Nurse Ida Marie Ringgaard (25) completed her education in January this year. Already in March, she started working as a substitute nurse at the pulmonary medicine department at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim. She says that there were many people on her course who talked about the possibility of traveling to Norway to work. – There is a perception that it is possible to earn well in Norway as a nurse. And that is also true, she says. Ringgaard started working in Trondheim as a nurse in March. She will be here until next year. Photo: Christine Løvschall Mørch Ringgard is not the only one. Sandra Ileby Rokkedrejer is originally from Norway, but has lived in Denmark since 2005. In 2021, she chose to commute to Norway to work. She had both travel and accommodation covered. Sandra Ileby Rokkedrejer chose to commute to Norway to work. Photo: Private – I then worked one week and had three weeks off a month. In one week I earned the same as I did in a whole month in Denmark, says Rokkedrejer. Increase of 98 per cent At the same time as the pandemic was raging, a total of 1,172 Danish nurses have been authorized to work in Norway. This shows recent statistics that news has been sent by the Directorate of Health. The figures do not include Danish citizens with education outside Denmark. The figures also do not show how many actually work or have worked in Norway. 2022 looks set to reach new heights. From January until 22 July, 395 Danish nurses have been authorized. In the same months last year, the figure was 199. That is an increase of over 98 per cent. – Svindyrt In general, the salary for nurses is better in Norway than in Denmark. In addition, the hourly rate for a temporary worker is higher than the hourly rate for a permanent employee. Temporary workers cost the Norwegian state dearly. – On a good day, you can probably earn double what we would make in Denmark, says Ringgaard. Figures from the Norwegian Nurses’ Association show that a nurse in a hospital has an average hourly wage of NOK 269. A specialist nurse paid an average of NOK 320 per hour. Compared to the hourly wage of a permanent employee, the hourly rate for a substitute nurse is approximately double. Invoices that Sykepleien has seen show that the staffing agency invoiced 132,000 for two intensive care nurses who were at work for four days. Another invoice shows a payment of NOK 45,000 for one nurse at work for four days in Kirkenes. – It is very expensive to invest in temps instead of permanent personnel, says leader of the Norwegian Nurses Association (NSF), Lill Sverresdatter Larsen, to news. Lill Sverresdatter Larsen is concerned about the use of foreign labour. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news The Nurses’ Association shows that the municipalities in Norway alone have spent over NOK 1.2 billion on the hiring of temporary services in the health sector in 2020. In the health institutions, over NOK 500 million was spent on temporary workers in 2020. This is an increase of over 100 million from 2018. Sverresdatter Larsen believes that Norway has become completely dependent on temporary workers as not enough health personnel have been trained over time. That has made us very vulnerable, says the NSF leader. – We need to build the competence we need ourselves. If we in Norway, which is such a rich country, can’t manage it, who will?, asks Larsen. Concerned about the increase Deputy head of the Danish Nursing Council (DSR), Anni Pilgaard, says that it is basically nothing new that Danish nurses go to Norway to work. – But what we are worried about is that there has been a huge increase in the last year, she says. Anni Pilgaard of the Danish Nursing Council understands very well the Danish nurses who come to Norway to work. Photo: Søren Svendsen / Danish Nursing Council She thinks the pay is one of the reasons why Danish nurses would rather work in Norway, as well as the workload. – In addition, Danish nurses really experience the nursing shortage in this country firsthand. For them, coming to Norway is like a respite, says Pilgaard. According to its own research, DSR has found that approximately 30 per cent of Danish nurses have experienced critical situations at work due to a lack of staff. – There are many nurses who for several years have been frustrated by the pay and working conditions in Denmark, says nurse Ringgaard. – So in a way it is also a small protest not to take work in Denmark, she adds. Ringgaard says that there are several people from her studies who have also traveled to Norway to work. Photo: Christine Løvschall Mørch Ringgaard says she feels a kind of pressure to stand up for her own country. – But on the other hand, I don’t think you can put the responsibility on the nurses. We shout loudly that the pay is too poor in relation to the responsibility and work we perform. So I think it is taking responsibility by saying no to working under such conditions, she says. – A vicious spiral The fact that more and more Danish nurses are fleeing to Norway is not good news for Denmark. The hospitals there are crying out for nurses. In January 2020, the Danish government took action. They promised 1,000 extra nurses in Danish hospitals by the end of 2021 to make up for a growing shortage of nurses. In the same time period, however, only 211 nurses were employed in Danish hospitals. This is shown by figures from the Danish Health Data Protection Authority that Politiken has obtained. According to the Danish Nursing Council (DSR), there are 5,000 vacant nursing positions in Denmark. DSR estimates that in 2025 there will be a shortage of 6,600 nurses in the country.
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– Can earn twice as much – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
