Aim
This paper describes the situation regarding COVID‐19 emergency in France as of early May 2020, the main policies to fight this virus, and the roles and responsibilities of nurses regarding their work at this time, as well as the challenges facing the profession.
Background
Europe continues to be affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic. At the time of writing France was the fourth country with the highest number of detected cases and cumulative deaths.
Sources of evidence
Websites of the World Health Organization, French Government, French Agency of Public Health, French National Council of Nurses and ClinicalTrials.gov database, as well as the experiences of the authors.
Discussion
The history of the development of the pandemic in France helps explain the establishment of the state of health emergency and containment of the population. Many decisions made had undesirable repercussions, particularly in terms of intra‐family violence, mental health disorders and the renunciation of care. Hospitals and primary care services, with significant investment by nurses, played a key role in the care of persons with and without COVID‐19.
Conclusion
France has suffered a very high toll in terms of COVID‐19 morbidity and mortality, and effects on its people, health systems and health professionals, including nurses.
Implications for nursing practice
Nurses are recognized for their social usefulness in France. However, it is important to consider the collateral effects of this crisis on nurses and nursing and to integrate the health emergency nursing skills established during the pandemic into the standard field of nursing competence.
Implications for nursing policy
The nursing profession has expectations of a reflection on and revision of nursing skills as well as of its valorization in the French healthcare system, notably carried out by the French National Council Order of Nurses.
Background: Despite seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) being recommended to healthcare professionals to protect themselves and their patients, uptake is low, especially among nurses. We sought to study selfvaccination behaviours, attitudes and knowledge about SIV among nurses in Southeastern France. Methods: A cross-sectional survey with community and hospital-based hospital nurses was conducted with the same standardised questionnaire. Multi-model averaging approaches studied factors associated with the following dependent variables: self-reported SIV uptake; and considering SIV a professional responsibility. Results: 1539 nurses completed the questionnaire (response rate: 85%). SIV was the most frequently cited vaccine (49%) regarding nurses' unfavourable opinions towards specific vaccines. Thirty-four percent of nurses reported being vaccinated at least once during the 2015-2016 or 2016-2017 seasons. A lack of perceived personal vulnerability to influenza, a fear of adverse effects, and a preference for homeopathy constituted the main deterrents of SIV. Nurses held various misconceptions about the SIV, but 69% considered its benefits to be greater than its risks. The multi-model averaging approach showed that considering SIV as a professional responsibility was the main factor associated with SIV uptake among nurses (Nagelkerke's partial R-squared: 15%). This sense of responsibility was strongly associated with trust in various vaccine information sources. Conclusion: Nurses had low SIV uptake rates and held various concerns and a lack of knowledge surrounding the vaccine. This is concerning considering the impact that these factors can have on nurses and patients' health, especially considering the increased role that nurses could have surrounding SIV in the near future.
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