Lill Sverresdatter Larsen believes the situation in the health care system may be extra precarious in northern Norway.
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(Northern Lights): The leader of the Norwegian Nurses’ Association talks about a situation with increasing sickness absence among nurses, after almost two years of increased pressure as a result of the coronary pandemic.
– What the nurses describe is that they have not rolled up their sleeves. They have not been part of the reopening party. They have not had their sleeves down during the pandemic. They are tired of searching, says Sverresdatter Larsen to Nordlys.
She refers to the figures which indicate an increasing sickness absence among nurses. The association’s statistics show that absenteeism among nurses increased by approximately 8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter last year. The increase was from 8.1 to 8.7 percent in absolute numbers.
Larsen believes that a tough workload and low wages are reasons for the trend.
– I get daily messages from nurses who have a stomach ache when the phone rings. They experience a moral pressure. If you can not take the overtime guard here then it is a seriously ill young person who does not get help. Or you will hear that your colleague will stand alone, says the union leader.
Lill Sverresdatter Larsen fears that the situation may worsen before it gets better.
– We are worried about that. Sick leave may increase further. There is a limit for all people when it is reached. Member surveys show an increase in those who will quit when the pandemic is over.
Large numbers want away
Sverresdatter Larsen draws statistics from her own surveys:
As many as 72 per cent of those who work in the health service in the municipalities report that they will look for another job when the pandemic is over.
– How much do you think the corona has to say for the situation we are in?
– Korona is an acute crisis. It is a health service that has and has had a fragile capacity in the health service, for several years before the pandemic. We have streamlined and run with 100 percent operation. When there is a pandemic, there was an acute crisis on a chronic crisis in the health care system.
One-fifth of intensive care nurses disappeared when it became more difficult for foreign workers and commuters across national borders to get to work in Norway.
– We have around 700 intensive care nurses who are not working as intensive care nurses mainly because the salary is too poor, says Lill Sverresdatter Larsen.
Pointing to the salary
She believes that salary will be an important tool for increasing nursing capacity in the long term.
– We have to do something in the short term that makes the nurses willing to stand in the enormous pressure. You can not escape the fact that there is a salary is an important tool. Sick leave comes from an enormous burden, says Lill Sverresdatter Larsen and adds:
– Increasing the salary will also be able to mobilize back nurses, which in turn will reduce the burden on those who are in it now. In addition, we need to look at the division of tasks. In the long run, the employer must take active steps to reduce the burden so that we keep professionals in work, in addition to educating more people.
– How do you work in the association to reverse the trend of increased sickness absence?
– When the crisis came, it was about ensuring that the employer has flexibility. To use the nurses in different wards. We opened up for more than the Working Environment Act opened up for. It was cruelly exploited. The way we work today is more about making the consequences visible to patients.
Extra precarious in the north
Lill Sverresdatter Larsen believes the crisis is and can be extra bad both in northern Norway in general and in Tromsø.
– What we see is that it is the hospital cities that notice the greatest effect. There is a shortage of 140 nurses in Tromsø. In addition, we see the shortage in rural areas. The shortage of nurses is greatest in the north, the union leader states.
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