Nursing consultation, right to prescription, monitoring of chronic diseases, referent nurse, implementing decrees for nurses in advanced practice… The Minister for Health, Frédéric Valletoux, recently tried to give assurances to nurses. Announcements awaited, in particular by liberal nurses who do not hide that the profession is difficult. In Vienne, there are 391. Benoît Guignon officiates between Croutelle and Fontaine-le-Comte, sometimes Ligugé.
“In the countryside, we do 300 km in a day”
He is both a caregiver in his own right, but also and perhaps above all, a shield against solitude and a lookout. “I make between 50 to 60 passes per day”, explains Benoît Guignon. That day, he started the day at Christine’s “for a little injection in the butt”. Astonishment when it arrives: “But you’re dressed!” Usually, you’re in your nightgown, it’s because there are journalists following me, right? » Christine smiles.
She and Benoît are starting to get to know each other well. THE “health glitches”, Christine has her dose. At her house, as at the others on her morning rounds, the home nurse takes the time. “The days are long, the job is not valued enough, but I enjoy having time…” He sometimes even treats himself to the luxury of a coffee.
This lady to whom he comes every day to change the IV for artificial nutrition explains: “Without him and his colleagues, I would be in a retirement home! That must be said! » The nurse is, in fact, also the one who allows people to be kept at home. Benoît Guignon, also a member of the collective of liberal nurses of Vienne (Idel 86), says with regret: “We don’t have the necessary recognition for that. We have the expertise to evaluate a wound, decipher a blood test… We are too often confined, by certain doctors, to the role of the one who is going to give an injection or change a dressing. »
On April 4, 2024, around twenty nurses from Vienne showed their anger during a strong mobilization in Paris. In the crosshairs? The revaluation of the friend… For medical-nursing action. “It hasn’t changed for fifteen years”, Benoît takes offense. €3.15 per act. To which we add €7.25 for an injection. €8.83 for a blood test. €9.05 for a minor dressing. “Half is for expenses”, specifies the Croutelle nurse. As for mileage costs, “they went to 1er January 2024 at 2.75, instead of €2.50 ». He deciphers: “Nurses in the countryside travel 300 kilometers a day… At the cost of fuel, this endangers the future of certain practices. »
“Practices likely to close”
The Idel 86 collective, which has around 60 members, is the voice of the 400 liberal nurses in the department: “We know that we have practices that are likely to close. » He points out the grotesque situation of certain cases: “There are silent acts which, if we do them and bill them, will not be reimbursed to the patient. » SO ? “We’re making them!” But we don’t charge! Such as putting compression or support stockings on the person or administering eye drops. »
Benoît Guignon remembers this person from Health Insurance who retorted to him, faced with his questions about this inconsistency: ” Well ! They have many neighbors or friends to do it for them. » The nurse was speechless… “It’s still a poor understanding of the situation of many patients…” Isolated. With television as its main companion. Background noise of everyday life that the nurse brightens up with his care and, above all, his precious attention.
Figures in Vienna
In Vienne, there are 305 independent nurses working in practice. To this figure must be added 72 replacement nurses. Finally, there are 14 advanced practice nurses, also called APNs.
