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;)

Where are you from? What sort of RN training do you have? We have had US and Canadian nurses post that they have issues getting their training recognised to the same as French. I wouldn't recommend abusing the tourist visa like that and you may not even be given enough time to stay and sort things out

I'm from the Philippines and work as an ICU Nurse here. I'm studying the French language here to prepare me before going there. If tourist visa isn't possible, then can you suggest something pls to give me an idea of how to enter France and be able to work there? I'm willing to work any kind of decent job if being a nurse isn't possible yet...

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

The only thing to do is get fluent in French and then look for a employer. I think getting work permit is going to be the hardest thing you can get

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The only thing to do is get fluent in French and then look for a employer. I think getting work permit is going to be the hardest thing you can get

Is it really that hard to get working permit?Then would you suggest me to apply for student visa so i can stay there longer and be able to find an employer? or i can enroll to a school in Geneva for I've read that Geneva allows students to work part time.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
The only thing to do is get fluent in French and then look for a employer. I think getting work permit is going to be the hardest thing you can get

Is it really that hard to get working permit?Then would you suggest me to apply for student visa so i can stay there longer and be able to find an employer? or i can enroll to a school in Geneva for I've read that Geneva allows students to work part time.

I believe the issue is if you are not from within the EU or hold a passport from within the EU you will have difficulties obtaining a work permit. Student permit may not get you an employer and will cost lots of money as you will be classed as a International student and fees are usually high. Even if you get a student visa there may be a limit on how many hours you can work as usually student visa requires full time study.

I am not saying it is impossible just be aware it may be hard

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I believe the issue is if you are not from within the EU or hold a passport from within the EU you will have difficulties obtaining a work permit. Student permit may not get you an employer and will cost lots of money as you will be classed as a International student and fees are usually high. Even if you get a student visa there may be a limit on how many hours you can work as usually student visa requires full time study.

I am not saying it is impossible just be aware it may be hard

Thank you sooo much.any suggestions on what should I do?

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hi, i wish to go to live in paris, but i would like to know if with the salary one earns as a nurse is enough to live there. cause life is a bit expensive in paris. thanks a lot in advance for your help.

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I am sorry you had this bad experience. I think there is idiots everywhere! It might come from the place you were. I can tell you here all the people I am working with here are very nice with foreign nurses. As I could notice, racism is often based on jealousy or ignorance. I wish your next experience will be better. Will you stay at the same place?

Could you recommend the "nice" places, then?

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Hi !

I can't believe you guys are going to France! Ok, let me tell you a little bit about it....I went to school there (I'm now in Montreal),

I live in Canada now and would like to go into nursing, but because of my husbands job we may be moving to France, this is very exciting and a great opportunity. I do feel sad that I may not be able to study nursing now. Can you please tell me a bit about the nursing programs in france? I speak beginner french so it is difficult to read some of the french websites. I know that if I got a nursing degree in Canada the french may not recognize it and I would have to do it all over again in France. Is this true? Did Canada recognize your french degree or did you have to go back to school? Are the prerequisites for enterance into a program in france the same as in canada? I am very interested in talking to someone who has been through all of this! Any advice and information would be appreciated.:o

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Hello! This is a wonderful thread, with so many people in a similar situation! I'm actually English though, and have an EU passport. What I want to ask is, does anyone know if that means I still have to take the dreaded language test? I speak good French; what worrys me is the writing and spelling! To be honest I make spelling mistakes even in English - I also tried corresponding with a French girl via email where we each corrected our grammatical errors - suffice to say, there were plenty!

I hear there are lots of Spanish nurses in france who don't speak fluently - this offers me hope!

I'd be hugely greatful for any further info about the current climate in France, wether you need an address before applying for jobs, do I need to register with each local authority before applying, and what people might think of my chances!

I wanted to go to france tout suite post registration, however I've, wisely, got myself a years experience in a Cardiac surgical ward. Now I'm ready to quit the UK and the NHS for good (I hope!). I wouldn't mind working as an aide soignante first, or even in a bar or something until a nursing job turned up. I'm also not fussy about which nursing job and would be more than happy to take a post in a maison retraite.

Most of all, if anyone could just tell me whether or not I have to face the horrors of the language test or not I'd be most grateful.

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Oh wow, how good it is to hear y'all talking about my country in such a warm manner! :Melody: So I am a french nurse living and working in South of France. It will be my pleasure to answer your questions if I am able to do it. :balloons:

As said above, we have public (hopital) or private (clinique) estabishments. Generally public pays better than private. But it depends on the convention of the clinic. Some pay a lot but you find them around Paris, not in small town. This is the same for psychiatric care. We have agencies too (interim) that propose you some long or short assignments in private establishments. This is what I am doing for 9 months now. This is a great choice, because due to the shortage you always have a lot of choice and you are your own boss. I decide the days I want to work or to rest, the shift I want to work, I am doing night shift, and I decide the units and clinics where I want or not to go. I earn the salary of the nurse I are supposed to replace, plus 10% for end of contract, plus 10% of insecurity prime. Now if you want to have an idea of salary, I can tell mine, but it will be just an information because it increases with lenght of service. This is something you should negociate with your employer. So, I am 4 years of service, and when I was working full time in surgery in clinic, I was making 1500 euros per month. When you work at night, you earn 10 more %. As a "intérimaire" (agency nurse) at night, I am making 1950 euros per month for surgery. Here is the most popular agencies ; www.appelmedical.com and www.quickmedicalservice.fr . You have assignments in French islands too! You earn more in ICU (réanimation). Oh I have to say this is what you keep in pocket after taxes to be paid. You are paid once a month. You might think it is very a small amount, but you have to see it in the context of the life. Appartments here are very cheaper than in America. I am living by the sea in 80 m² with 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, living room, kitchen and balcony, a place for my car, for 400 euros per month. The taxes taken off your salary monthly serve to pay for your health insurance company, retirement and unemployment. For exemple, I had an accident of exposition to blood 2 weeks ago with a needle. So I had to have a blood test for hepatitis and HIV, and made it for free. It will be done 1month, 3 months and 6 months after and if I had to start a treatment it will be all for free. When patient go to visit a doctor, the price is 20 euros but you will have 70% of your money back a week later by social security. So finaly life is pretty sweet.

Now about being a foreign nurse in France, we are used to hire Spanish nurses. I have worked with some of them. Usualy nurses are nice with them and helpful. Of course doctors are less patient but if your french is not bad and you are doing a great job, they will trust you pretty quickly.

This is the adress of a very good french website, the most famous, where you could find a lot of news and a great forum : www.infirmiers.com

Some talked about Switzerland, this is great just in case you are living in France and working in Switzerland because you will earn 2,5 the salary, but life is very very expensive there and you do not have the same benefits!!!

Voilà !!! I hope this help. Let me know if I can help. Where in France would you like to live? I hope everything will be Ok for you,

à bientôt et bonne chance !

How amazing! I absolutely love France and Switzerland and I adore the French language. French has been in my life since I was a little girl as my grandmother is a retired French teacher and my step dad also spoke it fluently. I have been to both France and Switzerland and really admired both countries. Learning French is my life long goal and I long to live in France or Switzerland one day and work over there as a nurse/ nurse practitioner. I just got accepted into my nursing school and will be graduating with my bachelors of science in Nursing in the spring of 2013, so I still have a while to go before I even have my licensing. I have been learning French and I was minoring in it in at my university for a while, but the nursing school has made me drop the minor and focus only on nursing :( This throws a monkey wrench into my plans as now I can no longer focus on my French and I won't be remotely ready to speak at a fluent level in order to work there. Currently I speak at about an intermediate level and have been learning it slowly since I was 10. I pick up languages quickly and when I was in Switzerland for only two weeks I came back to the US accidentally speaking in French than in English at the airport. If you have any advice or tips about nursing/ learning French or both I would love to hear it. :)

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If you are a mental health nurse and got your qualification in uk you cannot work as a psychiatric nurse in France.

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I was in France last week and tried to register my Psychiatry nursing (part !3) -project 2000 qualification, but unfortunately the staff at DRASS referred me to a different person at the Minitere de la jeunesse and Sport. Having explained to her about my intention to work in France as a Psychiatric nurse, she then asked about 'statement of entry', which i had already translated in french; but unfortunately they don't have Psychiatric nurse training any more. The only nursing qualification they accept is General nursing (ie Part 2 and 12). Apparently they will be able to work anywhere ie mental health, general etc. I am a British Citizen. If anyone knows any other way so i can register my qualification in France, please let me know. thanks

You will be unable to work as a Psychiatric nurse. The only hope you have is do 18 months Adult nursing and learn all the medical terms in French. There are lots of red tapes with in the administration.

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