Emergency Nursing in Iceland

Reykjanesbaer, which consists of the small united communities of Keflavik, Njardvik, and Hafnir, is the 5th largest.5,6 The health care system is administered by its Ministry of Welfare and paid for mostly by taxes (83%) and, to a lesser extent, by service fees (17%).7 Unlike most countries, there are no private hospitals, and private insurance is practically nonexistent.8 A considerable portion of the government budget is assigned to health care, and the country’s health care system is one of the best in the world.8 Icelanders are among the world’s healthiest people.9 Infant mortality is one of the lowest in the world, and the average life expectancy is among the highest in the world at approximately 82 years.10,11 Most health care centers in Iceland take care of the sick and injured; however, not all of them have a defined and designated emergency department.[...]a small wage increase was implemented by this governmental body, and nurses, by law, cannot go on strike again until 2019.18 According to an analysis made for The Icelandic Nurses´ Association, approximately 1,000 nurses in Iceland have chosen careers that do not involve nursing.