Our interviewer this time is Una Sigríður Ásmundsdóttir, Head of Nursing at Hraunbúðir, the nursing and residential home of Heilbrigðisstofnun Suðurlands in the Westman Islands. Una was born in Eyjafjöll on February 22, 1967, went on to attend elementary and secondary school in the town and then graduated in nursing from the University of Akureyri in 2013. She worked as a nurse at the hospital department of HSU in the Westman Islands for several years after graduation, but has been Head of Nursing at Hraunbúðir since 2019. "I oversee staff and everything connected with them, along with the many jobs that Head of Nursing has to do every day," she says of her work cycle.

Diverse background Una worked in various fields before joining the healthcare industry, for example in fish processing, hair salon and cleaning in Herjólfur. In addition, she worked as a long-term paramedic before nursing became a full-time job. Una has 5 children, four boys and one girl, and 6 grandchildren, while her husband is Óskar Guðjón Kjartansson, a factory manager at Vestmannaeyjarbær. In her opinion, the most important aspects of life outside work are fitness, knitting and nature watching, as the beauty, the mountains and the sea are the best things about Eyjar.

STEINUNN ÁHRIFAVALD Why did she choose this particular career at HSU in the Westman Islands? " This work was completely absent from me when I was young, but my interest came when I started to grow older and to predict more about the human body, which is a fantastic phenomenon. I started out as a child and started to study later. I was in a physiotherapy program with nurse Steinunn Jónatansdóttir and she was my influence when it came to my choice of nursing."

ONE OF THE ONE STARS. "The best part of the workplace is our residents and I always look forward to attending my work and doing the many different tasks that await them. This is a good workplace and there are just wonderful people who work here. The workplace atmosphere at Hraunbúðir is unique and exemplary and everyone contributes to our ability to take care of our old people as best as possible, which is of paramount importance. At our unit, it is all about making the residents feel good; that they get the best possible service that HSU has to offer and work well with the families of the residents because they know the residents the best."

35 nurses and nurses’ rooms At Hraunbúð, there are 31 nursing rooms and 4 residential rooms. “There are nearly 70 staff members, consisting of nurses, paramedics, care workers, cabin workers, cleaning and washing workers. A doctor also works at the home, and at least comes once a week. There is also easy access to the doctors who are on duty at the healthcare center.”

NEW STUDY IN THE Wish List We ask Una if she has any wishes for work. “I would like a new nursing home with all the best things the modern world has to offer in terms of related tools and equipment. You always want to try to do things better and you keep moving towards that. Every day at Hraunbúðir we do important work and we intend to continue doing so. This home is the child of its time, but a lot of things have been renovated and fixed. We look forward with a bright eye to the future,” Ásmundsdóttir concludes.