Present on the two university campuses of Agen, Patricia Cuenot does not limit herself to care. Prevention, social support, mental health: for almost ten years, this nurse has been developing initiatives to meet the needs of students.
“I have a brain that gives me a million ideas per second.” On the Agen campuses, Patricia Cuenot displays infectious enthusiasm. For almost ten years, this nurse with an atypical background has gradually broadened her role well beyond care.
On the Michel-Serres campus, where the Agen University Science Department (Dusa) is located, as on that of Le Pin, she has become a familiar figure. “Here, we all know each other,” she smiles. A proximity that she maintains by going directly to meet the students.
An energy forged on the ground
Graduated in 1986 in Lyon, Patricia Cuenot began in cardiology, before spending fifteen years in intensive care and emergencies. “We were passionate, we were learning non-stop,” she remembers. She also participates in training staff in emergency procedures.
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After a stint in Besançon and then a few years in French Polynesia, she moved to Agen in 2007. The hospital temporary work she did then had a lasting impact: “Finding yourself alone in a department at the weekend, you learn to deal with the unexpected.” An experience that she still says she uses today.
Much more than a nurse
On the Agen campuses, its role goes beyond the strict framework of care. “Health is not just about treatment,” she emphasizes. Mental health, precariousness, access to rights… In an area where access to a doctor can be complicated, it sets up several systems: teleconsultations, the passage of a medicobus or partnerships with different organizations such as the CPAM or the Caf. “Students don’t necessarily go to the structures, so I try to bring them to campus,” she explains.
A strategy that works. At the start of the academic year, she organizes consultations with certain organizations, directly on site. “The objective is to facilitate procedures and access to information.”
A key role in a human-sized campus
In Agen, the university has around 1,800 students spread across the two sites. A configuration that encourages exchanges. “We are almost in a high school continuity, but with more autonomy,” observes Patricia Cuenot.
For Gaël, a member of the university team, the nurse occupies a special place: “She is one of the rare people to have an overall vision of the students.” In conjunction with teachers and associations, she helps to adapt certain actions to identified needs.
Evening prevention, awareness of consent or actions around mental health: “Projects must start from students,” he emphasizes. An approach which also relies on bridging students present on campus.
Create a connection, above all
Beyond the devices, it is the direct relationship that stands out. On campus, Patricia Cuenot favors direct contact: no impersonal platform, but a number, a face, a listener. “They know they can come see me,” she explains. A presence deemed valuable by the students. “It’s reassuring,” confide Anna and Samia, in first year. “She puts you at ease, she makes you want to talk.”
Between workshops, meetings and individual support, Patricia Cuenot weaves, over the years, a real network around students. With a guideline that does not change: “Go towards them, always.”
