A resident of a nursing home in Porvoo recently called his granddaughter and asked her to deliver his medicine when the center was understaffed.
There has been a shortage of nursing work in Finland this summer, but the problem will continue this fall.
Fanny Läckström told Yle that he recently received a panicked call from his grandfather, who lives in a publicly funded nursing home in Porvoo. Läckström said her grandfather said there was no qualified nurse available to deliver her medicine, so she asked him to come visit her.
"My grandfather had not been given a shower or medicine, so being a close relative, it was my job to give him his medicine." Läckström told Yle.
He said the situation was difficult not only for his elderly relative, but also for the caretakers of the facility because there were not enough staff on duty.
Läckström has worked as a home nurse and was therefore qualified to give her grandfather 21 different medicines.
He added that this was not the first time his grandfather had invited him to help out at the facility.
"It actually felt good to do it myself since there was no qualified staff available." he said.
“Acute Shortage”
Krister LindmanAccording to the director responsible for elderly care services in the city of Porvoo, Läckström’s case was probably related to an acute staff shortage.
"On weekends, we don’t always have enough people, so nursing homes have to manage with fewer staff. Of course this is not a good thing," he said.
Lindman said the care industry is having trouble recruiting staff.
"The situation is terrible… there are no applications for open positions. The situation will improve in the fall, but not much," he said.
Starting next year, the new Act on Personnel Requirements for Elderly Care sets a minimum nursing quota for round-the-clock care in elderly care facilities of seven caregivers per 10 residents.
Lindman said he was less optimistic about a binding quota.
"I understand the rationale and that’s fine. But since we are already understaffed, the situation is not looking good. We are not going to meet the quota," he said.
Fulfilling the requirement of the new law would mean reducing the number of places in the facilities.
"The government must consider what 0.7 nurses per patient means in practice," he told Yle.
Finland is expected to recruit around 30,000 more nurses by 2030 to meet the demands of an aging population.
Lindman said she encourages family members to contact nursing home staff if they see a problem.
"We always try to deal with problems and learn from them," he said.
Source: The Nordic Page