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For the last month, the Global Health Office was pleased to host visiting scholar Erika Bassi, a Master of Science in Nursing student from the University of Ferrara, Italy. Bassi was awarded a grant sponsored by the Ferrara University & Rotary Club to join the Nursing Health Services Research Unit (NHSRU) for the month of September to complete her research practicum. Working closely with NHSRU researchers, her research focused on examining the impact of economic changes on the nursing workforce in Italy.

 

Bassi has gained academic and research experience internationally in Europe, Australia, and North America. After graduating from the University of Verona with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, she completed a master’s degree in Critical Care Nursing from the University of Florence. In 2011, she earned a Master in Evidence Based Clinical Practice from the University of Bologna. For 10 years, she worked as an intensive care unit nurse at hospitals in Verona, Florence, and Ferrara, Italy. Since 2008, she has focused on clinical governance and quality of care while working in the in the Health Policies and Hospitals Department of the Regional Health Care System in Bologna, Italy.

 

Now, after completion of her month-long internship at McMaster, Erika is returning to Italy to complete her thesis in a hospital in Ferrara that is currently undergoing ‘care-focused’ restructuring to improve efficiencies within the system, and she will be analyzing the impact of the restructuring on the nursing workforce.