The Reality of Mobilization of Students as a Countermeasure against Covid-19 in France

Narrative of a mobilized student of nursing

Abstract

In March 2020, the French government announced the mobilization of medical and nursing students to medical institutions, elderly care facilities, and welfare facilities for the physically challenged as Covid-19 measures. Through interviews with a student who were actually engaged in the mobilization in Rennes, this paper aims to clarify what kind of labor they engaged in at the facilities during the mobilization or what their life was like at that time. Investigations revealed that the mobilized students were sent to facilities designated by the school without having received adequate education at the school. Furthermore, at the facilities where they were mobilized, the students were assigned different duties from those they had originally expected, and had to perform tasks such as assisting. Despite this, the salaries paid were those of trainees, not those that should have been paid to caregivers or nursing assistants. In his personal life, he was also unable to relax because he was in lockdown, even though he had spent many tense days as a trainee. In addition, he was unable to meet and communicate with his classmates and friends, which he says hindered his ability to build teamwork, something he would need to do once he started working as a nurse. These mobilizations of students were carried out under the guise of "helping the most fragile" of the French government. Indeed, the mobilization of students to their respective sites may have relieved the burden on patients, institutionalized residents, or the medical and nursing personnel working there. However, from this interview, it became clear that the wrinkles of helping them were being put on the students. The students, who were not given adequate physical and mental health care, and who were engaged in various types of labor for little compensation, emerged as a new vulnerable population.