Finland’s only village nurse wins national recognition

Hanna Tiihonen, Finland’s only village nurse, has received a national award for a model she has developed over 13 years, Yle reports.

The model brings social and healthcare services closer to people living in sparsely populated areas. Tiihonen visits clients at home and also holds appointments at a village hall and pharmacies in Korpilahti and Tikkakoski, in Jyväskylä.

Her typical procedures include ear irrigations, driving licence medical examinations and influenza vaccinations. She also handles urgent cases.

“I have crawled into the middle of the forest when a client has fallen or injured themselves,” Tiihonen says.

A personal need inspired the model

The idea came from Tiihonen’s own circumstances. Her child had a serious illness, and she feared that she would never be able to take paid employment because of the frequent need to leave suddenly for hospital.

She later heard that Sitra was seeking new innovations for villages. Tiihonen proposed the village nurse model to the then chair of Poko, the Northern Korpilahti cooperation association. Poko adopted the idea, applied for funding and received it.

Tiihonen says the project had nearly 200 clients during its first five weeks. She initially worked through project funding and a small home care company. She now operates through her own business.

This month, Tiihonen received the national Ihmisen parhaaksi award for developing the model. The 5,000 euro award is presented annually by the Finnish Association of Nursing and the Finnish Fair Foundation for significant development work in the care sector.

Demand for personal service

Tiihonen is not employed by the wellbeing services county but works with healthcare professionals. Clients pay for her services and can call her directly without queues or automated services.

She has many clients, particularly people over the age of 75. Tiihonen says older people need personal service instead of digital services.

“Chatbots and robots are quite a challenge for older people, especially if they are the first to answer the phone at a health centre. People can call me, and I answer the phone,” she says.

Driving and long distances are also a problem for many older people, according to Tiihonen. Korpilahti no longer has its own health centre. Services have been transferred to the Muurame social and health centre and the Jämsä social and health centre.

Anne Pihl, director of outpatient healthcare services in Central Finland, describes the village nurse model as progressive and important in sparsely populated areas.

The Central Finland wellbeing services county is developing digital services because of its weak financial situation and pressure to make savings. It must save about 60 million euros during the next year.

Services on offer include chats that connect people with a nurse or doctor. A telephone robot mentioned by Tiihonen is currently used by only a small proportion of people in Central Finland, Pihl says.

Tiihonen says she can seek advice during home visits, for example from Nova’s emergency department, and thereby avoid unnecessary emergency visits. Pihl does not know how much the village nurse model has reduced visits to health centres or emergency departments.

She says the village nurse service has had concrete effects, allowing clients to access care easily without an assessment of their need for treatment or services.

Interest from elsewhere in Finland

Tiihonen says she has had enough work for 13 years, but adds that she cannot save the entire Tikkakoski and Korpilahti area on her own.

The model has attracted interest elsewhere in Finland, but Tiihonen is still the country’s only village nurse. She says the model could be replicated and adapted to local needs.

Pihl says the wellbeing services county has not discussed introducing the model more widely.