Children's nursing question!

[Gilly]

Hello, I have just found this forum and think it's fantastic

Can anyone help me - I am a children's community nurse moving near to Angouleme next spring.  I am bi-lingual and currently translating my CV into French.  How easy/hard will it be to get work in the field please?

[Teamedup]

Sorry I don't even know what is a children's community nurse is? By the title I would imagine that you would go out to people's homes to treat children, is it a new title for a health visitor?

So as I don't know what it is, I have never heard of a children's community nurse in France. Or health visitors either, if it is that.

We do have nurses who have their own cabinet in our village. They seem to deal with everything that the doctors pass onto them. The rates of renumeration for their home visits and even for going to their cabinet are terrible, well I think it is.

[Deby]

The nearest thing is a puéricultrice - which means a paediatric nurse.  Some major cities link the hospitals too state run health centres for those seeking information.  They are also set up for poor people or immigrants who might not have access to other forms of care and offer vaccinations for free.  When I had my son in Grenoble, the hospital posted me a card informing me of the name of a puéricultrice who I could speak to if I had problems.  I rang her and she came to my house as I had problems with breast-feeding.  Other people I knew used this service too!  I used to go to the centre to get my baby weighed as I found that this is not done religiously in France.

My advice would be to try and find an English nurse who is already in the French system and ask her your questions.  There are very many regional variations in France and a lot of facilities will be linked to funding and size of the  city or town.

Deby

[Patf]

If you look further down the page in this forum you will see a topic " Specific Nursing Work" from Red Devil. There is a reply on there from Ann33 which outlines the steps to take, though her speciality isn't the same as yours. Pat.

[Gilly]

Thank you all.  I will pursue the suggestions put forward.

A community children's nurse is a district nurse/health visitor but just for kids. I visit them in their homes and finish off any treatment they may require such as dressings or giving intravenous antibiotics.   Home care teams are a way of getting kids home faster where they are happier and saving hospital bed space. Although I could work with either adults or children as I have both qualifications under my belt, kids are much more fun to deal with...  I just wondered if France had the same system or whether I could introduce it!!!

Gilly