On January 1, 2021, according to the Regional Health Observatory (ORS), the Pays de la Loire had 36,470 nurses. 67% practice in a health establishment. About 20% are employees of a non-hospital structure.
This is a trend that has been confirmed for 20 years now, the number of nurses continues to increase in Pays de la Loire, as in the whole of France. The covid should have aroused vocations. Not for the money… The average French salary remains below the European average.
In two decades, the numbers have jumped 82%. The profession attracts more and more, and in this period of health crisis it seems to give rise to even more vocation. Since 2016, nearly 6,000 additional caregivers have joined the ranks. Two-thirds of them work in health establishments. First in the public hospital, 20% are employees in Ehpad, the others in establishments for the disabled, in occupational health services or at school and university.
The department that attracts the least? Mayenne which already suffers a lot from medical desertification.
The Pays de la Loire has 964 nurses per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021. This density is 16% lower than the national average (1,145 nurses per 100,000 inhabitants). In the region, departmental disparities are observed in particular in connection with the importance of the offer in health establishments. Vendée has the lowest density of nurses (853), and Maine-et-Loire the highest (1,092), close to the national average.
And the profession is still ultra-feminine. In 2021, 89% of nurses are women. The average age of nurses in the region is 43.6 years old. It is 2 years less than the national average of 45.5 years.
The average age of nurses is tending to increase, in connection with a sharp increase in the number of nurses aged 60 and over. This development concerns more particularly salaried nurses.
54% of nurses have obtained their diploma in the region and they mainly choose the public. 19,700 nurses are employed in the care units of health establishments. 75% practice in public structures, 15% in private clinics and 10% in private health establishments of collective interest. Among these health professionals, 8% have a specialization: 450 are operating theater nurses, 520 anesthetist nurses and 670 child nurses.
More than 1,100 nurses (6%) work as health managers. 15% of nurses working in institutions are on a fixed-term contract (CDD). This proportion is higher than the average in France (9%) and is on the rise (10% at the end of 2013, 14% at the end of 2018).
As to 3257 liberals, in 2020 they performed more than 26 million acts, largely technical care.
There are 71 nursing care centers and 3 multipurpose health centers in the region.
