In this post we are sharing feedback from a Swedish citizen who has worked in the medical fields in the United States, Saudi Arabia and Sweden. He has worked as a registered nurse with focus on gynecology and obstetrics.
Below are details he has shared about Sweden’s healthcare system.
- Sweden has maintained high standards of healthcare, but time for treatment and stay time in the hospital has become shorter over time. Staff has gradually taken on more administrative work, and sometimes there are hiccups, for example, blood samples disappearing.
- I have been a heart patient for many years on cardiac ICU and have always been treated professionally, but my stay time in ICU has gradually become shorter.
- 20 years ago hospitals and health clinics had administrative staff, but they were dismissed. Now registered nurses and assisting nurses do all the work. There are no secretaries, so the physicians are doing more administrative work than their actual jobs.
- Getting an appointment in an outpatient clinic can be difficult because of long wait times to talk to staff on the phone. Elderly often do not have the patience to wait for hours for a call back from the general clinic, so they will go straight to the emergency room.
- Emergency room visits have become longer. A person arriving in an ambulance can wait hours before a first check up from a nurse. Serious problems, such as heart problems, will be treated quickly. However, people in less life threatening situations, such as having a broken leg or gastric problems, can wait up to 10 hours. There are not enough specialists or beds so wait time is longer.
- There is a high turnover rate of nurses and doctors, so patients very often speak to different medical professionals during their visits. A patient will often have to re-explain medical history since doctors do not have time to read medical journals.
Do you have insights or questions? Please email info(at)universalhealthcarestories.com.
Photo by Oliver Schmid from Pexels.
