For several months, the emergencies of Orleans (Loiret) have been idling, for lack of nursing staff. The situation is not surprising, because in the Loiret, the density of nurses is less than half the national average, with 94 nurses per 100,000 inhabitants only.
To respond to the shortage, the region, in charge of training, decided to strongly boost the workforce in the department. At the start of the school year, the number of students will increase from 240 to 320, then to 400 in 2023. The students will be divided between Orléans, with 300 places in the first year, and the agglomeration of Montargis, with 100 places.
Three years of training
“We are still currently short of 90 nurses, we have 150 closed beds and there are tensions in the emergency room. We are living in difficult times, ”said the director of the Orleans hospital, Olivier Boyer, during the presentation of these new measures.
To accommodate these additional students, nursing schools will have to push the walls. In the agglomeration of Montargis, the nursing training institution will leave Châlette to settle on the site of the Amilly hospital, and the opening is scheduled for 2025. In Orléans, it will be necessary to wait a little Longer. Work is under study but the new premises are not planned before 2026-2027. Until then, prefabs will be installed at La Source to accommodate students.
It will then be necessary to wait for the time of training, that is to say three years, to see the first effects on the ground. Until then, the trainers are worried about whether the students will be able to find internships. They also warn of dropouts during training, or at the end of three years, which have accelerated since recruitment in nursing school switched to Parcoursup.