– It is very strange that nurses are not mentioned in the same way. That’s what Edel Marlén Taraldsen (28) says, who works as a nurse at Hammerfest Hospital. She applauds that teachers in the north get extra benefits by working in the action zone, but would like to have the same. Edel Marlén Taraldsen (th) and Emily Kolstad Stephensen are nurses at Finnmark Hospital Hammerfest. Photo: Allan Klo / news The teachers now have 50,000 a year written off their student loans. – It seems that it is an oversight that the nurses are not mentioned in this context, she states. When news talks to Taraldsen, she is just coming off a shift that has lasted 19 hours. High work pressure due to a lack of people, in addition to what she describes as a poor salary – means that the profession needs some benefits to recruit more. – Now I hope there will be an e-mail from the government with an apology that we have just been forgotten, but that we will of course receive the same benefits as the teachers – but the question is whether that will happen. If you live and work in Nord-Troms and Finnmark, the so-called action zone, you can now have up to 20 per cent and a maximum of 30,000 of your student loan canceled per year. This is an increase of NOK 5,000 a year. Taraldsen is supported by Åshild Østlyngen, who is deputy leader of the Norwegian Nurses Association (NSF) in Troms and Finnmark. – We need both a public school service, but we also need health services. Deputy leader, Åshild Østlyngen in the Norwegian Nurses Association Troms and Finnmark. Photo: Allan Klo / news Østlyngen points to the population decline in the north, as well as an increasingly elderly population in this area. That is why she believes it is very important to get more nurses in place here. – Increased pay, extra holiday or other measures may also be relevant to get nurses to Finnmark and Nord-Troms. The Norwegian Nurses’ Association has on several occasions requested that the government put in place better schemes for canceling student loans for nurses in the north. Most recently in a consultation response to the Ministry of Knowledge 21 November 2022. Did not receive a hearing According to recent figures in the so-called nursing index, nurses do not earn enough to buy the home they want. Østlyngen believes that financial benefits, such as that which the teachers receive in the initiative zone, had meant that more people had been lured into the profession – and to the north. – NOK 50,000 would have helped, but it could also have been higher so that it would have been more effective. She has not written down an exact amount on the paper, but that it must be enough for it to be marked on the pay slip. The Ministry of Education has looked at changes for the repayment of student loans, and on that occasion the nurses have recorded their wishes. It was not heard. – It is a signal that the government is not taking the nursing crisis seriously, because it really is – throughout the country. And it is particularly large here in the northernmost county, says Østlyngen. It is more difficult to get hold of teachers than nurses When asked by news why the Norwegian Nurses Association’s request for changes regarding the repayment of education loans has not been accepted, the Ministry of Education replies in an e-mail: “Traditionally, in Norway, there have not been as many challenges with recruitment to nursing education as it is to teacher education. The Ministry of Education notes the input, and will take it with us in further work.” Until now, teachers had a trial scheme which allowed them to write off more of their student loans. This has now been made permanent. – Why are teachers in particular given priority with extra measures in the measures zone? – The scheme came about because there were particularly big challenges in recruiting teachers in these areas, says State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel (Sp). Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel is State Secretary to the Minister for Research and Higher Education in the Ministry of Education. Photo: Ragne B. Lysaker / Press photo – Over the border to the safe Østlyngen receives feedback from the nurses in Troms and Finnmark that they have a very tough working day due to the large shortage of nurses. In a survey in Troms and Finnmark, the association found that 20 per cent of nursing shifts lack a nurse. Often it is an unskilled person who steps in to plug the gaps in the duty schedules. – I would say that many times it is beyond the limit of what is reasonable, says Østlyngen.
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– Shocking that nurses are not mentioned – news Troms and Finnmark
