RIKKE KJÆR KJELDSEN

Facing our Profession
The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap

The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without facing extremely unhappy, stressed and drained nurses, fighting for equal pay, in the front line fighting Covid-19, and involved in a strike for better wage with mixed support from both government and the people.

A profession in tumultuous circumstances, but also a profession vital to the welfare society in Denmark.
The shortage of nurses grows bigger and bigger while the numbers of new young men and women applying for nursing school drops. Recruiting nurses to the hospitals and home care has never been this difficult, and never before has fewer young Danes wanted to become nurses. According to Damvad Analytics there will be a shortage of 8.000-10.000 nurses in Denmark in 2030, while applicant for nursing school is the lowest in almost ten years.
Experienced nurses breaking down in tears during their shifts, the feeling of being inadequate following like your own shadow, fear of making mistakes and stress triggered by responsibility and pressure. We all know the stories. Dispite the stories and the dropping support for the eduction, Denmark has 12.360 students across the country studying nursing. Who are they, and what are their thoughts on the profession they are about to enter?
Five students from VIA in Aarhus, Denmark writes down their thoughts on the matter.

For Jyllands-Posten 
The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap
The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap
The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap
The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap
The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap

A classic reaction is “Oh… it’s very nice someone wants to do this, especially with everything going on these days,” People acknowledge me more for even wanting to study nursing than what it is I’m capable of in my work as a nurse. There’s an underlying negative tone to their response. Probably because people don’t understand what it is I do. Anne Reintoft, 24, 7th term

The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without facing extremely unhappy, stressed and drained nurses, fighting for equal pay, in the front line fighting Covid-19, and involved in a strike for better wage with mixed support from both government and the people.

A profession in tumultuous circumstances, but also a profession vital to the welfare society in Denmark.
The shortage of nurses grows bigger and bigger while the numbers of new young men and women applying for nursing school drops. Recruiting nurses to the hospitals and home care has never been this difficult, and never before has fewer young Danes wanted to become nurses. According to Damvad Analytics there will be a shortage of 8.000-10.000 nurses in Denmark in 2030, while applicant for nursing school is the lowest in almost ten years.
Experienced nurses breaking down in tears during their shifts, the feeling of being inadequate following like your own shadow, fear of making mistakes and stress triggered by responsibility and pressure. We all know the stories. Dispite the stories and the dropping support for the eduction, Denmark has 12.360 students across the country studying nursing. Who are they, and what are their thoughts on the profession they are about to enter?
Five students from VIA in Aarhus, Denmark writes down their thoughts on the matter.

For Jyllands-Posten 
The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap

I want to be a nurse because I have a hope of creating change. Right now that is not realistic, because it isn’t about who I am, and how skilled I am, but about the system. No one can take away the hope to make a real difference, and that’s why I continue. Anne-Sofie Borum Poulsen, 25, 6th term

The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap

“I’ll be back in a minute” can haunt me when I’m biking home from a fast-paced shift. My patients trust in me cracks, when I’m back after three hours instead of the promised five minutes. Every time it happens another piece of my professional pride and me as a person breaks off. Freja Thorstein-Nielsen, 21, 4th term

The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap

I was on my bike home from af 12-hours nightshift where we were constantly running around putting out fires. Working long shifts isn’t new for me, but a moment of doubt hit me. Should shifts like these keep me from becoming a nurse? No. Kristoffer Reimer Walsted, 25, finished 10th of June 2022

The past years there has been a lot of debate about nurses. About their working conditions. About their salary. About their efforts during the pandemic. About their working schedules and the lack of them. It has been nearly impossible to pick up a newspap

After only one and a half months of studying my counselor told my to leave in a hurry. From the beginning I’ve had to defend my choice of education. The stress and wear on me as a person versus being present and high professionalism. Are my arguments good enough? Mie Nygaard Madsen, 24, 4th term

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