Summary: | During the past years in Sweden, there has been a lack of staff within the nursing profession. Due to that the employer may demand more of the employee than what usually is requested. This scenario can lead to work-related stress. What happens when the employer forces the staff to work so that the patient safety and that the registered nurse’s certification is put at risk? The purpose of the essay is to investigate what professional certification means within healthcare, what the legal value is in the certificate, and what the consequences can be with a management that does not observe stressors. The method being used is the legal dogmatic method together with a sociology perspective. Certification professions guarantee a specific qualification and knowledge provided for the profession. Abuse of this can lead to recall of the certification. The employers’ management is strong. Also, because of the nurse’s special liability relationship with the patient, it is almost impossible to abstain from the work one is being assigned. This relatively small opportunity to affect their working situation can lead to stress due to powerlessness. It is hard for employees to claim stress as a factor for a negative event to occur. Staff management can be identified as a system error which trigger a stressor and because of that patient safety and the certification is put at risk. But, management is a very important part of Swedish labour law and should preferably not be touched. National and international actors work for that through notice, routines and technical facilities build a safety system against human faults and for patient safety to be guaranteed. But, management is identified to be the most critical system error.
|