news has asked the public what they wonder about elections and politics. We have received several hundred questions. Here I answer one of them: Margot Strand has lived at Byhagen nursing home in Sandnes for a year. She is only 71 years old. In the latter half of the 60s, she was told that she had Parkinson’s disease. – I would say from now, while I still have my vote in reserve, she says. Margot Strand often sits in this chair for several hours before someone can help her go to the toilet. Photo: Ingvald Nordmark / news Strand struggles with tremors in her feet and hands, and she is dependent on help for personal care and to be able to move around her flat fairly quickly. No one comes to help. She is excited about the carers and the work they do. – They run their legs off. They are the blue angels, she says. Clearly marked. Because there are too few, she thinks. This means that she has experienced having to poop in her pants several times, because no one comes to help her to the toilet. – It is unsustainable, and I know that this applies to the whole country, not just Sandnes. Margot Strand has Parkinson’s. She says she wants to use her voice while it is still available. Photo: Ingvald Nordmark / news She thinks nursing homes should hire more unskilled people to have enough to work. – They do not need to be trained nurses to be able to follow me in the shower or on the toilet. Not to give a helping hand with making coffee or to strike up a conversation either, underlines Margot Strand. Important years ahead of us Heidi Gautun is a researcher at the Welfare Research Institute Nova at Oslo Met. She has researched staffing in nursing homes and home nursing care. – We see that there is a large and increasing shortage of nurses, specialist nurses and healthcare workers in nursing homes and in home nursing services. Only two out of ten newly graduated nurses will work in nursing homes and in home nursing services. Researcher Heidi Gautun. Photo: NOVA Many also want to quit their jobs, he says. Those who quit point to the workload as the most important reason. At the same time, there are a few years left until we see a fairly strong growth in the number of elderly people over 80. – I think it is unwise not to inject resources into this sector now. More people have to go to work in these services. If not, we risk losing those we have. Results from the survey The number of vacant nursing positions in the health and social services increased from 1,850 in 2014 to 4,500 in 2019. In addition, the number of vacant specialist nursing positions increased from 200 to 1,100. Absenteeism for nurses in nursing homes and home care is high: 12 percent. 1 in 5 planned nursing shifts in these services lacked nurses. The result of understaffing is that more and more unskilled people work in the services. The services have major problems recruiting newly qualified nurses. Many, especially young nurses who work in nursing homes and home nurses, want to quit their jobs. Source: Heidi Gautun, Oslo Met. She agrees with Margot Strand that more people who are not trained nurses should also enter the sector. – It is absolutely positive and important that we bring in more hands, but it is important that they come on top of the skilled workers, and not replace them. For the municipalities, it is about what money they get from the state, but that does not mean everything, according to the researcher. – This is also about choices made in a municipality when prioritizing the various sectors, she says. She points out that it may appear that not all municipalities have a good enough overview of needs and staffing. The municipalities do not take account of the high sickness absence in these services when they give money to the sector. This is answered by the politicians Margot Strand invited mayoral candidates Pål Morten Borgli (Frp) and Arne Buchholdt Espedal (Ap) to the nursing home. You can see the TV feature about the meeting here. news has asked both them and several other local politicians Margot Strand’s question. You can read their answer by swiping below: Elise Pedersen Pål Morten Borgli, mayoral candidate for Frp in SandnesMe is the richest country in the world. It hurts me that unworthy care for the elderly and low staffing is a theme in the election campaign in 2023, this is something we should be done with. What goes into things like showers, toilets, decent food when you need and want food… That there is undignified elderly care in Norway, we should not accept it. There are enough people and enough money, and we should prioritize something. We have staffed up quite well, there will be more nurses, auxiliary nurses and cleaning workers. But it will never be quite enough. Elise Pedersen Arne Buchholdt Espedal, mayoral candidate for Labor in SandnesMe are clear about the challenges and have a new project at Byhaugen, where the nurses work in teams. This way there is a little more room for them to be where they are needed. We have also started a project to increase the basic staff and get more people. I do the best I can, and I wish there could be more people at work. But it is difficult to get hold of enough healthcare workers. It is very important that we get these recorded on how it is, so that we can make it better. Tom Edvindsen Janne Stangeland Rege, mayoral candidate for Høgre i SolaMe needs more hands in elderly care, in addition to the need to rethink how we meet the demographic development. In order to recruit and retain employees, we need a good working environment, clear professional management, low sickness absence, competitive pay, an environment for competence development and good cooperation with relatives. in care and a more predictable everyday for both patients and staff. Ole Andreas Bø Jonas Andersen Sayed, mayor of Sokndal, KrFMe must build more all-day care places and train, recruit and retain more employees. But we still have to be honest that there must be fewer employees per patient in the future. It’s not that we don’t have enough money in the country. The challenge is a lack of people. If we continue to do things as we do today, in a few years all new workplaces in Norway will have to be in health and care. We should therefore invest in public health, enjoyment of life and prevention. It is about activity and exercise and prevention of loneliness and malnutrition. Ihne Pedersen Bjørn Ove Hersdal, group manager for Raudt in Rogaland County Municipality The most important thing for us is to increase the basic staff with full, permanent positions. When basic staffing is too low, people burn out. Then we can look to Stavanger, where they have introduced home assistants who take care of a part of the social for which you don’t need a health education. There is a shortage of nurses and health professionals, and then they don’t need to fill the day with tasks for which you don’t need a health education . Dan Uneken Daria Maria Szymaniuk, mayoral candidate for MDG in Stavanger We need more nursing homes and more employees. The municipalities have problems getting the budget to work together when they also have to prioritize other tasks.Stavanger has invested in increasing basic staffing, especially house assistants in nursing homes. They are not trained in health care and take care of tasks for which you do not need special training. Stavanger has 60 such employees and needs more. It also means that the skilled workers have more time to do what they are trained to do. Unn Birkeland, deputy mayor of Gjesdal, Sp. It will be a challenge with available resources, and we are running out of people faster than we are running out of money. The solution may lie in the combination of several factors. People with the highest professional education must be allowed to limit the tasks they can carry out alone. People with lower vocational education must be offered additional education that can relieve tasks in care or food situations, for example medicine courses. More apprentices and recruitment from all levels, for example “Menn i helse”. People without health education and work must receive short apprenticeships that are specifically aimed at elderly care and the greatest needs; help for meaningful everyday life, activity, conversation, care and food/drink. Private Arnt Olav Sivertsen, mayoral candidate for the Industrial and Business Party EigersundMe must offer unskilled care positions at nursing homes. For many elderly people, loneliness and someone to talk to is just as important as getting the care they need. We must also offer bigger positions to those who want it and give them the salary they deserve. It is important for politicians to keep focus on the important issues and not waste millions on precision projects such as river parks square and beach promenade. All these projects should come after kindergartens, schools and care for the elderly. Margot Strand had the chance to ask the local politicians questions about staffing at the nursing homes. Photo: Ingvald Nordmark / news
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Why aren’t more people at work in nursing homes? – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
