The solution to the healthcare shortage is among us – in other jobs

Nurses from the Philippines are a short-term solution, says professor Lene Seibæk, who offers suggestions on how to make the nursing profession more attractive.

In this country, there is a relatively large pool of trained nurses who have left the profession for one reason or another and are working in something else.

Around 100, estimates Lene Seibæk, who herself is a nurse and professor of nursing at the Department of Health and Nature at Ilisimatusarfik.

– That’s quite a lot, she says.

– And they once wanted to be nurses.

She believes it is worth putting some effort into luring former nurses back into the profession if you want a more long-term solution to the staff shortage in the healthcare system.

– They will be able to contribute to a coherent healthcare system and to prevention and cooperation with the population in a completely different way than you can when you are just visiting the country, says Lene Seibæk.

Right now, the healthcare system is heavily dependent on hiring temporary workers and short-term employees from Denmark, among other countries, to keep things running. And that’s an expensive solution.

– The (short-term employees, ed.) are expensive in themselves, but it also means that there is not much continuity in the departments, pointed out the chairman of the Economic Council, Torben M. Andersen, in an interview with KNR.

(short-term employees, ed.)

Recently, the Minister of Health and Persons with Disabilities, Anna Wangenheim (D), has suggested that the shortage of hands in the healthcare system can be solved by recruiting nurses from countries such as the Philippines.

A solution that several of the experts KNR has spoken to, however, point out has a number of negative consequences for the countries from which the workforce is taken.

Midwives and nurses in Greenland

According to the nurses’ union PK, there are currently approximately 280 nurses in Greenland and around 30 midwives. However, the figures are uncertain.

Based on these figures, there are 5.5 midwives and nurses per 1000 inhabitants in Greenland.

For comparison, there are 10.5 in Denmark, 1.7 in India and 4.8 in the Philippines, according to figures from the World Bank.

Lene Seibæk also has reservations about that solution.

– Recruiting employees from other countries can definitely be a solution to a here-and-now problem, she says and continues:

– But actively recruiting from countries that themselves lack personnel could perhaps also be considered, if you think it is a solidarity-based solution.

Great responsibility requires great support

A more long-term solution is to ensure that the Greenlandic healthcare system becomes a workplace that is attractive to stay in – and a place that more people decide to return to.

Because that’s not how it is now, points out Lene Seibæk, who primarily works with nurses.

In 2023, the Health Commission’s report was published, showing that 53 percent of trained, Greenlandic-speaking nurses are no longer in the profession and have fled to other industries.

Why are nurses leaving their profession in Denmark?

Why are nurses leaving their profession in Denmark?

– Some of the reasons are poor working conditions and not very high pay. Perhaps particularly poor working conditions for those who work decentrally, where you are not necessarily super busy all the time, but where you almost never have time off, answers Lene Seibæk.

She also points out that it can be quite lonely working as a nurse on the coast, where colleagues are few and responsibilities are broad.

– It can be quite difficult, the human issues they are confronted with, she says.

Therefore, Lene Seibæk believes that a greater focus on supporting and guiding nurses will contribute to job satisfaction.

– There is a need to provide good support – also when they are at school at university and when they are doing internships, she says.

– And greater managerial input, so that you don’t work so much alone, but have the opportunity to form professional networks. You can do that now across distances, which you couldn’t do just 10 years ago, she says.

Nurses who know Greenland

According to Lene Seibæk, it is extremely important to have a solid core of nurses who are from Greenland and who have knowledge of the society and culture.

– Greenlandic nurses constitute an enormously strong professional backbone in the Greenlandic healthcare system, she says.

However, Lene Seibæk also admits that there will still be a need for recruitment from outside.

– There is no doubt that it will be difficult to become self-sufficient in all areas. Temporary workers who have specialist training, for example anaesthetic nurses, could be a good solution, she points out.

But for the continuous work with families, prevention, and chronically ill people, it is important that patients are not thrown around between temporary workers and short-term employees.

– It’s also about trust. That as a patient you must have trust in the people you seek help from, says Lene Seibæk.

Researcher’s proposal to retain – and attract – nurses

Better payMore opportunities for sparring – especially on the coast (for example online).Options for further and continuing education and courses online, so that you don’t have to leave your home and family for several years to specialize.Increased focus on internships and thorough guidance during training.Upskilling social and health assistants so that they can become nurses.Provide more funding to educational institutions.Provide more internships.