In the summer of 2022, a patient developed acute lung failure syndrome at Prestøyhjemmet, in Kirkenes. A nurse went against the doctor’s advice and removed the oxygen supply. “The doctors who followed the case agree that there is a lack of language and professional competence among foreign nurses at the nursing home,” the supervisory report states. It also says: “Other experienced doctors have reported that it is impossible to have professional discussions and appointments over the phone with the same nurses and that the emergency department must carry out physical inspections of all inquiries because telephone reports cannot be interpreted.” As presented in the report, the patient died after his stay at Prestøy Home. Date of death is exempt from public disclosure. Nevertheless, the situation at Prestøy Home is still demanding one year later. Linguistic decay in the health care system The patient did not receive proper health care and Sør-Varanger municipality broke the law, writes the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark. The competence of the staff at the nursing home was not guaranteed. Not unusual, according to Marte Kvittum Tangen, head of the Norwegian Association for General Medicine (NFA). – Language challenges have been a topic for many, many years. It will always get worse when recruitment challenges increase. Tangen says that many municipalities, and particularly district municipalities, have challenges in obtaining temporary workers. Language problems in the healthcare system have been discussed in Norway for many years, Marte Kvittum Tangen describes. Photo: Thomas Eckhoff / The Norwegian Medical Association – Municipalities must have personnel. Both time pressure and a lack of alternatives can unfortunately mean that they sometimes do not get their language skills checked. Tangen says that language skills should perhaps be considered again as a prerequisite for Norwegian authorization as health personnel. In 2021, Sylvi Listhaug (Frp) proposed introducing national requirements for knowledge of Norwegian in the health care system in the Storting. The main argument against the proposal is that Norway is facing an ongoing staffing crisis in the healthcare system. Sør-Varanger says that the challenges do not only apply to Prestøyhjemmet in the municipality. Recruitment difficulties The incident from last year is being taken seriously, explains office manager in Sør-Varanger municipality Dan Robert Svenske. – It is difficult to get hold of qualified personnel and one is dependent on buying competence and staffing from a temporary agency. More than a year after the offense at Prestøyhjemmet, the situation in Sør-Varanger municipality is still demanding, says office manager in the administration department Dan Robert Svenske. Photo: Privat Following the incident, the municipality has worked to ensure medical routines among employees. They are also working to get a better overview of the language skills of hired healthcare personnel. Therefore, they ask the substitutes to arrive well in advance of busy periods. – This is so that we can get to know their language and subject level well, and that they know our routines, says Svenske. Removed the oxygen supply The patient in the case had COPD and was admitted for a short-term stay at the Prestøy Home last summer. After five nights in the nursing home, he was found without an oxygen supply, with blue fingers and mouth, and with an oxygen saturation of 45 percent – less than half of normal. The patient was admitted to the hospital with a vital indication. It was obvious that the patient’s condition had worsened, and the doctor should have been called, it is written in the inspection report. It didn’t happen. The state administrator assessed the incident as a sign of a lack of professional competence: Sør-Varanger has not ensured the knowledge of nurses who worked at the nursing home in 2022. Photo: Sebastian Faugstad / news A possible reason was a failure of communication/language barrier or a lack of understanding of the seriousness of the situation. The nurse wondered if the patient had received too much oxygen for someone with COPD, and therefore removed the oxygen supply, according to the inspection report. Dan Robert Svenske in Sør-Varanger municipality, for his part, points to the financial challenges the municipality is facing, and says they have not been able to achieve as good professional development as they would like. – We are better equipped than we were last year, but the situation is challenging and will continue to be so throughout the summer and autumn, he says.
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Nurse removed patient’s oxygen supply – news Troms and Finnmark
