Today was my last day working alongside a Norwegian nursing student out in the community of Oslo, Norway. We were in an outpatient psychiatric clinic for three days, and I really enjoyed learning about how they work with psychiatric patients in Oslo. At this clinic they are able to do home visits and give medications, as well as provide basic home care needs for the patients. They also will go to patient’s homes to evaluate them and see if they need to be institutionalized or need treatment. They primarily work with drug abuse and psychosis, as well as patients who are’t able to work because of their mental illness. They will help them apply for financial needs through the government to make sure sure they are able to pay for their care. Today specifically, we went to a patients home to do an evaluation on him to see if hospitalization would be better for him than home care. He is actively using drugs, and he is on required treatment that they do here in Norway. His evaluation went well and he has been taking his medication, so he did not need to be hospitalized. After that, for the rest of the afternoon, we hung out with a patient downtown. At this clinic, on certain days they have patients come to the clinic to meet with some of the staff and then they will take them out and hang out with them. It was such a great experience. We went to get coffee with him and hung out by the waterfront, which he loved! I could see how happy he was to have some company and outdoor time. I truly loved this clinical placement, and I am so happy I got to experience a little bit of what their psychiatric care is like here.
Throughout this clinical experience I thought a lot about SDG 10, reduce inequality within and among countries, especially with the type of population I saw. This goal is something I want to take back to America from Norway. Reducing inequality means that policies should be made while paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Individuals with mental illness may have a very hard time getting jobs, or even being able to afford treatment. Here in Norway, individuals who can’t work due to any illness can get on welfare and have all their basic needs paid for and met. This aligns with the Public Health Core Competency 1C13: Ensures development of community health assessments using information about health status, factors influencing health, and assets and resources. This clinic is helping these patients within their community get housing and food as well as treatment paid for so they become healthier. If patients need help and can’t afford much due to their situation, the physicians and healthcare workers figure out the funding from the government for them. I think that is so helpful for the patient so they don’t have to worry about that. The Norwegian communities have higher taxes because of this system; however, they are filled with joy to pay taxes towards helping people in their community. I think that is something our country can work on and learn from. That helping our community is so wonderful and so helpful to grow as a country and world. While in this community, there are still downfalls as it isn’t perfect, mental illness doesn’t seem as stigmatized in the community here as in Ohio, or even America.
As a future neonatal nurse practitioner, I may have the opportunity of working with many mentally ill families. This clinical experience was great for me because I want to primarily work with babies who have Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, and help the mothers receive the care they need if they are abusing substances. I was able to work with many patients who abused substances and learn how the Norway communities care for them, and I can now take many of the great ideas I learned back to America. This was such a great way to be able to expand my knowledge of different cultures and different communities in a different part of the world! I am excited to share all these experiences and suggestions with my peers and I look forward to learning even more about this great community!
Me, taking the electric bike to a patients home.
Social worker entering patients apartment building.
View from the waterfront while hanging out with the patient.
The Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice (2014, June 26). Core competencies for public health professionals. Retrieved from http://www.phf.org/resourcestools/Documents/Core_Competencies_for_Public
United Nations (n.d.). Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/inequality/