“Can you go overtime? Can you go extra tonight? Can you go home now so you can do the night shift tonight? Can you do double duty?” Neck and back problems, sleep problems, stress, worry and burnout. These are some of the problems Signe Liv Solvang Vatnedal had as a nurse in the emergency department. – It is quite brutal what we have been through, and what those who are there are still going through, says Vatnedal. She is one of 23 nurses who have resigned from their jobs at the emergency department at Stavanger University Hospital (SUS) this year. Since 2016, an average of 15 nurses have left the emergency department each year. Stavanger Aftenblad has also covered the case. The emergency department at SUS. Photo: Maja Mathisen / news More at SUS than other hospitals SUS is thus higher than other larger hospitals. At Oslo University Hospital, nine nurses have left the emergency department so far this year. Five of the nine have retired with an old-age pension. At Sørlandet Hospital, two have left the emergency department in Arendal and three in Kristiansand. At the emergency department at Nordlandssykehuset, seven nurses have quit. Vatnedal believes the job cost too much in terms of health and privacy. She sees two main reasons why she chose to quit after 13 years. The first is high load over a long period of time. – High work pressure and stress, constantly being assigned new tasks, extremely fast pace, high on-call workload and that you walk with a stress in your body that is always there. The other main reason is frustration. – You don’t know if there are enough people at work, enough competence and experience to cover the various tasks. Large turnover of personnel also creates a large burden and extra work for those who are already in reception, she says. Signe Liv Solvang Vatnedal had health problems during the time she worked at the emergency department at SUS. Today she has another job as a nurse. Photo: Ingvild Taranger / news Vatnedal says that it is not unusual for three messages in one day about vacant guards. Other days there may be five. According to her, the nurses are subjected to a form of “voluntary coercion” in order not to be required to work. – More choose to take overtime shifts so that they do not have to come to work at times they have made other plans. Vatnedal says the work pressure and duty load has been very high since she started at the emergency department. – It requires funding and political will. The population in Helse Vest must be made aware of, accept and realize that this is “what they get” when they come to the emergency department. It is not about the efforts of those who work there. More orders than ever The Communications Department at SUS refers Stian Bergby for comments on the matter. Bergby is a ward nurse. The nurses are well aware that it is a busy emergency department, according to him. Stian Bergby, ward nurse at the emergency department at SUS. Photo: Privat This summer there have been more orders than ever before. – I wish I could give more pay to those who are put on duty, because you don’t do it voluntarily. He is aware that several people this summer chose to take weekend shifts that they initially did not want to do. – They know that no one else can cover the shifts, so I can understand why the nurses feel pressure. He points out that the emergency department ranks high in terms of duty load, i.e. how many guards are on duty in the evening, night or weekend. – I want to see if we can do something about that by adding more patient care during the day. The emergency department is now noticing that a large number of nurses are disappearing. – It is not inconceivable that it is more lucrative to work elsewhere when the emergency department is a busy department with a high workload. – Are you satisfied with patient safety? – I am not satisfied. I wish I had less staff turnover and a higher density of those who have been here a long time. But if you are acutely critically ill, you will get the help you need. – Terrified of making a mistake Ingvill Grødem is a trustee of the Norwegian Nurses Association (NSF) at the emergency department at SUS. She says that most people who have quit have a lot of competence and experience. High work pressure is one of several reasons why 23 nurses have chosen to leave the emergency department, according to her. – They walk around with a stomach ache because they can be required to come to work when they actually have time off. As it is now, SUS often does not have the preparedness that it should have in an emergency department, Grødem believes. She says that there is talk of what is needed for a change to happen. – The nurses fear that there is a serious error that needs to be made. At the same time, they are terrified that they are the ones who might make that mistake, says Grødem. When you arrive as a patient at the emergency department, you are triaged as green, yellow, orange or red, based on the degree of severity. Grødem believes that the number of patients in reception and the workload on the nurses sometimes affect patient safety. – We get the vital treatment the patients need, but it has consequences elsewhere. Yellow and green patients stay in bed for a long time, and yellow patients can get much worse without it being detected quickly enough since we don’t get to see them often enough, she says. Higher sickness absence than it should be Chief union representative Tone Wang-Nilsen in Helse Stavanger thinks it is worrying that 23 nurses have left the emergency department. Tone Wang-Nilsen, chief shop steward at Helse Stavanger. Photo: Private – It is worrying about the remaining nurses. If you are faced with a high workload over time, it affects motivation, Wang-Nilsen believes. She says that sickness absence is also higher than it should be. – It is a symptom that something is not right when sickness absence is 8.5 per cent. It has been taken into account to withstand 5.5 per cent, but we have been far above that for a long time. Like night and day After Vatnedal left, she started in another department at the hospital. She describes the differences as night and day. – My life is completely different now. I sleep better, stress less, and generally feel much better. Signe Liv has gained a better quality of life after she chose to quit her job at the emergency department. Photo: Ingvild Taranger / news Hello! Do you have any thoughts on the matter, or tips for something else I should look into? Then I will be happy if you send me an e-mail.
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– The stress is always in the body – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
