akdennis58

Thanks for the correction, David.

From what I have read and heard from others, it has more to do with training than citizenship. Others have said that little credit is given for training outside of France, so if your training is from the UK or north america, you will need to take some training in France before being permitted to practice there. Again, this is other people have said, not my personal experience.

It will be very difficult, nearly impossible. I recommend reviewing past discussions on this subject in this forum. There have been many.

Woah, no. Let me help here. The largest facility using nurses in the nortwest region of Kaiser is the Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas. It's the only hospital in Kaiser's northwest region. The hospital intends to reduce the number of nurses at this facility by about 50. That was the original announcement. They then attempted to add another 20 fte's to that, so that's where you probably heard the number 70. The RN's in this facility are represented by a union so this will done through a Reduction in Force (RIF) process. Some RN's have been RIF'd already and one nursing unit has been closed. Because of the union contract, no nurse can be instantly layed-off, there's a process that affords the nurse continued employement for a period of time. The RIF process and the resutling realignment of the nursing units has been badly handled in the opinion of many nurses as well as the union and the process has been placed on hold until the various parties can come to agreement on the goals and process. Because of this situation I would not expect to see any vacancies for RN's at this facility for some months, in my opinion. On the positive front, the northwest region plans to open a new facility in Hillsboro in a year or two but talk is that former nurses from the Clackamas facility may fill many of the jobs there. Hope this helps.

For nursing books in French, I recommend trying Amazon.com's French website: amazon.fr. I just checked and found many books on nursing. Just do a search on "soins infirmiers" and you'll also find sub-sections popping up in the search window, such as surgery, etc. If you already have an account at amazon's U.S. site, you'll be able to use it there, it carries over. Good luck! Dennis US RN and certified francophile

I like the no lifting policy. I will be very interested in learning the policies and techniques used there (I hope to be working in the UK in about a year). We have lifts and "sliders" and other devices as well, and some hospitals here CLAIM to have a no lifting policy but in practice it's not 100%. Things are moving that way very quickly though, for which I'm thankful. Many hospitals here now have "lift teams," a crew with special training that roams the hospital to assist in difficult moves. My hospital does bariatric surgeries so, from time to time, I can have patients that weigh 300 to 400 lbs (~ 140 to 180 kg) or more, which can be very challenging.

This is an interesting thread. I'm 52 and have been a nurse here in the US for 22 years. I'm certainly feeling the aches and pains of this physically demanding career. So far, luckily, no on the job injuries. As many of you have noted, we still do alot of lifting here. Changes are happening quickly, however. I feel fortunate to be in a newly constructed building that was built with lifting devices in mind and each room has a lift mounted to the ceiling that are wonderful. These have only come into broad use in the last 5 years or so, I would say. The reason I'm on this forum is because I'm hoping to do some work in Britain and will be very interested to learn about lifting techniques and issues there. So, to cheshirecat I say, "I feel your pain." I think much of the advice the others have offered is good. Like here in the US, I presume there are many different settings for nurses and it may be time to find something less demanding physically and it sounds like you are already doing that with your move to an outpatient area. Good luck with that and, as the others have advised put your personal safety and care at the top of your list and use it as your guide in what type of nursing you choose to do. Best..

I'm in the US and hoping to work for Continental. I have not worked for them yet but my experience so far with them has been very good. They have been very helpful in the process of preparing to go to the UK and work for them. The recruiter I've been working with has been fabulous. I have a pen pal, a US nurse in London, who has been working for them and she seems to have enjoyed her time with them. I hope this little bit of info is helpful. Good luck in your search.

So the language will be the least of your difficulties then. Yes, that's what I've heard. I've heard that you would have to take an exam to evaluate your education in the field and that a person would still likely be required to take a year of training in one of their education programs before being allowed to practise. You should enjoy that website I mentioned; it's in French.

The information I have gotten in the past from others indicates it's very difficult for foreign trained nurses to relocate to France for work. My understanding is that it would require a year or more of training in one of their nursing programs and a very advanced capability in the French language. For informational purposes, you might try this website to start getting some info: infirmiers.com (I have no connection with that website other than being a member). I'm in the process of obtaining in registration in the UK so that I can work in England and spend some of my free time in France; sort of a roundabout way to spend some time there. Good luck.

The generic name for the device is "burette," it's a general term, and burettes come in many sizes and forms. In a chemistry lab you may have used a burette to do precise measurements of a fluid to do a titration. This name is rarely used among nurses, and many do not know the term at all. The ones we use in health care for IV set-ups are generally known by their trade names and I have seen a third name in addition to the ones mentioned above. The names I have seen are: Soluset (made by Abbott), Volutrol (by Travenol) and Buretrol (by Baxter). I found this definition for a burette on dictionary.reference.com- "a graduated glass tube, commonly having a stopcock at the bottom, used for accurately measuring or measuring out small quantities of liquid." A medical supply company has this description of one on their website: "The Soluset Solution Set comes complete with a 150mL calibrated burette, injection site on the burette with automatic shutoff valve, and a Y-Site 6" from the needle adapter end. 60 drops per mL drip chamber." Hope this helps and I hope you get this as this is a very old thread. Can you tell I enjoy technical subjects? Cheers! :-)

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nminodob, You are welcome. Being able to attach a syringe to the cartridge was nice. It's a unique feature of that pump. Dennis

Canuck, Yes, it was quite an adventure. In the end, I don't think I would have been successful. I don't think my language skills were good enough but I wanted to try. I think the law has changed; I did some searching on the web today and it sounds like it's easier for US nurses to go Quebec now. I noticed that here is a new challenge though; Quebec has it's own testing system for nurses now; since 2000. It includes a practical section. On our trip, we currently plan to visit Paris and a few days in London. My friend is thinking about exploring some northern areas of France but we haven't decided yet. Not sure if we will be traveling south. Dennis

Hi Canuck. I love your online name. Well, as I mentioned, it had to do with an immigration law in Quebec. In the late 90's, when I tried this, there was a law in Quebec that said all applicants for a professional license in Quebec had to sign an affidavit saying that he or she intended to seek Canadian citizenship, which I never planned to do. I did some research on it but I'm an honest person and I could find no legal way around it. It was actually an interesting legal situation that was in the news for a while. Two provinces had this law, Ontario and Quebec, the others didn't and some US nursing organizations filed complaints under the NAFTA trade agreement because this law was hindering Americans from working in these two provinces while Canadian nurses from Ontario and Quebec could work here. I lost track of the issue; I'm not sure if the same situation still exists or not. I was a bit angry at the OIIQ for informing about this law very late in my project. The OIIQ that sent me the letter long after I had started my application for a license there. It was only after filing the paperwork, taking two trips to Quebec, and taking the Canadian nursing exam, that they eventually sent me the letter. I guess like everywhere else, government processes are not always smooth. It would be interesting to see if the law is the same now. Yes, I did have a wonderful time working on the project even though it didn't work out. In my winter trip, I stayed with a friend in Montreal and got to see the ice sculpture event and for my summer trip I rented a room in a dormitory at the University of Montreal (French speaking college) as they rent their rooms out to the public in the summer. I got to attend the big comedy festival during this trip. And of course, I got to experience the terror (pleasure) of trying to get along in French every day that I was there (even though I could have used English in many instances I did my best to use French). I remember my trip to the Office of the French Language to sign up for the language exam; standing in the lobby thinking, "OMG, I don't dare use English here" but I got through it ok. I remember that as one scary moment. Nice to meet you too. Are you from Quebec? Where are you in France?I'm happy to join the club here.