Entrust new “missions” to nurses, review their training and their career prospects: the Minister of Health, François Braun, promised caregivers on Friday a “refoundation of the profession” supposed to “result in September 2024”. “Investing in the future of this profession is a necessity,” he said at the end of a symposium on the nursing profession organized at the ministry, adding that “this overhaul should be completed in September 2024”. Faced with the chronic shortage of caregivers, the first objective is to attract and retain them “by opening up the field of possibilities”.
“Move to a more agile approach”
The decree which defines nursing acts, and which has not been modified for almost twenty years, will therefore be reviewed from top to bottom to “move to a more agile approach, around major missions”. This will, for example, give caregivers “all the necessary latitude” to take care of chronic wounds, said François Braun, also referring to other developments around heart failure and addiction.
The training of future nurses will also be “redesigned”, to curb the “too great loss of students”, 10% give up in the first year, by developing tutoring “during internships”, but also learning “from the start of the next school year. “. Repeating his intention to ban temporary work for young graduates, the minister however wanted to “give new impetus” to the careers of caregivers, relying on the status of advanced practice nurse (IPA) created in 2016.
“The objective is to reach the bar of 5,000 more qualified caregivers”
These more qualified caregivers in certain fields (cancer, dialysis, psychiatry) are currently less than 2,000 and “the objective is to reach the 5,000 mark” by the end of next year, recalled François Braun. However, this will only concern a minority of the 637,000 nurses, employees and liberals, active in the country, according to the latest figures dating back to the beginning of 2021. On the move in the afternoon at the Eaubonne hospital (Val-d ‘Oise), the minister opened the door to another form of recognition for the profession: the “site” of wages remains “on the table”, he told AFP. Three years after the “Ségur de la santé”, which made it possible to “go from 1,700 to 2,100 euros at the start of your career, which is far from negligible”, François Braun estimated that it was necessary to “open up to other steps”.
Among the Liberals, on the other hand, the negotiation with the Health Insurance claimed by the unions is not on the agenda, but “the question of inflation arises, as for all health professions, and I I’m thinking about it,” he said. Finally, for nursing students, François Braun said he was “entirely open” to “discussing aid for those who do not have the means” to finance their three years of study, in conjunction with the regions. “Half of the students come from working-class neighborhoods”, he underlined, hailing “a formidable tool for social mobility”.