– We see it especially in the municipal health service that nurses are being replaced by assistants. It can have quite serious consequences if the right skills are not at work. That’s what the chief shop steward for the Norwegian Nurses’ Association in Tromsø, Daniel Brox, says. A survey carried out by the Norwegian Nurses’ Association (NSF) shows that on a national basis, 18 per cent of nursing shifts in the municipal health services are covered by employees with lower qualifications. In Troms and Finnmark, the figure is 23.8 per cent. It is the worst in the country. Here, over 10 per cent of the shifts for healthcare workers are also covered by employees with lower skills. – I think it’s about the wave of the elderly having hit the north first, and it will only continue to spread south, says Brox. He believes the solution lies in better recruitment, both when it comes to pay conditions and the working environment. – This means that we can keep the necessary skills at work, says Brox. – Have you experienced examples of unskilled people being placed in nursing positions? – Yes, I think all of us nurses have experienced that. Deviation by county: Nursing shifts replaced by employees with lower skills in the municipal health service: Troms and Finnmark: 23.8% Møre and Romsdal: 21% Innlandet: 20.9% Vestfold and Telemark: 19.4% Trøndelag: 19% Nordland: 18.9% Viken: 18.8% Oslo : 17% Agder: 16.4% Vestland: 14.3% Rogaland: 12.1% Struggling to get things going Unit manager at Otium bo and welfare center in Tromsø, Jan Erik Risvik, says they have challenges covering the nursing shifts and that it often has to adjustments to. – You can say that in the entire section for nursing homes, it can be challenging to find enough qualified nurses. You have to move those who are there, there will be overtime and you have to use other shifts to get things going, he says. – You can put in an unskilled person to do a job, but then you have to move a nurse to another service so that professional integrity is maintained at all times. Unit manager at Otium bo and welfare center in Tromsø, Jan Erik Risvik, says it is challenging to get the cable to go up. Photo: Erik Waagbø / news Worst in District Norway Deputy head of the Norwegian Nurses Association, Silje Naustvik, takes a serious view that the nursing shortage is so precarious in the north. – This applies both in the municipalities and in the specialist health service. There is a shortage of nurses the most, she says. – We must have equal health services throughout the country, and you also need that expertise in the north. According to Naustvik, these problems tend to first appear in the far north, but it is not only there that the lack of nurses is a problem. – There are also problems with recruitment in large parts of District Norway and in some large cities. Deputy head of the Norwegian Nurses Association, Silje Naustvik, says that the situation is worst in District Norway. Photo: SUNNIVA TONSBERG GASKI / SUNNIVA TONSBERG GASKI
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Nurses are replaced by unskilled workers – news Troms and Finnmark
