– I believe that healthcare workers in Norway are being exploited. It must constantly be cut, run faster and be in several places at the same time. That’s what nurse Mathilde Halseth Arnes (29) says. During her short career, she has worked largely in hospitals, and already at the age of 23 she began to feel that the job in the healthcare system was difficult. – It is physically and mentally hard. You don’t have time to ask how a patient is doing, because you don’t have time to hear the answer. – There are generally too few people at work. And it won’t get better in the future. The Health Personnel Commission says we must prepare for the fact that there will be fewer employees per patient in the future. On Thursday, committee leader Gunnar Bovim delivered the health personnel report to Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol. – It doesn’t help with a billion here and a billion there. There will be fewer employees per patient. We must take that realization with us at all levels. The commission believes that the answer is not more employees, but that work must be done more efficiently. In the end, nurse Arnes couldn’t take it anymore and quit her job. She was then 26 years old. Lost three kilos after night shift weekend For three and a half years, she worked as a nurse in a hospital, before she called it quits. – I experienced coming home for Christmas one year and people asked if I was doing well because I had become so thin. Mathilde says there is often an incredibly good working environment within the healthcare system, where you get to know each other well and are good at supporting each other. Photo: Privat She says that it had been a busy autumn with many night shifts and little sleep. Night shift weekends in particular were challenging. – Some guards were so hectic that I didn’t have time to eat. Once before such a night shift weekend, she decided to weigh herself before and after. – I had lost three kilos. The reason was lack of time to take in food during hectic shifts. In addition, the lack of sleep and stomach ache before the next shift probably affected the appetite. Even if she wasn’t physically on duty. – I realized that in the long term it is not so healthy for me. The hospital Mathilde worked at has not responded to news’s inquiries. – Can’t get the job done in a good way Kai Øivind Brenden is deputy chairman of the Norwegian Nurses Association. He says that Mathilde’s experiences are unfortunately not unknown to them. – We hear it from our members and union representatives. Managers also talk about people like Mathilde. Brenden says Sintef has carried out research that points to two central reasons for the high sickness absence among nurses. Kai Øivind Brenden of the Norwegian Nurses Association says a good professional and safe working environment is needed to get people to stay in the health service. Photo: Sunniva Tønsberg Gaski / SUNNIVA TONSBERG GASKI – There is high work pressure and demanding working life arrangements. Unfortunately, this is not new. The deputy leader believes that more measures are needed to improve the situation in the health service. – We must make it attractive to enter this sector. There must be sufficient employees at work. A good professional environment must be built and we must strengthen pay conditions. – We must also put framework conditions in place for managers, so that they can carry out good liver work. Brenden says the consequences of the situation being as it is now, is that employees do not get to do their jobs in a good way. – Not a healthcare system I want to represent – You know that you are not enough. I think most people who choose a caring profession do so because they want to help others. It’s a good feeling, says Arnes. – When you have to prioritize what is most necessary, I think for my part it was tough in the long run. You have a bad conscience after being on duty. In the long term, Arnes saw that the nursing job was going to be difficult to continue with. – Especially when you have to combine work with family life over time. As a nurse, I have been passionate about this topic. So the way forward was master’s studies in Stavanger, and finally the job as a public health nurse in Brønnøy municipality in Nordland. Nurse Mathilde Arnes presenting her master’s at the University of Stavanger in 2021. It was about looking after the helper. Photo: Private – What do you think about working as a nurse in the future? – It is difficult to answer. It may happen, if conditions improve. She says that it is not just higher wages that are needed, but that it is about working conditions. – Everything is being cut down. I am not an economist, but I cannot understand when we are one of the richest countries in the world. I don’t understand how people think that you should make money from health. You cannot make the meeting with sick people cost-effective. At least it’s not a healthcare system that I want to represent. Increases the prices for transporting dogs by plane: – The prices have dropped completely
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Mathilde quit as a nurse because of the work pressure – lost three kilos on a work weekend – news Nordland
