Nurses share tranquilizers

Nurse at St. Olav's Hospital in Trondheim..Photo: Gorm Kallestad / SCANPIX NB! Modellklarert.

One in three nurses admitted having taken tranquilizers at least once a month, a survey has shown.

 

The same survey, conducted by the magazine ‘Sykepeleien’, showed that one in four nurses feels too much anxiety, and uses sleep medication.

‘’When this problem has such an extent, it shows that this is not primarily about the individual nurse. The services must have the right skills and adequate staffing,” said union leader, Eli Gunhild By, at the Norwegian Nursing Association (NSF), according to ANB News Agency.

Many of the drugs currently used should be used in as small doses as possible and for as short as possible, to prevent patients from developing tolerance or addiction. Nevertheless, as many as 86%, six out of seven, responded that they have often taken this type of medication for a long time.

Petter Brelin, head of the Norwegian Society for General Medicine, said the use of addictive anxiety and sleeping medication is worryingly high.

At the same time, he understands that nurses use such medications when the time pressure is high.

‘’It’s unreasonable and unfortunate. But I have a great understanding of the nurses affected by it, who take that decision when they do not have time for everything. Nurses may not feel that they have so much choice,” Brelin said.

The survey was sent to 6,000 nurses in December 2017. Over 1,000 nurses responded.

 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today