On board the fishing boat “Øksnesværing” in Bodø, the crew prepares to unload the day’s catch. Siri Karoliussen (20) puts on her fishing gloves.
Last year, she put away the disposable gloves from her nursing education, after just one year as a student at Nord University.
– I didn’t want to be a nurse for the rest of my life, and didn’t see any future in that way of working.
She is not alone in thinking that. Almost one in five nursing students, or 18.1 per cent, have dropped out during their education since 2008, according to figures from the Database for Statistics on Higher Education.
The proportion who complete nursing education is still higher than for other studies. According to Statistics Norway, one in four students left the education between 2012 and 2022.
The Nurses’ Association’s deputy chairman Kai Øivind Brenden says it speaks volumes that Karoliussen chose as she did.
– When we know a little about how tough it is to be a fisherman, it goes without saying that you would rather be a fisherman than work in the health service as a nurse. The burden has to go down and the salary has to go up.
Siri Karoliussen drives the crane on the fishing boat where she works. She does not rule out going back to school at a later date.
Photo: Johannes Sæheim Pedersen / NRK
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More will become nurses
This year, the health and social studies programs have an overall increase in first-choice applicants of 5.9 per cent, compared to last year. This gives 2.7 first-choice applicants per planned study place.
With that, a negative trend has been reversed.
– The fact that over 900 more people have nursing as their first choice this year says quite a lot about Norwegian youth. It shows that we have young people who are willing to stand up for others and for society, says says Research and Higher Education Minister Oddmund Hoel (Sp).
Last year, the number of applicants to nursing programs fell for the second year in a row. The number of applicants was then the lowest in 10 years, wrote Dagens Medisin.
Although there were far more applicants nationwide than there were available study places, many study places have remained empty.
– The trend must reverse, and we hope it will. We are excited to see how the numbers are this year, and that many people realize that being a nurse is the world’s best and most exciting profession. There is a need for nurses, and you are almost guaranteed a job.
Right now, Brenden says that there is a shortage of thousands of nurses in positions nationwide. He believes this is because the everyday life of a nurse is not easy, or well enough paid.
– We have to work much harder to increase the attractiveness of the profession. It is about the work pressure having to go down and the salary having to go up. Many people probably see that their friends and family who are nurses have little free time and low wages. Then you won’t be able to recruit enough people.
Kai Øivind Brenden, deputy chairman of the Norwegian Nurses Association, says that he does not believe that relaxing the grade requirements will lead to more nurses being trained.
Photo: Sunniva Tønsberg Gaski / SUNNIVA TONSBERG GASKI
The government will relax the requirements
Part of the reason is the requirement that was introduced in 2019 for a grade of three or better in mathematics and Norwegian for applicants to nursing and teacher training.
Therefore, on 5 April the government proposed, among other things, to abolish certain grade requirements for nursing education.
– We will need more teachers, health workers and engineers to ensure our welfare and the creation of value in our country, said Minister of Education Kari Nessa Northun (Ap) when she presented the government’s proposal for a new model for admission to higher education and professional education.
But lower requirements for future nursing students is not the way to go, says the Nurses’ Association.
– Since the grade requirements were introduced, two litters have gone out. What we see there is that more people have completed their studies, and more complete them within the stipulated time.
The fact that more people are entering the course does not necessarily mean that more people are being educated, Brenden believes.
– There are more people coming in, but it is not certain that you will get as many out. There are fairly advanced requirements for competence in mathematics and Norwegian as a nurse. We believe it is a failure to remove the grade requirement.
Wanted better working hours
On board “Øksnesværing”, Siri works for a month, and then she has a full month off when she comes ashore. It was important to her when she dropped out of nursing studies last year.
– Nurses do not have the best salary based on how much they work. There is also a lot of work in fishing. But as a fisherman, you can work one month on and one month off.
Siri Karoliussen on the bridge of the fishing boat “Øksnesværing”.
Photo: Johannes Sæheim Pedersen / NRK
And it was precisely the opportunity to plan her own free time that was important to Karoliussen when she made her choice.
– If you want to travel somewhere, I can do it. But in a nursing rotation, you may have the day off, when your friends are at work. The whole day is essentially spent waiting to go to work.
She also does not completely rule out returning to school.
– I’ve looked into part-time studies, so I don’t have to go back to school 100%. That I can combine studies with work.
