It's been a long time since there was a general practitioner in Puimoisson, this small Provençal village of 700 inhabitants bordered by lavender fields where the snow surprised everyone at the end of April.
Watching Cécile Monnier and Amandine Bartolo work, one might think that the two liberal nurses have replaced doctors, even if their work obviously differs from that of a practitioner.
Since 2019, these two women, aged 52 and 40, have shared an office next to the main village square. They form a united team which tries as best it can to compensate for the medical desertification underway in this rural territory. In addition to daily rounds at patients' homes, the two nurses are on call at the office for small tasks, such as blood samples or shallow wounds. They work every day, including Sundays, from 6 a.m. until sometimes 8:45 p.m.
“Some people catch us in the street directly”
Here, ” everyone knows us “. It is ” pretty small “, there is the ” bar on one side of the street and opposite the office of “nurses”, as people call us », They explain. And since the inhabitants “ do not have access to a GP, they go to see the nurse “. They ” know that, unlike them, we are accessible immediately “.
