She had been thinking about the decision to leave the health service for a long time, Rita Storli tells Dagbladet.
– It has been very tough. To constantly feel that you are not getting everything you need, and to go home from work with a guilty conscience… It has been a rush.
In recent months, Storli has been employed at a nursing home, while she spent most of her years as a nurse working at the Hospital in Vestfold.
– The pandemic was the last straw. Now I have been in it for many years, but now is enough, enough, she says Varden, who first mentioned the case.
– It’s too hopeless
No time to go to the bathroom
On his last day of work, Storli took a strong stand against the situation in the Norwegian health care system, through a post on Facebook, which at the time of writing has been shared over 2000 times.
“Dope breaks, lunch breaks and self-care have come far down the list among my colleagues. And I do not have an overview of how many of my colleagues have cried at work. “ she writes in the post.
DO NOT WANT TO BACK: Rita Storli disappears from the health service for good, she says. Now she wants to return to school to change industry. Photo: Private
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– In a country as rich as Norway, it is strange that you should have it like that at work. It will be very difficult to stand for over time, says Storli, who believes that the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority should know its visiting hours in the health service.
The work pressure can also go beyond patient safety, she believes:
«I wrote 10 deviations in just 1 night shift, some partly serious. The discrepancies revealed too few people at work, and too little competence. Well I thought, maybe something will be done then? But then no. For what was the result: further downsizing. “
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Experiencing little will
For despite repeated cries about the situation in the Norwegian health care system, Storli does not experience that those who are in the middle of this day after day are heard.
Neither overtime pay, nor newly created study places are enough to solve the situation, she believes.
– Many will probably not last long in the profession when the pressure is so great. It is very good that you educate more people, but it is just as important to keep us who have experience. This is where I think it lacks the most.
Blame each other
She points out that nurses must be given better working conditions, such as better pay and full-time positions – in addition to the staffing crisis having to be resolved.
When the pandemic reached Norway, there was hope that things would happen, but Storli believes there is still little will to solve the crisis.
– There have been no measures from either the political or administrative side. Nothing has been done for us to be able to cope in this much tougher working day.
“Now I hear that more and more of my colleagues have quit, and are considering quitting! And I hope that actually continues. I hope it continues until the “top managers” really understand the problem, the problem we have been saying for years! And finally, finally it’s my turn to say: thank you for me healthcare, I’ll never come back! ” she concludes in the post.
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– Not done enough
State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng in the Ministry of Health and Care Services writes in an e-mail to Dagbladet that they are well aware that nurses have very demanding days – especially during the pandemic.
– Some things have been done to improve everyday work, but it is definitely not enough. Educating and retaining nurses is therefore an important priority for the government. The government wants nurses and all the other professionals in the health and care service to have good working conditions with as many permanent full-time positions as possible. We made this clear last week in our expectations of the hospitals.
Promises that commit
He further says that Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol recently proposed to increase the operating allocations to the regional health authorities by NOK 1.5 billion to cover increased pandemic costs, as well as NOK 39 million earmarked for 200 educational positions for specialist nurses.
– With these funds, and by opening up for other occupational groups to come and relieve, we hope that the wave of infection that is expected to come does not lead to an overload of our common health service.
The government has also appointed a health personnel commission, which will come up with measures to train, recruit and retain qualified health personnel throughout the country, says Bekeng.
– The commission will, among other things, look at how we can distribute the tasks in the health service in a better way, so that health personnel, including nurses, can use their competence correctly.
The hospital in Vestfold does not want to comment on the case.
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