Are you a nurse and want to earn NOK 100,000 a month and have as much holiday as you want? Then there are opportunities in today’s Health Norway. On TikTok, there are several Norwegian nurses who talk about their everyday life as “traveling nurses”. One of them is Amalie Nielsen (26). She worked as a nurse at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim. In April, she took all vacation and time off to go on holiday. When she came home to Trondheim, she decided that enough was enough. – It was tough to stand in a one hundred percent position. I felt like I was always at work. Got temporary work during the day After over four years in a permanent job, she wanted to try something else. She wanted a higher salary and more flexible working hours. She decided to quit her safe job at the hospital to try life as a “busy nurse”. – I would have applied for a permanent position if the pay had been better. But until then I will remain a substitute, says Amalie Nielsen. Photo: Private – It is not to be overlooked that one does not have the best salary as a nurse in relation to the working hours, afternoons and weekends that go with it. If you first have time off, then it happens that you are so tired that you can’t bear to do anything. She applied in a private staffing agency, and got a job on the day. Deputy head of the Norwegian Nurses’ Association Kai Øivind Brenden understands nurses who choose to switch to staffing agencies. – It is not the individual nurse’s responsibility to stem the significant challenges in the public health system. This is where employers in the public sector and politicians must step up to ensure better working conditions and conditions Earned over 100,000 on one assignment In August, Amalie Nielsen traveled from Trondheim to the Nordland municipality of Fauske – on her first assignment. At the nursing home, she worked in a normal 100% position for one month. She lived for free and had her return journey paid for by the staffing agency. It was a completely new everyday life. She had neither family nor friends nearby. At the same time, the distinction between work and leisure became clearer. Amalie Nielsen enjoys the freedom that the job gives and encourages more people to apply for a job in a staffing agency. Photo: Privat At the hospital, she was more aware of concerns related to patients, treatment and meeting activities. – At work in a staffing agency, it was easier for me not to think about work when I had time off. My attitude was more that I should do the best possible job for the patients when I was present at work. Amalie Nielsen made the most of her life as a nurse in northern Norway and spent much of her free time going on mountain trips. Photo: Privat Suddenly she had more time and energy to do things in her spare time. And the very best: The pay was much better. – I almost tripled my salary in one month. Went backpacking When Amalie Nielsen finished her assignment with Fauske municipality, she and a friend who had also worked at the nursing home went backpacking to Asia. – The salary I was left with after one month, I can live on for a long time there. Amalie Nielsen backpacking in Bali after her temporary job in Fauske. Photo: Privat While Amalie enjoys umbrella drinks and sunny days on the beach, Fauske municipality is left with the bill. While Nielsen earned over NOK 104,000 in a staffing agency, the average monthly salary for nurses in the municipal sector is NOK 52,510. Amalie Nielsen quit her job as a hospital nurse. Now she works in a staffing agency and travels the world in anticipation of new assignments. – Those who worked at the nursing home were hard workers. Among other things, there were retired nurses who worked several nights in a row to get the solitaire going. There was clearly a need, says Nielsen. And adds. – I have felt a bit guilty, because actually it is a bit unfair. I am for equal pay for equal work. – It eats away at the motivation Ingrid Sommarset is the chief shop steward in the Norwegian Nurses Association in Fauske municipality. She nods affirmatively to Amalie’s story. – There has been extremely high use of temp agencies this summer. We are and have been dependent on the workforce from the agencies. – We are only in the starting pit of the explosion that comes from waves of the elderly. We need more hands. And bare hands are no longer enough. We must have qualified hands, says Ingrid Sommarset. Photo: Privat Sommarset says that it eats away at motivation that there are temporary workers who earn more than the hard core. In addition, there is the burden of being the only permanent nurse on duty in the summer, who knows the routines and the patients. – Sometimes it happens that you don’t have regular colleagues around you who are familiar with the department and the routines. It can feel unsafe for both the nurse and the patient. In addition, you must conduct training. It takes a lot of time, says Sommarset. – Better pay and more colleagues Photo: Manifest Sociologist in the think tank Manifest Analysis Astrid Hauge Rambøl understands why nurses flee to staffing agencies. – Many believe that the work pressure is far too high. They become exhausted and therefore quit. This exacerbates the staffing crisis. In many places it is difficult to recruit people for permanent positions and the use of temporary workers is high. The substitutes can be good, but constantly require training. This makes the working day harder for those who are permanently employed. According to Rambøl, there are solutions to make the health sector a more attractive place to work. – Employees in health and care professions have been resigning for a very long time. There are two things that are needed for people to stay in the profession. There is better pay and more colleagues. The work pressure is too high. There is too much to do during the shift. – It is more than twice as expensive to hire temporary workers from staffing agencies. It is a very bad deal for the healthcare system financially. It is not good for the patients either to constantly have new faces to deal with. It’s a loss, a loss. Never had higher temporary agency expenses Ann-Elise Os is municipal manager for health and care in Fauske. She says that the municipality has major challenges in getting hold of qualified personnel for the nursing and care services. Fauske municipality has decided to increase the size of the position for those who wish. – This is ongoing work, and collectively we believe these measures are recruiting, and not least stabilizing, says Ann-Elise Os. Photo: Privat Norwegian municipalities spent a total of more than NOK 3 billion to hire temporary nursing staff from private temporary agencies in 2023. The health institutions spent close to NOK 956 million. This is shown in a report that the Norwegian Nurses’ Association has produced in collaboration with the communications agency Burson. Fauske municipality is no better. The municipality has spent close to NOK 16 million on the hiring of health personnel from staffing agencies from January to September this year. In 2023, the municipality spent close to NOK 6.5 million. Costs twice as much It is roughly twice as expensive for Fauske municipality to hire a nurse from a staffing agency than to take on its own temporary workers. A permanently employed nurse costs the municipality on average between NOK 80,000 and 90,000 a month, while Amalie cost NOK 170,000, according to the municipality. The costs will vary based on, among other things, rotation, number of hours, overtime and extra shifts. – The costs of using a temp agency are taking their toll on the municipalities in Nordland. There are crazy amounts of money spent on this. That’s what Gjertrud Krokaa says, who is head of the Nurses’ Association in Nordland. According to Krokaa, the public health system is leaking people to the temp agencies. It will get worse And there is a lack of labor is the main reason, says senior adviser Håvard Moe at KS Konsulent AS. Håvard Moe in KS Konsulent. Photo: Olav Røli / news – The reason Fauske has such high costs for hiring temporary workers is not a poorly run municipality. Fauske is very clever. They don’t have a crooked municipal director who doesn’t want to hire nurses. These people simply do not exist. And it will get worse. The elderly wave will mean 600,000 more residents over the age of 80 in the next 25 years. For the past 24 years, Fauske has had 500 residents over the age of 80. The number of residents is now increasing by around 50 new residents over the age of 80 every year going forward. Today, Fauske has three working people for every pensioner. 15 years from now, the figure will be 2.1. – This means that there will hardly be any labor left. And the aging wave has only just begun. Imagine how this will look in ten years in Fauske. When we can’t even manage it now, we can wonder how on earth we are going to handle this in 5–10 years, says Moe. He believes this is a development that the politicians must address. – The municipalities call a temp agency and get a large overspend, and then the state comes and shovels in more oil money. This is a spiral, which is of course very pleasant for the nurses. And I believe that nurses should be paid significantly better, but not in the way that is happening now. Taking action Fauske municipality is now taking action to ensure competence. In the job advertisements, they entice by saying that they will try to adapt the job as far as possible. In addition, the municipality offers higher salary seniority. And it has produced results. In the previous job announcement, the municipality received a total of 17 applicants. Figures from Statistics Norway show that there are 1,549 nurses working in the rental industry. Photo: Synnøve Sundby Fallmyr – The goal is for us to avoid hiring substitutes for unplanned absences through increased basic staffing in the rotation units, says Ann-Elise Os. Nevertheless, the shortage of professionals is great and the municipality will probably have to rely on hiring expertise in the future. Both the main shop steward and Amalie Nielsen believe that increased wages would help to solve the staffing crisis in the health and care sector. Nielsen herself would have considered applying for a permanent position if the pay had been better, – But for now I will probably remain a temporary worker, says Amalie Nielsen. Published 25/10/2024, at 06.42
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