Students in practice are sometimes reluctant to write overtime – NRK Nordland

– Journalism students often do not have the same capacity as journalists who have been in the profession for several decades. I think you can therefore feel a bit like a burden, as you don’t deliver to the same extent as “everyone else”, says Regine Lund Kristensen.

She is the leader of NJ Student, the student organization of the Norwegian Journalist Association.

On Wednesday, NRK discussed a challenge among doctors on duty, also called LIS doctors. Many report that they do not work overtime because they feel that they are not working efficiently enough.

Some LIS doctors also report a high workload.

But budding journalists and nurses also say that the encounter with working life can be demanding.

According to Kristensen, they are clear that students who are out in practice must register overtime in the same way as regular employees.

– From my own experience and understanding, there are not many places where there are problems with too much workload or overtime, but we know it happens, she says.

– Sthe students who have worked overtime in practice have probably taken a little extra time to register it. We obviously do not want this, because it is their right to be paid overtime for these hours. As an intern, there are probably a number of people who might not want to stand out from the crowd, and perhaps therefore hesitate to ask for the extra money on top of their salary.

– Could this contribute to scaring students away from the profession?

– The idea that “journalism is a way of life” is a way of thinking and a kind of propaganda that I think we must stop with. I think it can scare away budding young journalists who could do very well, but don’t want to work 12 hours every day, and live and breathe the job, says Regine Lund Kristensen.

– Fortunately, there are many skilled supervisors around in various newsrooms, who help to reassure the students and can tell how much is expected of each student in the various roles.

Nursing students also get a surprise when they go into practice, student leader of the Norwegian Nurses Association, Daniel Tørresvoll, tells Stabu.

Used like normal employees

Half of the nursing studies are practical studies at various institutions and departments.

– Especially during the first internship period, we get more feedback about internship shock. That you have an idea of ​​what the healthcare system is like, which is not entirely in accordance with reality, he says.

According to Stabu, the nursing students are sometimes used as regular employees.

– We hear stories about internships that come up with statements that they do not need to hire replacements in the event of illness because the department has student nurses. It is unsustainable, he believes.

Stabu points to, among other things, that the nursing students are not paid for being in practice, in contrast to, for example, journalism students.

– Just that believe we are right, because practice should be a learning arena. The students are deployed to learn and to receive guidance.

But then Stabu believes that the internships cannot use the students as ordinary employees.

– It is the learning outcome that should be emphasised, not the institution’s lack of staffing, he says.

Sets requirements for the internships

Daniel Tørresvoll Stabu also have clear opinions about what is needed to make the internship periods even better for the students:

– We must, among other things, sreliable supervisors with formal supervision skills. In the same way that we nursing students believe that learning should be the focus of our practice periods, we also believe that the supervision should not be done on a voluntary basis, as is the case in many places today. Here there must also be time set aside for guidance, he says.

In addition, they are calling for even more relevant internships.

– The pressure on educational institutions to find internships means that we are seeing an increase in internships of questionable relevance, says Stabu, and refers to nurses who have had internships at training centers and at bakeries.

– In order to solve these challenges, we believe that the municipal health service must have a duty to accept students in practice, in the same way as the specialist health service.