– “We win within a day, but it’s a struggle every now and then,” says Cecile Eliasen (31).
She works as Emergency room nurse at Sørlandet Hospital in Kristiansand.
The past few weeks have been very PC at work. Dose visits should be carefully planned and snacks should be brought on hand.
He is often responsible for 4-5 patients at a time.
– In addition, I have to run when the emergency alarm goes off, and then go an hour and a half while the patient is vulnerable in the reception. It feels uncomfortable and sometimes downright unsafe, she says.
Corridor patients
The country’s hospitals are experiencing an unusually high number of patients in the run-up to Christmas. Hospitals are overflowing with patients with flu, RS virus, covid-19, falls and fractures.
Also, absenteeism among employees is high.
Chris Peter Grasaas-Albrecht is a unit manager in the emergency department at Kristiansand. LeeStand over hospitalized patients Long to enter.
– Over the next few hours, it gets crowded here, and that’s a good thing. Then we have to put the patients in the corridors or in the emergency department where there is physical space. He says this is inappropriate and absolutely a last resort.
Taking care of fire, infection and personal safety is also challenging when there are many patients in a particular area in the emergency department.
Unit manager Anne Kathryn Nyberg and unit manager have busy days in the hospital’s emergency room at Kristiansand Chris Peter Grasaus-Albrecht.
Photo: Heidi Titlefsen / NRK
Want more time with the kids
The unit manager is excited about how Christmas will be. The ever-increasing number of patients, full beds and many sick employees make the solitaire more demanding.
– If you can’t cover shifts, have someone else come to work. We haven’t done that yet and hope to avoid it when employees spend well-deserved time with their families.
Nurse Eliasen There are two small children at home. She hopes to have more time with them at Christmas, but that is definitely not the case.
– I hope I can spend time with my family, but I feel a responsibility to patients and colleagues. In crises, we stand up.
A nurse at Sørlandet Hospital in Kristiansand Cecilie Eliassen says she uses most of her energy at work.
Photo: Heidi Titlefsen / NRK
– If you want you will
Nursing colleague Stian Bergham, 40, has worked in the emergency department for a year and a half. Haven’t been busy at work in recent weeks.
– I now feel that it is approaching the maximum I can live with at work. It’s been blowing since morning now.
He’s ready to work on Christmas, when he actually has the time.
– If you want you will. It’s part of the job here, but I hope to avoid it.
Some patients now have to wait longer than usual, says Stien Bergum, a nurse at Sørlandet Hospital’s emergency department.
Photo: Heidi Titlefsen / NRK
Many Norwegian hospitals have chosen to raise readiness to green status. Among others, Oslo University Hospital, Ahas, Vestre Viken, Jijovic, Hamar, Lillehammer and Westfold.
High readiness means, among other things, that employees can be ordered back to work even if they are on Christmas break.
Sørlandet Hospital decided in a meeting today to reintroduce the use of masks when interacting with patients.
They have chosen not to raise the state of emergency but are closely monitoring the situation.
– now completely serious
At the hospital in Westfold, the situation is dire. Full beds, emergency center wait times, and high absenteeism.
I don’t know how the big picture is being developed at the hospital.
So director Stein Kinsherd was forced to put the hospital on green alert.
– This is absolutely serious now. We are hearing from all healthcare organizations in the country. Either they are, or they plan to go on standby.
Stein Kinsertahl, director of the hospital in Westfold.
Photo: Run Christopher Holm / NRK
According to the director, patient visits have been increasing over the years.
– Now it’s hitting both flu, covid, rs virus and different things that are very rare at the same time, he says.
Initially, the hospital plans to mobilize staff voluntarily at Christmas.
– Then we’ll see if we have to increase it with wage incentives or, in the worst case, to bring in people for additional work, says Kinsertahl.
Hospitals should be prioritized harder. In many places, only the very sick are allowed to visit the hospital. Some planned treatments are postponed. Hospitals should also refer as many patients as possible to municipalities.
This also means more pressure on municipal health services.
– Many people fear that the Christmas holidays will be over
The Norwegian Nurses Association has almost 130,000 members. Every day, the association receives messages from nurses who are worried about their busy days.
With an unusually high number of patients and an extra number of sick staff, there will be huge pressure on those left at work, says Silje Naustvik, first vice-president of the nurses’ union.
– It is clear that it is difficult to know that nurses are going into the Christmas holidays with a lot of pressure at work. You may be afraid of getting sick yourself, leaving more to do for those left behind.
Silje Naustvik, First Vice-President of the Norwegian Nurses Association.
Photo: Sunnyva Tonsberg Khasky / Sunnyva Tonsberg Khasky
In some places, staff have already been told to be on standby for Christmas.
– Many people fear that the Christmas break will be over and they will have to go back to work because of too much work pressure and too much sickness, says Knausthvik.
The deputy manager explains that many nurses walk with extra shoulders in view of greater preparedness in hospitals.
This comes on top of two years of a state of emergency due to the pandemic.
– Of course it’s a burden. Many who have fallen on hard times over the years now have a stretch in the team. Now we’re entering another Christmas where nurses may have to go to work even if it’s not planned.
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