Sigurður Jóhannesson is the head nurse in Fjallabyggð, a united community of Siglufjörður and Ólafsfjörður. He came to Siglufjörður from Reykjavík more than 30 years ago with his wife, Sóley Reynisdóttir, who is also a nurse, and their two children. The course was taken for 2-3 years, but in Siglufjörður the couple have been together for 30 years and have two more children.

HSN in Fjallabyggð operates health care and a non-divided hospital in the same location with twenty spaces in a nursing ward and three hospital spaces. There is also a health care branch in Ólafsfjörður. A total of 60 people work at HSN in Fjallabyggð, which serves over 2000 residents.

Strong innovation efforts to improve client service quality

Sigurður and his colleagues have participated in projects that focus on strengthening and improving the service to clients in Fjallabyggð. They participated in developing a drug order system, which is intertwined with SAGA medical records system and a medication registration system, which is an electronic registration of all medications for increased safety. Currently, this software is in use in many parts of the country.

There is also another exciting project and collaboration between HSN in Fjallabyggð, the municipality of Fjallabyggð and VelTek (North Iceland’s Health and Welfare Technology Cluster), which involves developing welfare technology for people in Fjallabyggð from 60 years of age. A special call centre has been established to call people at night and perform screen visits, to listen to people and monitor their health. “This is an important and preventive effort because people can be intervened earlier if needed. People at home can also use welfare technology with, for example, medication dispensers, which are special drug robots that help people take their medicines on time and with the right dose independently.”

An unusual number of male nurses in Fjallabyggð

When Sigurður started his nursing studies, there were three boys in the group, but two who finished their studies and graduated in 1984. “There hasn’t been a dramatic change in the gender ratio since then; things are going very slowly, both here and in other parts of Europe. We are two male nurses in Siglufjörður today. In fact, we have been here in unusual numbers in the past, in the short or long term, and sometimes in the majority.”

“We have been very lucky with our staff in the past, people have stayed with us for a long time, which is a good thing for both the workplace and Fjallabyggð, and we have been successful in the job satisfaction surveys. It’s good to be here, but we see that it’s quite common for people to return home after their studies. HSN has been able to promote the organization's activities among university students in Akureyri, which has resulted in various places, including here, and we also have similar efforts as in Húsavík, where we have supported those who want to complete paramedic training while working and have thus gained rights.”

Nurses try working in the rural areas

The variety of nursing in the rural areas gives another perspective, and Sigurður recommends that nurses try working in the rural areas. “It tells you a lot about what it is like that the original plan was to stay here for two years, a thirty-year-old from Reykjavik, but then been here for over thirty years. Everything was much calmer here, no need to drop off kids, a quiet community, but still alive. There’s a lot of life here, for example, in the biotech industry, and educated people have been moving here with their families, which is very satisfying. Then there’s wonderful nature, a paradise for people who love to exercise all year round; skiing, cross-country skiing, or hiking through mountains. It’s very easy to get into everything possible here, I got myself into volleyball and even into a band called Gautar, which has been quite popular in the area. And of course, we always have good weather!”