The lack of employees and a stressful working environment can contribute to wear and tear on the employees in the day care institutions.
Now Naalakkersuisut will investigate how supervision can become more accessible to staff.
The lack of employees and a stressful working environment can contribute to wear and tear on the employees in the day care institutions.
Now Naalakkersuisut will investigate how supervision can become more accessible to staff.
This is evident from Naalakkersuisut’s response to one of two proposals from Pipaluk Olsen (D), both of which deal with the challenges in the day care sector and must be dealt with in conjunction on 25 September during Inatsisartut’s autumn meeting.
– We cannot expect the children to thrive and develop in the framework we want, if we do not at the same time prioritize the working conditions for those who carry out this task every day, the proposal states.
Pipaluk Olsen points out, among other things, that the lack of employees can help to increase the pressure on the staff who already work in the institutions.
She therefore suggests that supervision becomes a more permanent part of the work for educators and other employees.
Naalakkersuisut agrees that supervision can be an important tool to support employees in their professional work and deal with stressful situations.
There are already opportunities for supervision and further training, but Naalakkersuisut will investigate how the offers can be made more accessible to employees.
For an employee in a day care center in Nuuk, the possibility of supervision makes good sense. In the living rooms of the country’s day care institutions, employees must be there for the children, even when everyday life is stressful. But there must also be a place where the adults can talk about what they themselves are in, believes a social worker.
– Of course it will help, says Maannguaq Broberg, who is a social worker in a day care center in Nuuk, about the proposal.
At the same time, she sees supervision as more than a way of dealing with work pressure. It can also be a space to stop and talk about where you are in life.
– It will also be a big step for personal development when you have supervision and talk about where you are in life and develop more as a person. It is important when working with people, she says.
A recurring challenge
The lack of staff in daycare centers is not a new problem. AG has previously focused on the challenges in the article series “The lack of warm hands”where, among other things, recruitment, retention and working conditions for staff have been in focus.
Naalakkersuisut also points to recruitment and retention as key prerequisites for ensuring quality in day care institutions.
A forthcoming report on minimum standards will, among other things, examine the consequences of a requirement of four employees per room. It is a message that was received positively by two managers from day care institutions.
At the same time, the statement must provide a better basis for assessing how the daycare centers can be organized and staffed in the future.
The waiting lists for daycare centers are also touched upon in Naalakkersuisut’s reply. This points to a need for cooperation with the municipalities on, among other things, better planning, expansion of capacity and more flexible childcare options.
