Nursing in France

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Is there anyone who can fill me in on RN jobs in France. I prefer the city hospiitals, I work in ICU currently. I have many years exp in Med Surg also. Would like to hear from someone. If you know about pay scale and such include that also. Thanks, bambi007;)

Specializes in Surgery in HepatoPancreatobiliaryGastro.
Hi Era!

I am a RN for 4 years now and I am working as an agency nurse (intérimaire) at night. For a full time, witch is 15 nights per months, I earn 1950 euros a month. This salary is what you have after the social taxes are taking of. Means after you have paid for social security which is very good here, because you can be cured or buy medicines for free with your "mutuelle" wich is about 30 euros per month. Plus in that taxes your retirement plan is included too, your job insurance as well. So these are things you don't have to pay for as in USA. Plus the cost for an appartment is lower. I am living by the Méditerrannée, in south of France, and you pay 500 euros per month for a 3 bedroom. It is more expensive in Paris of course, but you can have a better salary there too. You have to know about public and private for the establishment too. "Cliniques" are private and "hopital" are public. Public pays better than private but I don't know if you can be hired if you are not native from France. You have a lot of advantages for retirement, hollidays, and so on...

Private can be "CCU" (convention collective unique) that is these ones that pay the less. Or "FEHAP", that is non lucrative organisation, that pays almost as well as public, with the 13th month for instance, that you don't have with CCU. It is a little bit complicated, but these are things that makes a difference at the end of the month!

Sorry I gotta go, I am working tonight! Just let me know if I can help.

Ciao!!!

Hello! Cheers for that!:bow: I am on nights now too:yawn: hehehehe

Working in France sounds complicated. I do want to try though... I have a naggy fiance! It does sound exciting but at the same time, rather frightening.

The apartment sounds cheap.. I don't mind if it isn't in Paris, I'll commute if I have to. 1950 Euro's not bad huh? And that's after tax? You also mentioned you work as an agency, how did you go on about applying for that? Is it like doing an agency shift in London? Sorry about the 3rd degree!! I need all the info I can get:thankya:

Have a good shift!

Specializes in Surgery in HepatoPancreatobiliaryGastro.
I've lived and worked in France since 2001.

To register your qualification here you need to go in person to your local health and social security department (listed in the yellow pages as the DDASS). You must speak fluent French, and if you don't you will be refused registration as an IDE (Infirmier Diplômé d'Etat). People with European Union qualifications have the right to register straight off. You must present your original certificates with a French translation stamped by an official interpreter approved by your embassy. Others often need to work as Aide Soignants (nurses aides, care assistants) while they work for the French qualification.

Compared to my homeland (the UK) nursing here is paradise. They think they have a crisis, but it's nothing compared to the UK. The public health system here repeatedly comes top of international league tables and it's easy to see why. It's well funded and well resourced. Things such as waiting lists for surgery just don't exist as they do in the UK.

Everyone in France works a 35 hour week. Holiday entitlements are good (around six weeks plus the 13 public holidays). Pay is not amazing, but you earn enough to live on and the benefits are good (pension, travel allowance etc.) Public hospitals have a reputation for paying better than private clinics, who often skimp to make their profit. The public sector functions in an almost "money no object" fashion, which is beginning to change. Taxes here are high, but you get what you pay for - a good health service, good schools, excellent public transport and civic amenities.

Most nurses work a fixed shift (mornings, afternoons or nights) with some places having implemented the long day/night (12 hours). Your meal breaks are paid, and many hospitals provide you with a free meal on duty. Very few places have shift rotation between night and day like in the UK. You're usually either a morning nurse, an afternoon nurse or a night nurse. IDE (registered nurse) levels are low but you always have a good number of Aide soignants to support you, and they are trained to a high level - they can generally be trusted to get on with the basic care. The nurses job here is more focused on the technical tasks - drugs, IVs, bloods etc. Nursing here is still very task orientated (something I personally like). Nurses here are very efficient, but perhaps lack the 'personal touch' of anglo-saxon culture. It's a different relationship here - the patient sees you more as a professional and maintains an almost formal respect which I think British patients no longer have.

In larger cities agency nursing is possible and is well paid. The shortage of nurses here means there is always agency work. Recruitment of foreign nurses is becoming increasingly common.

Many nurses here set up in their own practices (Infirmiers libérals) You go to these nurses with all your prescptions for things like dresings, injections etc. Practice nurses don't exist and less happens in outpatients than in the UK, so these nurses fulfil that role, as well as providing homecare like the British district nurse.

If you speak English there are increasingly opprtunities for bi-lingual nurses in international companies and NGO's. There are both an American and a Franco-British hospital just outside Paris catering largely to ex-pats. Bi-lingual posts always pay better, you can really sell your English here, but you must speak good French too.

Personally, I love life here and would recomend it to anybody. The French, I feel, get an unfairly bad press abroad. Once you penetrate this society you realise what a warm race of people they are. The pace of life here (even in Paris) is slow and civilised. There is a very rich cultural life here and the food and wine of course are unbeatable. Working life is very civilised; due to the socialist cullture and strong unions things are very much weighted in the employees favour. Nursing care here is good; medical standards are high. I would say go for it.

:bow:Wow!

May I ask you a few questions please?

I trained and qualified in London and planning to learn / improve on my french!! I can only just about ask for my bill at the moment when I am in France:imbar Do you happen to know whether joining a nursing agency or an actual hospital is as straight forward as it is in London? ie You contact Human resources, they send an application form, interview etc etc?

What's ex-pats? And lastly, are they still short of nurses there? I plan to work around Paris/outskirts of it.

Please help! I am grateful for any information you may provide.

Kind regards.:nurse:

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hi, have you checked you're in the right category?

How come I'm getting more than you? I'm grade E ( dunno if top E though as I've been an E grade for a few years!) I suppose the unsocial hours make a massive difference... ? do one night per rota?

Kind regards

-x-

When I was top E working in the hospital I got more than this with enhancements but working as a practice nurse with no enhancements it was roughly this wage £1300 a month. The thing with working as a practice nurse you tend not to get the same annual increament like you do in the hospital til you reach the top of grade. GP's don't have to pay the same as you get in a hospital and I even get less sick time. I have had just 1 rise in 3 yrs but this doe not include the annual pay rise in april that everyone gets. Unsociable enhancements make a lot of difference

This is a great thread!!!

So it seems that the easiest way for a US trained nurse to work in France is to first work in the UK. Can anyone say about how long one would have to work in the UK before having the documentation that France wants before letting one work there?

Also--if any EU county will do, has anyone tried working first in Switzerland? Does Switzerland accept the US nursing degree?

Specializes in Surgery in HepatoPancreatobiliaryGastro.
When I was top E working in the hospital I got more than this with enhancements but working as a practice nurse with no enhancements it was roughly this wage £1300 a month. The thing with working as a practice nurse you tend not to get the same annual increament like you do in the hospital til you reach the top of grade. GP's don't have to pay the same as you get in a hospital and I even get less sick time. I have had just 1 rise in 3 yrs but this doe not include the annual pay rise in april that everyone gets. Unsociable enhancements make a lot of difference

:o Oh dear, I hadn't realised that being a GP based nurse meant that you get much less money. I was always under the impression that when you get to that stage, you'b be on a minimum of £1800+ per month. I was planning of doing that job when I've settled in to have kids, that was going to be my 'sick of clinical work' plan ( if I hadn't moved to France by then ).

Oh well, perhaps the new banding system would make a difference? :cry: When will the government properly appreciate us in this country?

Well, all the best - x-

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
:o Oh dear, I hadn't realised that being a GP based nurse meant that you get much less money. I was always under the impression that when you get to that stage, you'b be on a minimum of £1800+ per month. I was planning of doing that job when I've settled in to have kids, that was going to be my 'sick of clinical work' plan ( if I hadn't moved to France by then ).

Oh well, perhaps the new banding system would make a difference? :cry: When will the government properly appreciate us in this country?

Well, all the best - x-

A lot of gp's have opted to either take on certain parts of AFC or none I don't think I have heard of any GP's taking it all on. Pay will go up but you will be lucky to find a min of £1800+ a month. to get that sort of money you will need plenty of courses under your belt. ie CHD, Diabetes, Cervical screening, Asthma?COPD and others. Can take a few yrs to be trained as a practice nurse Especially as more stuff is being mored to primary care from secondary care

Hello! Cheers for that!:bow: I am on nights now too:yawn: hehehehe

Working in France sounds complicated. I do want to try though... I have a naggy fiance! It does sound exciting but at the same time, rather frightening.

The apartment sounds cheap.. I don't mind if it isn't in Paris, I'll commute if I have to. 1950 Euro's not bad huh? And that's after tax? You also mentioned you work as an agency, how did you go on about applying for that? Is it like doing an agency shift in London? Sorry about the 3rd degree!! I need all the info I can get:thankya:

Have a good shift!

I have worked with a Belgium nurse last night, and he told me he went to the DDASS for his papers and it was very quick and easy. As soon as your diploma will be recognized as a European one, it looks like you won't have any difficulties working in one or another European country.

For me, it would be difficult to stop agency nursing. You have a better salary (20%) plus 10% more if you work at night, you are your own boss and you don't know all the team problems!!! When your papers will be done, just go to an agency (Appel medical, quick medical service...they have websites), they will ask you for a copy of your diploma, of your identity card and of your bank account to be paid automatically each month. Then they will ask you where you want to work, where you don't want, in which unit, at day, at night, 12 hours or 7 hours..... YOU are the boss. YOU decide the days you work, the days you rest. They will call you to propose assignments that match what you want, and you just say YES or NO. As simply as that!!! You decide of the length of your assignment too. For now, I prefer very short assignments from 1 night to a week maximum, so I have the feeling to be totally free. My fiancé is living in NYC, so I can join him every time I find a good price for plane ticket! I work some weeks and then spend some time there. And when he come, I just stop working or less. It's always up to you.

In France, as soon as you are working, you automatically pay for social security. So if you are sick you can be cured at once. Every time you are sick at home, you still have 75% of your salary until you go back to work, with a doctor certificate of course.

You have automatically an insurance too. For instance, I had a back injury two months ago while helping a patient. So I went to the ER and the doctor said I needed kinesitherapy for some weeks. So he made a declaration for Social security that I hurt myself at work (accident du travail) and social security paid 100% of the fee for me to be cured.

You will find some English patients too, that prefer to be cured in France. Last night I had one, and I asked him why he always come back in that clinic to be cured. He told me you never find such an establishment with all the facilities in London. He said it is all old there and staff is not as numerous as here, and he had to wait to be operated, when here it is done the day after he enters the unit.

So you will talk English more often than you think!!! The night before I had one from Scottland. And especially in summer time with the tourists, you will meet more. Plus Paris is full of American and English people. If you want to meet them, just go to the Starbucks, he he he!!!:rotfl:

Voilà ! Just let me know if I can still help you.

Specializes in Surgery in HepatoPancreatobiliaryGastro.
I have worked with a Belgium nurse last night, and he told me he went to the DDASS for his papers and it was very quick and easy. As soon as your diploma will be recognized as a European one, it looks like you won't have any difficulties working in one or another European country.

For me, it would be difficult to stop agency nursing. You have a better salary (20%) plus 10% more if you work at night, you are your own boss and you don't know all the team problems!!! When your papers will be done, just go to an agency (Appel medical, quick medical service...they have websites), they will ask you for a copy of your diploma, of your identity card and of your bank account to be paid automatically each month. Then they will ask you where you want to work, where you don't want, in which unit, at day, at night, 12 hours or 7 hours..... YOU are the boss. YOU decide the days you work, the days you rest. They will call you to propose assignments that match what you want, and you just say YES or NO. As simply as that!!! You decide of the length of your assignment too. For now, I prefer very short assignments from 1 night to a week maximum, so I have the feeling to be totally free. My fiancé is living in NYC, so I can join him every time I find a good price for plane ticket! I work some weeks and then spend some time there. And when he come, I just stop working or less. It's always up to you.

In France, as soon as you are working, you automatically pay for social security. So if you are sick you can be cured at once. Every time you are sick at home, you still have 75% of your salary until you go back to work, with a doctor certificate of course.

You have automatically an insurance too. For instance, I had a back injury two months ago while helping a patient. So I went to the ER and the doctor said I needed kinesitherapy for some weeks. So he made a declaration for Social security that I hurt myself at work (accident du travail) and social security paid 100% of the fee for me to be cured.

You will find some English patients too, that prefer to be cured in France. Last night I had one, and I asked him why he always come back in that clinic to be cured. He told me you never find such an establishment with all the facilities in London. He said it is all old there and staff is not as numerous as here, and he had to wait to be operated, when here it is done the day after he enters the unit.

So you will talk English more often than you think!!! The night before I had one from Scottland. And especially in summer time with the tourists, you will meet more. Plus Paris is full of American and English people. If you want to meet them, just go to the Starbucks, he he he!!!:rotfl:

Voilà ! Just let me know if I can still help you.

Sounds very cool!!!

Thank you so much for that. Must sleep now, just finished nights!

Cheers again

Hi and sorry for answering so late, but I just read your question :p!

All I can tell you, is that a friend of my Mum who is a RN, had to do a stage of 6 months after 10 years of non activity, to be allowed to work as a nurse again. I know it is very long, but I don't know any course to return to the profession.

We have a lot of nurses coming from Spain, and I can tell you their french is not always very good when they arrive. But working every day, they improve it very very quickly, and we are used to their accent too so the comunication is going better quickly. It is not a problem for long. Plus, I know lots of them came directly to the clinic to look for a job and I wonder if it is not the clinic that makes the papers for them. Do you have a European diploma?

Hi Dudette,

Many thanks for your reply. I would be happy to do a 'stage' of any length in order to return to nursing. I seem to be having great difficulty in finding one. I have spent a few days with an infirmière liberal and have applied to 2 hospitals - I will keep chasing. I do have a European Diploma. I find it very frustrating to be out of work. I am focusing on improving my language skills.

Al

Hi, I read your post with interest. I am french and I have just finished my english nursing diploma. I would like to go back home as I feel homesick after nearly 15 years in London.... problem is I only have 8 months nursing experience (6 in acute renal unit and 2 in a renal and pancreas transplant ward). I sadly had to leave my last post because of childcare problem. I am trying to do some bank work in my local hospital to gain wider experience but I am worried about my overall nursing skills. You know during my training I was more a HCA than a student to teach, consequently I am not that confident with IVs, blood etc.....I have the feeling that french nurses have access to better training and once out of nursing school are quite at ease with IVs, cannulation, blood infusion, am I wrong? Tell me what you think and If I were to go back now how easy would it be to find a job with that amount of experience and what training would I get access to? Thank you

--------------------

Hello Al!

I am a Nursing student in New York City / USA. We do not have access to any French language books for Medical or Nursing. Do you know where they can be found in Paris? I am going in mid-March and would like to pick some up while I am there. I would appreciate your help!

Thanks,

Ruben

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