Nursing in France

clothmama · May 6, 2010

hi , i'm new to the forums but i've been a lurker for a good long while now! has anyone got any more up to date information or experiences about nursing in france?

background info:

i've been living in france for the last 10 years but have been back in australia for two years now and i am 1/2 way through my bachelor of nursing degree. my university is now offering flexible learning which would enable me to take some of my modules over the summer and possibly finish my degree 4 months early, which i'd like to do. we have decided that we want to return to live in france due to unwell parents in europe. my original idea was to register with the nmc in the uk and commute from northern france. i spoke to the nmc last night and it turns out they will no way accept a degree that has been completed in less than three years (even though my course is identical to if i did it in the normal time frame). the uk has nothing in place to enable me to work around this by doing some extra study or practical and requires a minimum of 1 year work experience and it really is quite urgent for us to get back to europe.

my french is not good enough to do the concours against french people but would be able to compete reasonably i'd imagine if it was against only non-french people.

questions:

would i be able to apply to french nurse training college as a qualified rn with no experience in order to gain french qualifications?
or would i still need to do the full 3 years and have a years experience here before doing anything in france?
would i have any chance (ie through the foreign applications) without a completed degree (ie if i left now) or does the 2% foreign quota only apply to qualified nurses?
i have read that there is a shortage of nurses in france and that this is supposed to get worse (i'm looking at brittany in particular). does anyone know if this is true?
what i'm concerned about is possibly wasting time continuing with an australian degree when i perhaps should be concentrating on getting french training for a french job and life! thoughts?

thanks in advance for any help from any of you over there and in the system that may be able to help! :yeah:

merci.

LoveANurse09 · May 7, 2010

hi , i'm new to the forums but i've been a lurker for a good long while now! has anyone got any more up to date information or experiences about nursing in france?
background info:
i've been living in france for the last 10 years but have been back in australia for two years now and i am 1/2 way through my bachelor of nursing degree. my university is now offering flexible learning which would enable me to take some of my modules over the summer and possibly finish my degree 4 months early, which i'd like to do. we have decided that we want to return to live in france due to unwell parents in europe. my original idea was to register with the nmc in the uk and commute from northern france. i spoke to the nmc last night and it turns out they will no way accept a degree that has been completed in less than three years (even though my course is identical to if i did it in the normal time frame). the uk has nothing in place to enable me to work around this by doing some extra study or practical and requires a minimum of 1 year work experience and it really is quite urgent for us to get back to europe.
my french is not good enough to do the concours against french people but would be able to compete reasonably i'd imagine if it was against only non-french people.
questions:
would i be able to apply to french nurse training college as a qualified rn with no experience in order to gain french qualifications?
or would i still need to do the full 3 years and have a years experience here before doing anything in france?
would i have any chance (ie through the foreign applications) without a completed degree (ie if i left now) or does the 2% foreign quota only apply to qualified nurses?
i have read that there is a shortage of nurses in france and that this is supposed to get worse (i'm looking at brittany in particular). does anyone know if this is true?
what i'm concerned about is possibly wasting time continuing with an australian degree when i perhaps should be concentrating on getting french training for a french job and life! thoughts?
thanks in advance for any help from any of you over there and in the system that may be able to help!
merci.

i'm looking for similar answers too, but i wanted to ask you about brittany. i have been looking into that area also online. is it as beautiful as it looks? good area?

clothmama · May 7, 2010

Hi it really is stunning there! I've visited a few times, though I haven't lived there before I was way down south in the Aude, not so far from Toulouse and Carcassonne. The weather isn't as good as some areas further south but for me and my family it allows us to live the french life that we love while being within an easy drive / ferry trip to the UK to be with family and friends when they need us. And possibly commute back to the UK if needed! House prices are pretty amazing (especially just now) and they are gorgeous old buildings for the most part (hubby is chaffing at the bit to get our hands on another doer upperer!!). Talking to my French friends (from the north but were living in the south next to me) they also think it is a great move. Comments were that the people in Brittany are warm and friendly and that life is 'vivant' :yeah: . I'm really hoping that someone has some more answers!

I've been in meetings with my uni today trying to find a good solution with me. The UK seems to be slowely closing it's doors to Aussie trained RNs (althoguh at the moment only on the accelerated) and Ireland has just rejected non-accelerated RNs from Oz because of 'insufficient training hours' in our degrees. It is all so worrying and just getting qualified in Europe to start with looks like the best way to go :confused:

nzluberon · May 11, 2010

Bonjour Fred

I am a NZ Nurse in France going thru the process of registration. I am living in Apt Luberon.

I am waiting on my Irish registration to present for my french registration.

However Iam not a European pass port holder. Have started the Naturalisation process also. I am married to a Frenchman with 4 kids who are classed as French too. We all arrived back in my husbands home town te begining of this year. So not alot of time under our belts but lots of changes under way.

I have done a aide soignant practical last week should know tommorow if all go and have a job lined up at a rest home to start to improve my daily language and brush up on termology while waiting for registration.

Any advice on agencywork or private nursing work as a top up.

I have 15 years general/ district nursing with a good 5 in ED.

Look forward to hearing from you. I have appreciated your information to date.

opuanz

clothmama · May 13, 2010

Hi,
yes there is a nursing board in France now : Ordre National des Infirmiers (ONI)
http://www.ordre-infirmiers.fr/

I had a look and there didn't seem to be a lot of info on this site, I wonder if they will add more as time goes by?

A little update, I'm still trying to find a solution to my dilemma. Tempted just to give up and come and do something non-nurse related but have come too far I think to give up my dream!! Just stressed with all this and heading towards my end of semester exams as well as now being out on clinical placement 2 days a week for the next moth or so! campusfrance.org has a bit of info that I have foudn useful, at least they are giving options and not being presise about how long you need to have worked etc. I just wonder if I can pass the concours and can't seem to find any info on how hard it is. Lots of online courses (cned concours & infirmieres.com par example) but they seem to be pretty expensive!

nzluberon · Jun 2, 2010

Does anyone have some recent Nursing text

Does anyone know how lond it take to get naturalisation

Does qanyone know for in France do you needa speciality qual to work in Paeds

Does anyone have a contact in France for private nursing

Just started as a Aide soignant awaiting Ireland registration

Does anyone know what I can expect to be paid on the highest rate as AS

Thank you for the replies

Does anyone have any second hand nursing texts

or does anyone know where is th ebest place ot pick up French Nursing texts

lizziek · Jun 29, 2010

Hi all

I am new to the forum and have found the site very interesting. just one question. I am Irish with a Uk diploma in nursing and Bsc in Midwifery. I am moving to paris in 2 months,my husband is there now. I am eager to work as a midwife. As far as i know my EU Bsc in mid is fine for france. In order to register with the nursing board do i need to take the diploma in french? from previous threads it seems to be very difficult to do and at a high level

Any advice is greatly appreciated,

Liz

paris je t'aime · Jul 8, 2010

Hello everyone,
I'm looking to make a contact with anyone who has written an entrance exam in a French nursing school. I'm a Canadian nurse, recently relocated to South France and I'm in a process of preparing for exams which will be taking place from mid of March. I'm aware of the process, but interested in hearing about experiences of other foreign nurses living and working in France. Since I'm not a European national, I have to do at least 2 (or 1 year if I'm lucky) out of 3 years of nursing school here. Also, I have a quick question. Is ICU nursing here is a specialty (like pediatric, psychiatric, OR and anesthesia nursing?) and requires additional courses or is it "on the job training" process? I was an ICU nurse in Canada.
Thank you very much. Looking forward to hearing from you all.
Canuck1.

Hi Canuck,

I am new to allnursesforum. How did you go with the nursing french exam? Please let me more info as I am interested in applying 2 years from now.

Many thanks

paris je t'aime · Jul 8, 2010

Bonjour Fred
I am a NZ Nurse in France going thru the process of registration. I am living in Apt Luberon.
I am waiting on my Irish registration to present for my french registration.
However Iam not a European pass port holder. Have started the Naturalisation process also. I am married to a Frenchman with 4 kids who are classed as French too. We all arrived back in my husbands home town te begining of this year. So not alot of time under our belts but lots of changes under way.
I have done a aide soignant practical last week should know tommorow if all go and have a job lined up at a rest home to start to improve my daily language and brush up on termology while waiting for registration.
Any advice on agencywork or private nursing work as a top up.
I have 15 years general/ district nursing with a good 5 in ED.
Look forward to hearing from you. I have appreciated your information to date.
opuanz

Bonjour opuanz,

How is it possible for you to process your registration if you are not originally from EU? I thought that non EU applicants are required to take an exam in french in order to test your language skills in french. I am a little bit confused with the system in France. Are you able to provide me an accurate information on how to apply nursing registration and be able to work as a nurse in Paris. I am also from NZ and I am planning on moving to Paris in 2 years from now. However I have very little knowledge about french language but I am willing to take the opportunity to learn the language.

Any advise and help from anyone are also welcome. Merci!

canuck1 · Jul 27, 2010

paris je t'aime,

If you do not have a EU passport or French citizenship you CANNOT practice nursing in France even if UK (or other country that is a member of EU) recognizes your diploma. 2 years is a long time from now one and things might change, but for now it is firm without exceptions. Perhaps some people do not do their research and post inaccurate information on this forum and it becomes confusing for those seeking answers. If you are a nurse in NZ and were to come to France now with a goal to work as a nurse, you must have strong command of French language, both written and oral because you have to write entrance exams in French into a nursing school. If you pass the written test (questions are nursing related), then you move on to oral and practical parts of the entrance exam. If you succeed in oral and practical portions of the exam, the committee will review your nursing education transcripts and decide where to place you. It means you may start nursing school from the beginning or you'll have to take 2 or 1 year of training or perhaps just several courses. Remember, this is not just an entrance exam, this is a "concours", or a competition. Even if you accumulate enough points, 2% quota of foreign nurses intake applies. For example if there are 100 French applicants in one particular school, there will be only 2 seats reserved for foreign nurses in this particular school providing they pass all tests successfully. I hope it helps a bit in your search for answers.

canuck

etherealxiv · Aug 1, 2010

Hi! I'm from The Philippines and I'm currently on my last year in Nursing, on the BSN program and I plan to take my Master's in France. I've been trying to get information on their sites, but I find it really hard to see the information I'm looking for so I hope you guys could help.

First off, what are the requirements I need for admission? I probably need to be a registered nurse in France, right? So what are the requirements I need to be eligible for taking their licensure exam?

Please correct me if this is wrong, but to get to the stage of choosing my specialty (I plan to become a nurse anesthetist), I need to finish my Master's first (to become an Advanced Nurse Practitioner). So, I can basically choose any university in France that offers MScn and worry where to take Nurse anesthesiology later right?

If I finish my studies in France, will I be eligible to work in their hospitals? Secondly, do I need work experience before I apply in the university or does that depend in the university's standards?

I guess that's it. Thank you for all the help guys. :redbeathe

canuck1 · Aug 3, 2010

etherealxiv,

you might find it disappointing to learn that you will not be able to do your masters in france. french nursing education system is quite different from the standards of north america. i'm not sure how it works in philippines, but i suspect it is rather similar to that one in north america. first of all, masters programmes are not yet ironed out in france so there is no information available on this subject. there are some changes on the way, however. it is my speculation though that foreign nurses would not be able to continue their graduate studies in france unless they have french state diploma first (dei= diplôme d'etat infirmier) or its equivalence. the only way you can have this diploma is by completing a nursing school in france. also, you can work as a nurse if you hold a passport of one of the countries that are members of the eu. secondly, you can work as a nurse if you have french nationality and your diploma is recognized by one of the countries in the eu. i suggest that you read some of the older posts on this forum to get more answers. you can also take a look at the info available at

good luck,

canuck