of the nurse, which is necessary to maintain the National Health Service on its feet. So much so that there are over 15 thousand resignations in just two years mostly owing to pay that are too low, few career chances and a profession that may frequently be quite stressful. The attempt of both the Government and the Regions is to find nurses abroad - from India to South America. Already now in Calabria hospitals remain open owing to Cuban nurses.