Simulation workshops to attract future students to the Health Careers Training Institute at Nîmes University Hospital

First gestures of a childcare worker taught to a high school student during the open day. Midi Libre – E.A.

Pierre-Yves Paquet, directeur des soins et coordinateur général de l’IFMS du CHU de Nîmes. Midi Libre – E.A.

Chaque année, l’institut accueille près de 450 nouveaux étudiants au sein de ses trois antennes.

“Je vais te montrer les soins maintenant”. As part of the open day of the Institute for Training in Health Professions (IFMS) of the Nîmes University Hospital, this Saturday, January 25, high school students and their families are invited to discover the professions of nurses, nursing assistants, childcare assistants, etc. All via simulation workshops. “It's been packed since this morning”, confides one of the IFMS trainers. He, installed in the next room, demonstrates a hip operation. “This allows us to show something concrete”, explains in turn Pierre-Yves Paquet, director of care and general coordinator of the IFMS, who is delighted with the success of this day. “At 3pm, we have 524 visitors, whereas last year, we had 400 at the end of the day”, he specifies.

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The public is invited to discover the behind the scenes of a hip operation. Midi Libre – E.A.

Within its institute, nearly 210 new nurses, 125 nursing assistants, 45 childcare assistants, 35 pediatric nurses, 20 operating room nurses (IBODE) and 20 anesthetist nurses are trained each year at the three branches (Nîmes, Uzès and Le Vigan).

Some training courses in tension

But despite a certain turnout on this open day, in terms of recruitment, the reality is somewhat different. “Among the professions where it is difficult to fill, there are notably nursing assistants. In recent years, if there is less tension on the ground, on the other hand recruitment is”, explains Pierre-Yves Paquet, highlighting in particular the arduousness of the profession or even the public's disenchantment as possible reasons for this drop in demand. Pediatric nurse training is also in difficulty, but for other reasons, the director qualifies. “For a quota of 35 students, we will have about a hundred applications. But the problem is that the level is weakening. And we are separating from many candidates at the end of the eligibility”, he explains.

Through these open days, and in particular thanks to the workshops and conferences organized, the director hopes to create vocations, while drawing up a portrait of the profession that is as realistic as possible, to avoid interruptions, or even abandonments, of training, “which are in the order of 10 to 15%”. “We explain that it is not a singular profession, we must enter into the patient's intimacy”, he insists. The next open days will take place in Uzès on February 1st and in Le Vigan on February 8th.