Tromso

First Week in Hammerfest

Travel Pictures

On a steamboat to Tromso

So last night, Pertice, Gwen and Soura decided to take a litttle trip Tromso by steamboat. Presently we are on the Midnatsol, which is beautiful boat, taking us to Tromso. The trip will last us 12 hours. We are going through the sea which is an incredible view. It is like we are passing through these snow covered mountains and every once in a while we come across a few scattered houses and small communities. It makes us wonder about the history of each of these little towns and how they came to be. As we are on our journey, we are meeting more people and learning more about the traditions. I am sure some of the questions that we ask are making people laugh, but everyone is so kind and patient. The service on this boat is amazing. The internet is not so great, so hopefully this message will get posted without too many errors.

Last night all of us girls uploaded all of our pictures into Soura's computer and once we are able to get back to Hammerfest and go to the internet cafe, we will post some of those as well. Anyhow I only have a few minutes of log in time left so I'd better go. Until next time.

A beautiful day

Today we went on excursions to a nursing home and health centre in Hammerfest. We learned much about the health system and health of the people. We met some nurses and doctors at these facilities. It was great to get out in the community and not just be in the hospital. They have a very social democracy, so people are taxed based on a percentage of their income so this means that everyone has equal access to health care. This greatly reduces the poor-rich gap. The state has to make sure that everyone has the basics: food, home, and clothing. Homelessness is not an issue unless a person chooses to live on the street where as in Canada it is not always a choice. The poverty line is 1000 noks (krones) per person and their is social assistance to supply flats and food for clothing and food for those who cant afford. There are only 42 people in Hammferfest who are not employed. Another interest difference is that each person has to pay to see the doctor and this is about $20 per visit plus any extra fees but there is a cap of about $300 dollars per year then you do not have to pay for the rest of the year.
The nursing home had more staff per resident than we do and payment is different. Each person is taxed 75% of their pension and the government pays the homes. Each person receives the same care and treatment regardless of how much they pay. The staff were great and took a long time out of their day to tend to our multiple questions. We are finding that Norwegians are very easy going and patient.
We are looking at taking a steamnoat to Tromso in the next few weeks. Will keep you posted.

PS So far Pertice is behaving herself...LOL

Eating at a restaurant in Norway

Today was another great day! We met our Norway nursing students whom we will be pairing with. They are all very nice and excited to have us here. We met up with Pertice at the school and had our little meet and greet. We tried some Norwegian waffles, jam and cheese. The cheese was sweet and went well with waffles and jam. We now have our schedules for the hospital and it is much different than back home. They only work 8 hours and are only allowed to work 1 night shift during their clinical rotation. The students find their own preceptors and make their own schedule. The student that I (gwen) am with does not have a scheduled shift for the last two weeks and has told me that I could make it whatever I wanted. They also work 1 to 3 weeks on one unit and then they switch to another unit. So I am going to be working on three different units while I am here. They also have specialized units (such medicine: cardiac and respiratory) for each area. So we are working in areas such as: Medicine (cardio & resp), ICU, Medical daycare, Surgery (post-op), and ortho and some other areas. The areas are a bit different so we will know more once we work there. More to come later....

1st Day in Norway

So 5 plane rides and one day later we have arrived in Hammerfest. With the 8 hour time difference we have lost part of a day, but are quiclkly recovering. The place is beautiful with its mountains and a bay. The mountains are still covered in snow and the air is crisp and refreshing. We start our clinical rotation tomorrow with an orientation to the school and hospital. Our residence is walking distance to both of these places. We have not seen Pertice yet as she took an earlier plane and had to be detoured due to fog. She had to take a 3 hour bus ride from wheverer they landed, so she got in 2 hours after we did last night. Touring around the town and doing sight seeing for today. Will add pictures soon.