Is something working in my favor???

My motivation to write lately has been sapped. I feel like my blog has become a bitch-about-Norway blog, and that was never my intention. I actually do have moments of complete contentment, peace and a sense of Life is Good. It doesn't happen often, but they do come. And I have inspiring ideas of humorous, entertaining posts to write, but find myself struggling to get the ideas onto the screen.


As I wrote earlier, I started two new jobs in June. One is at Maihaugen, working in the musueum shop. The other is at a local nursing home as an uncertified nursing assistant. I just finished a stint of 8 days in  row between the two jobs, including this unpleasant back and forth and back and forth between evenings shifts (ending at 10/10:30pm) followed by day shifts (starting at 7/7:30am), and then back again. This apparently is the "Norwegian way" of working shifts in the health care field. An evening shift followed by a morning shift. It sucks. 


My two-ring binder of papers, licenses, letters of support, etc. remains in the hands of our well-connected neighbor at the college nursing department. We haven't heard from her since mid-June. Seeing that most Norwegians are wrapping up their 3-week summer vacation, that's not too surprising. I'm very used to playing the waiting game, so I'll just keep on waiting. 


A few weeks back, however, we had a small piece of hopeful news. One of the many hoops for nurses educated outside of Norway is the 4-week long "national nursing course" that brings us outlanders up to speed on the Norwegian health care system. You might remember that I have tried to get into this class for over a year, but was denied for a variety of reasons. You might also remember that mid-way through this whole process they suddenly raised the bar for the language standards to take the class, now requiring the Bergenstest--written and verbal. You might also remember that I then proceed to not pass either Bergenstests this past spring. It was not a complete surprise, but still felt like a huge setback. 


Until a few weeks ago. Because this new language standard is so new, there are not a lot of people who were able to pass the test. On the admission website to the nursing course it is explained that first priority admission is given to those who have passed the Bergenstest, but those who have the lower language standard will be put on a waiting list. I've been on a waiting list for a year.


There are 80 people admitted to the course. 20 people passed the Bergenstest. 60 spots are open. There is not an opportunity to take--and get results--of another Bergenstest before the next nursing class in November, so the chance that 60 people with passing Bergenstest results sign up for the class is essentially 0. 


I am number 4 on the waiting list. 


Finally. Something is working out. Looks like I'll be spending November in Oslo!

The work, party, test update

Last week's three biggies are behind me: first day of work, birthday party, and the Norwegian language test. All went about as well as one could have expected. 

I began working last week as, essentially, a nursing assistant in an assisted living facility. However, seeing that I am not licensed as a nursing assistant (guess what lovely agency I'd have to apply to for that? My favorite Norwegian bureaucratic agency of all: SAFH!), I am paid an even lower wage. I was hired specifically to work in a one-to-one patient assignment with a dementia patient. I, of course, cannot elaborate much more than that, due to patient taughetsplikt (confidentiality), but I am learning a bit here and there about the Norwegian health care system (pros and cons), employment (pros and cons), and dementia (all cons). And just what my priorities and limits are. More on that later. Like 6 weeks later.

Today I also began doing a little "spring cleaning" at the local museum, which was advertised as being a one to two week job, but will more likely be four weeks. I frankly don't have four weeks to give them. But it also looks like I might be able to work a few days here and there with them this summer, and perhaps a bit into the fall, as well. So I haven't completely lost my opportunity to dress up in period costume!

DING DONG!
The party's starting!

We had a fun little belated birthday party for our newly-minted four-year old last week. Greta's birthday fell on the day before the barnehage closed for Easter vacation (what do you mean your daycare doesn't close for four days surround Easter? What kind of heathen country do you people live in?), so we delayed the party by 9 days so she'd actually have some friends in town to celebrate with. Four other 3- and 4-year olds joined us for homemade macaroni and cheese (no norsk pølse at our birthday parties!), chocolate cupcakes and Rice Krispie bars (which the children ate with great suspicion).

And then the Bergenstest. The five-hour long, five part written test of Norwegian language, designed primarily for those foreigners who wish to be admitted to a Norwegian university. I do not, in fact, wish to be admitted to a university, but I do wish to take a month long required nursing course in November, and to do so I need to pass this test. 

I believe the test went well, but not well enough. It consists of 5 parts--a reading comprehension of 3 different texts with both multiple choice and short answer, a listening comprehension of short 15 second conversations/newsreports/telephone messages, a listening comprehension of a 5 minute interview that you then turn around and write a 30 minute "report" on, a 350 work essay (this time on whether or not drivers licenses for new, young male drivers should have more restrictions on them or not), and the cursed A-B sentences. . .  

What are A-B sentences? 

A: Mari said, "Pappa can drive us to the theater".

B: Mari said that Pappa could drive them to the theater.

A: I shall not pass this test, although I studied very hard.

B: Although I studied very hard, will I not pass this test. (according to norwegian word order).

A: She has it like the yolk in an egg at her new job.

B: She really has it good at her new job.

Huh? 

The first two examples are (relatively simple) grammatical sentence switcheroos. Those I can handle. It's the third kind--the idioms--that throw me because you just can't study for them. You just have to have heard them once, twice, a dozen times. 

At any rate. . . that's my prediction.  

(A) I'll have my results in 6 weeks. 

Or. . . . 

(B) In 6 weeks, shall I have results mine. 

No April Fool's: I got a job

When it came down to it, I had 3 job interviews, and 3 job offers. Nothing terribly exciting, but job offers nonetheless. First, there was the Maihaugen museum shop position. Then I interviewed with the kommune (municipality) for a nursing assistant-type position for a one-on-one patient assignment at a local assisted living center, and was essentially offered the job on the spot. The third position was in a nursing home, but on a short-term floor with patients who are in-between the hospital and perhaps another nursing home, or between hospital and home. This third position would likely have been the best position in terms of speaking Norwegian, learning medical terminology and being in the most "nursing" type of environment. However, since my main goal right now is to Make Money As Soon As Possible, job #2 fit the bill. Job #3 didn't start until June. Job #2 starts. . . . drumroll please. . . the 10th of April. 


The next two weeks will be busy: we have two birthdays here in the next two days--a Pappa and a Greta, so the kitchen will be put to good use. I already put in a solid afternoon making going a little Martha Stewart for Greta's barnehage birthday treat: 30 frosted Winnie-the-Pooh sugar cookies, about the size of the palm of my hand. 





Greta was hurra'd, crowned, cloaked and tossed in the air and sung two birthday songs this past Friday. She celebrated early, seeing that next week is påskeferie (Easter vacation) and there will only be 6 kids at barnehage on her actual birthday. This seemed to be fine with her, as now she has "three birthdays" (barnehage, home and a small yet-to-be-determined-when friend party). 

April 10th, job starts;  April 14th, enormous Norwegian test, which I should be studying for right now. On that note: vi snakkes. (We'll talk). 

On the (job) hunt

My interview at Maihaugen back in February apparently went pretty well, as I received a phone call on Thursday from a Norwegian-named woman speaking Norwegian who apparently works at Maihaugen, offering me a summer job! It is not terribly exciting; in fact, it starts out pretty grungy--"spring cleaning" for one to two weeks in April. I don't know what this involves--pulling up bushes, washing windows, cleaning fireplaces, all of the above? But come summer, I've been offered a position in the museum shops. One of the shops is a pretty typical museum shop, filled with tempting and expensive Scandinavian-designed houseware items, books, clothing, jewelry and the requisite trolls. The other shop is located in the byen, a representation of main street Lillehammer from around the 1900s. In that shop, I would be wearing a costume of some sort. As some of you may know, growing up in Minnesota I was a little obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder, and wore pretty much nothing but long calico dresses and bonnets from the age of 7-11, so wearing a costume from the 1900s. . . well, that actually sounds like it could be kind of fun.

I have not completely made up my mind if I will be working in the shops or not. I have applied for a few other positions through the city--namely nurses' aide positions at the nursing homes and home health aide positions. And, if I can work up the nerve and get my rumpa i gir, I'll visit the local nursing homes personally and drop off my CV. I have been told over and over again, from people not in the know (and where has that gotten me in the past? In Norway, based on uninformed opinions that Norway needs nurses, and it will be easy to get a job!), that the nursing homes always need help. Does that sound appealing? No. Does that sound like they are short-staffed and over-worked? Yes. Reassuring, when it comes to actually getting a job? Maybe.

In the end I think it will come down to money and guaranteed hours. Where can I earn the most. The nursing-aide type positions would probably be much more helpful in terms of language development that  would be most relevant to my field. But, one way or another, I will be working this summer.

On a related noted, we were recently notified that my nursing and midwife cases will likely be reviewed by the license appeals board in late May. (A 3-month turn around. Not bad). On an even more positive note, Erik has been in contact with the head of the Norwegian midwife organization, and she is shocked at the handling that my case has received and has asked him for all the paperwork that we have submitted to and received from SAFH. She could be a really good ally to have.

As much as it's hard to believe. . . life is looking up. And with it brings change, and along with that uncertainty. So although these new developments are good, I'm still feeling a little uneasy about it. As unhappy as I may have been with the state of the world as I knew it in Lillehammer, at least it was familiar.

"The Emily-Case"

"Sorry, Emily"

On Wednesday, the day following my front page news headline and the immediate email response from SAFH (telling me, essentially, "we've only slightly changed our opinion on your mediocre education and work experience. You need more basic nursing student experiences), I was in the paper again. Twice. 


The first mention was a mini-editorial on page 2. It read:
GD brought yesterday the story of American Emily Stange struggling to obtain approval for her education from home. Years of work as a nurse and midwife is clearly not sufficient to resume training and practice in Norwegian working life. This is not a training example of how modern Norwegian society should take care of new citizens.

The Government has announced a parliamentary statement about integration. The notified measures for rapid recognition of immigrants' skills. Until the new decision is made it must nevertheless be allowed to use reason. The Emily-case is a good example of this.


So, that was nice. I've got the editors of the paper on my side. The "Emily-case". Makes me sound like a Law and Order episode.  Also got a few words of encouragement from the lady behind the counter at the new coffee shop, who recognized me from the paper! 


The second mention was a follow up article, written by the same journalist as the first. There are a few quotes from the communication director at SAFH, which I found interesting to learn that there was more than one person weighing in on this "case". I wasn't, however, entirely satisfied with the conclusion. Several people who read it were left to believe that everything was approved and all is A-OK. Not so.


Here's the article, again, according to the Gospel of Google Translate (with a few of my own editorialized comments for good measure):


We're sorry, Emily! (that makes it sound more apologetic than I think they really are)

The responsibility lies flat and regret that it has taken an unreasonably long time for Emily Stange to approve their education. Yesterday, she got an answer. (although not the one I was hoping for)

GD wrote Tuesday about the nurse and midwife Emily Stange from the United States. She has been waiting over a year to obtain approval for their education so that she can work in Norway.

"SAFH acknowledges that the appeal proceedings have beenunreasonably prolonged. This is not how it should be, and we regret this," says communications director, Magnus Karlsrud Dahlen.

DEMANDING
He says that the authorization of health professionals trained outside the EU is a challenging task, more complicated than for applicants educated in European countries. (Here's an idea: TELL THE PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE THE EU THAT IT TAKES MORE TIME FOR THEM).

"Documents must be verified and training be reviewed to ensurethat the applicant has an equivalent education with an similar Norwegian education," he says. (does equivalent mean identical?)

They pointed out that the procedure for Stange in the first halfwas completed within the specified three to four months. (yes, but taking 4 months to not even read the application correctly the first time, when it clearly was documented in multiple places that I had a 4-year degree, and not a 2-year degree as you stated, doesn't seem like a good use of your 4 months). It is for the processing of the complaint office lie flat and acknowledges that the waiting time has been unreasonably long. (it should also be noted that my second application was not actually sent to the "complaint" office, or so we were told, since they had f*#@ed it up so much the first time).

BECOMING BETTER
AFH has initiated a review of procedures and organization.(No idea what AFH is). The goal is that all matters, including complaints, should be treatedmore efficiently and with better quality.

"We want to offer health care personnel who are seeking authorization and license in Norway, a thorough and predictable procedure," said Karlsrud Dahlen.

For Emily Stange some extra practice is required before her education can be approved. (and before they will even consider her application to be a midwife, which is really what she wants to do for employment).


What's next?
Stay tuned. . . I'm trying not to think too much about this right now, and am actually doing a good job at it--until I sit down and blog. 


(Although those of you from Norway who are reading this blog and not commenting. . . if you have any opinions, thoughts, have heard of similar situations, know of someone who dealt with something like this:  Please let me know! I'd really appreciate it).

Me. . . in the news

This past spring, the Norwegian Parliament passed a recommendation on integration of foreigners/immigrants into the Norwegian workplace. Among other things, they strongly encouraged "improving measures for rapidly recognizing immigrants' education and skills". A reporter at our local Lillehammer newspaper, "Gudbrandsdølen Dagningen", known as "GD" (and pronounced: Gay-Day, because that's how you say "G" and "D" in Norwegian), anyway. . . the reporter was writing a series of stories about foreigners and their challenges of finding work in Norway. Last week she wrote a nice article about a local boutique that hired an Afghani woman to work, and what a great situation it's been for employee and employer. My former landlady, fellow barnehage mother, and now friend, is an editor of the paper, and told her colleague that she should talk to me, as I am a rather qualified nurse and midwife who can't get permission to work in this fine country.


I met the reporter on Monday morning. I told her my story, 95% in Norwegian. The latest update on my nursing license application is that in September I turned in paperwork clarifying student work experiences I had in 1996. We were told at the time that my application was at the top of the pile. Then two months passed. We called and called, never getting ahold of anyone. Finally, 3 weeks ago they say we should have a letter in 10 days. I was interviewed for this article on Day 19.


Here's the front page from Tuesday: front page!!!

Yes, that's ME, upper left corner!
The title reads: Over one year has gone
without approval. Nurse and midwife
education and over 12 years experience
in the USA is maybe not good enough
in Norway? It has been over one year
since Emily Stange sought approval from
Statens autorisajonskontor for helsepersonell.

And then, here's the article, translated with much help from GoogleTranslate:

Yes, this picture is about 8x10 inches tall. 

Intro:
Emily Stange is educated as a nurse and midwife from the USA and has more than 12 years of experience. But to get approved competence in Norway has proved to be a tough process.

Lillehammer: All immigrants should get credit for their competence, according to NOU 2011-14. The study is part of the basis for this spring's Parliament Paper on better integration of foreigners.

Emily Stange could not agree more. She longs to use her midwife education in this country, but has so far waited for over one year for approval.

DRAWN OUT

In August last year Emily came to Lillehammer together with her husband and daughter. Her husband who is also American, is long in the job as a research scientist at NINA.

Emily also believed it would be a cinch to get the paperwork in order.

"On the website of SAFH we were promised a waiting period of three to four months. Now it's been one year, and neither the midwife nor the nursing license has been approved. We have called and asked many times about how long I have to wait and have received various answers. It's almost an all-day job just to get in touch with the right person", says Emily.

Last she and her husband contacted SAFH,  they were told that she should receive a reply within ten days.  Now, three weeks have passed. . . 


WAS NAIVE?

The treatment of Emily's application was lopsided from the start. In January, she received a letter that she only had two years of nursing education and that her education, therefore, was not approved.

"They obviously had not read the application, where it is clear that my nursing education is four years. The whole process was set back five months at that point", says the 36-year-old.


She has a bachelor's degree as a nurse from St. Olaf College and a master's degree as a midwife from the University of Utah. For six years she has worked as a midwife at a large hospital in New Hampshire. Before that, she worked over six years as a nurse in a newborn intensive unit with a children's hospital in Salt Lake City. 


"I think I had a good education and great work experience from a pretty large and well-known country. Therefore I thought it should be totally fine to be able to use my education in Norway. Perhaps this was a bit naive?" asked Emily.


FRUSTRATED
She has experienced the waiting time as frustrating; an emotional roller-coaster. She has passed the time by learning better Norwegian and doing home improvements on a house in Søre Ål. 


"I've spoken with the midwives at the hospital in Lillehammer. They have been very encouraging. I think the Norwegian system seems square and not very flexible. It is as if the people at SAFH are sitting with a microscope to find anything that doesn't pass exactly, instead of focusing on the whole picture. In the first place, I have to wait for my nursing education to be approved. They haven't even begun on my midwifery application. This should be possible to coordinate", according to the health care worker, who is just waiting to get to work. "My husband has a good job in Lillehammer and we intend to stay here. But it can only happen if I, too, may use my education."




So, in the end. . . what happened? 
Stay tuned til tomorrow. I can only translate so much in one day. . . 

Good news: Work visa update

Based on the recommendations of up-rooted, another American-in-Norway blogger, we finally got our asses in gear and checked with UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet--the Norwegian Immigration Directorate) about what kind of visa I actually have. 


Let me clarify: up-rooted did not suggest we get our asses in gear. Up-rooted simply suggested that I might already have a work visa, even though I did not apply for one, as this was her situation as well. What I meant is that we have intended to make this phone call for a number of months--I actually dug out the necessary documents before we moved in June. I must also clarify that we* did not actually need to check with UDI about my visa, because right there on the second line under "Tillatelsens innhold" it reads, "Søkeren kan ta arbeid eller drive erversvirksomhet i Norge", and we all know what that means!


Right?


It means "The applicant can work or engage in business in Norway". On a document dated June 11, 2010. 


This is a relief, to be sure. Norway does have a law that people outside of the European Union must have a job offer before you can get a work visa. And they have family visas, for those people joining the working family member. I promise you: I have read this website hundreds of times! I was certain that I was going to have to change my visa from a residential to a work visa--but only after I had a job offer in hand--and a job as a skilled laborer, too, as that is all a non-EU job seeker can get--and this too would take months and months. We even talked with a Norwegian consulate person when we applied for these visas, and this is what they told us!!!


Yes, it would have been nice to have known this months or even a year ago. Nice to know I could get a job if I wanted to. But, honestly, I don't think it would have changed much. I still can't get a job as a nurse or midwife. That waiting process is still on-going. Until now, I didn't feel like I had the language skills to work. I am only now beginning to feel confident enough in speaking Norwegian that I can appreciate how a job would really help cement my language skills and take them to the next level.


We'll see where this information takes us. I don't think I'll actively look for a job at this moment. I'm considering making contact again with the midwives at the local hospital, and hope that I can spend time with them on the labor and delivery floor, soaking up the midwifery lingo and birth culture. That would probably be a better use of my time in terms of "long term goals to work as a midwife" in comparison with working at a grocery store to make a little money and converse a little with colleagues. I'm also busy with the house on a daily basis, and will continue to be so for the next few months. 


But again. . . nice to know. 


Thanks for the kick in the butt, up-rooted!


*I must also clarify that "we" means "Erik" or "me asking Erik to do this for me".

Why I have gray hairs

People here can't stop asking me if I've found a job yet. They have no idea what a hot-button topic they have pushed. I continue to tell them, "No. . . I'm still waiting for permission from the Norwegian authorities for my nursing license. It has now taken 11 months."

The bureaucratic red tape on the Norwegian side of the border is only one side of the story, however. I can't imagine you care to remember the details of this, but back in June, SAFH (nursing authorities in Norway) requested further information about two internships I had in the Summer of 1996. Both places of employment had destroyed all records prior to 2000, so I had to scramble to find people who could vouch for my responsibilities and verify my employment.

It is incompetencies like this that explains why, in part, 11 months later I still don't have a nursing license:

On June 29: I was corresponding with an employment specialist at the hospital where I worked in St. Paul, Minnesota. She forwarded my issue on to a colleague.

On July 14: the colleague returns from a 2 week vacation to read my email. I basically request that she sign a letter that I have written, stating my job responsibilities and hours worked. She agrees. Simple enough.

On July 15: she sends me a letter via email. I request (as I had already done) that she send me a hard copy on hospital letterhead, as it looks more official and is pleasing to the Norwegian eyes reading it and making important decisions about my future.

On July 24: she responds and says, "I don't have a copy of the letter anymore". Not sure why she this took her two weeks to figure out. I forward her the letter within minutes.

On August 3: she writes again, "I've had email problems. I know you wanted a hardcopy. Can you send it to me again?"  Again, minutes later, an email with the letter attached, is sent off.

On August 22: I write, asking so so politely, if they had managed to send out the letter. She responds: Yes, over 2 weeks ago. Should definitely have arrived in Norway by now. I request, so so politely, if she could send me yet another copy of the damn letter. She says (c'mon, all in unison now) "I don't have a copy of the letter. Can you send me another one?"

On August 25: she writes that she believes the letter was sent to a different address than I most recently specified. I have no idea how this is possible. . . . I very clearly spell out to her our home address.

Today, September 7, nearly two weeks after I assumed the second letter was to be sent off: she writes to me to tell me the letter is in the mail. WHAT? It takes you two weeks to print off a letter from email onto hospital letterhead and stick a stamp on it???

I immediately email her back--we are essentially texting each other via email--and request that my parents drive to her office to pick up the letter themselves. They will then stick the letter in an envelope that is both properly addressed and sufficiently stamped and zip it over the Atlantic Ocean in a matter of days. NOT TWO EFFIN' MONTHS!!


So this, my dear Norwegian friends and neighbors, is (in part) why I still do not have a nursing license after 11 months of waiting.

So, why don't I just get a job?

Perhaps you've been wondering this. . . "why not just get a job, Emily? Any job? Work in a coffee house, a knitting shop, etc. You'd get out of the house, earn some money, practice your Norwegian."


It's not that easy, and it again has to do with that damn European Union thing again.


If I were a resident of the EU, I would have the right to move anywhere within the EU and get a job. (Side note: Norway is not a member of the EU, but they participate essentially in all but the name). As an American, I need to be a skilled laborer and have a job offer before I can get a work permit. I am living in Norway on a resident visa, and since Erik is also an American (and not a native Norwegian), he is here with a work visa. He could only get his work visa after he had the job offer from his employer. As Americans, we were not allowed to move to Norway to look for work; we could only come here after the work visa (and subsequent family resident visa) had been approved. 


Since it doesn't take particularly great skills to work in a coffee or knitting shop, my interpretation of the laws has me believe that it would be difficult for me to get a work permit to work in a non-skilled area, such as retail. That is the main reason that I have been holding out for a nursing--or more specifically--a midwife job. There is both the demand for midwives here, and I have the skills--the two things required to get a work visa. 


If anyone out there has had experience in how to get around this rule, or little nuances in the law that I am unaware of, I'd be very interested in your experiences! 

Running hurdles, and jumping though hoops

My last post has generated a lot of hits--people from known locations (here's a shout out to the readers in Lebanon, NH, Wilmette, IL, and Minneapolis, MN: I know who you are!)--but who the heck is reading from Sweden and Tulsa, OK? Honestly. . . I'd love to hear from you.


Anyway, I'm hanging in there, gathering my artillery for my appeal. I have 3 weeks to assemble it. Well, now I'm down to 2 weeks. For those who are curious, my main argument is going to be drawing attention to the fact that they interpreted my degree to be a 2 year degree, and not a 4 year degree. I also did not include my master's degree curriculum as a part of my nursing application, as it was most pertinent to my midwife application. But I will not make that mistake again. They want paperwork? They're gonna get it. . .


From the sheer numbers I've seen, I think Norwegian nursing students do spent more time in actual clinicals than I did as an undergraduate nursing student, ahem, 15 years ago. But, is it really necessary to spend 8 weeks in an old-folks home, turning patients, assisting with bedpans, giving bedbaths, making beds? And, did my years spent providing 1:1 patient:nursing care to micro-preemies with arterial lines, blood pressure medicines, total parenteral nutrition, high-frequency ventilators, the tiniest urinary catheters you've ever seen. . . did this not give me a little bit of credibility in their eyes? Does that experience mean nothing to them? Or do I really need to jump through the hoops of wiping old people's butts for 8 weeks to prove my worth?


Erik is the optimist, and I am the pessimist. So, it's very hard for me to not worry about 2 months from now, 6 months, 2 years, 5 years. . . and just enjoy what's happening right now. I feel like there is a lot riding on my ability to work (and most importantly earn) as a professional here.  Mastering the language is a huge hurdle that I am willing to tackle, but getting more hurdles thrown in my way is so discouraging. 


And no, the irony of the fact that I was once a 100m hurdling superstar* is not lost on me. 

OMG: was that really 20 years ago?

*My words, not anyone elses. . .