THE FINNISH UNION OF PRACTICAL NURSES

Close and caring professionals

Strong and fearless advocateThe Finnish Union of Practical Nurses, SuPer, is Finland’s biggest union

of social and health care personnel with an upper secondary level

qualification and students in the field.

About usSuPer was founded in 1948 and currently has over 86 000 members of whom some 18 000 are students. Membership in SuPer is growing steadily.

In terms of education and training, professional status and benefits, the professionals represented by SuPer form a homogenous group. This unique characteristic allows SuPer to focus on supervising the interests of each of its members in the best possible way.

Influencing societySuPer negotiates employment and collective labour agree-ments for its members. The union contributes to legislation and social policy via its central organisation STTK (The Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees).

At the local level, SuPer members’ interests are supervised by SuPer’s app. 200 local branches, employee representatives at workplaces, industrial safety delegates as well as SuPer’s representatives in co-operational institutions.

SuPer is an active partner in the ongoing development work of social and health care as well as training. SuPer has rep-resentatives in all the relevant working groups and com-

SuPer represents: practical nurses and practical nurses students.

mittees. The Union uses several channels, e.g. statements, position papers and active contacts with decision makers and authorities to promote its aims. SuPer firmly expresses its position in actual matters and has a distinct presence in the media.

At the international level, SuPer co-operates with the Public Services International PSI, the European Federation of Pub-lic Service Unions EPSU, the European Council of Practical Nurses EPN, the Finnish Public Services Unions’ EU Work-ing Party FIPSU as well as other organisations. SuPer par-ticipates in international projects which contribute to the development of the profession, the contents of training and the mobility of practical nurses.

INFLUENCE:

• Education and jobs are attractive

• Fair salary and good working conditions

• Adequate staffing levels

• Full and appropriate use of members’ education and experience

• Lobby government and others to develop and implement policy that improves quality of care and builds on the importance of practical nurses and practical nurses students health and wellbeing outcomes.

Closest nurse and carerWe all need care and nursing at some stage in our lives. SuPer members work closest to patients and custom-ers, whether they are children, the young, active adults or elderly people.

SuPer members work across the entire fields of social and health care as well as education, both in the public and pri-vate sectors. Some also work as self-employed professionals or entrepreneurs.

SUPER, THE PRACTICAL NURSE’S UNION

• We work for you in all professional and educational issues as well as to ensure good working conditions.

• We demand and promote high quality education and training for practical nurses.

• You do good work – you deserve the best advocate. Choose SuPer.

Practical nurse’s education, training and registrationCompetence to work as a practical nurse can be obtained in two ways: by taking either a curriculum-based or a com-petence-based qualification. The scope of the curriculum-based qualification is 120 credits (one credit = 40 hours of study). Both alternatives require the same core competence and skills; the difference is in the mode of study. (For more information, see www.oph.fi.)

Practical nurses work in a broad range of jobs in the fields of social and health care and education. They adhere to shared values and professional ethics. In their work, prac-tical nurses are responsible primarily to the customer or patient, but also to society as a whole.

Qualifying as a practical nurse opens up many doors in the labour market. The social and health care sector and the education sector provide a wide variety of jobs for

which practical nurses have the required upper secondary level qualification. The qualification of practical nurse also awards general eligibility for higher education.

Practical nurses are health care professionals with a pro-tected occupational title. Upon application, qualified prac-tical nurses are listed and registered in Valvira’s (National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health) public regis-ter Terhikki. (www.valvira.fi).

Curriculum – contents and scopePractical nursing students can choose from 10 study pro-grammes or specialisations: Emergency Care, Children’s and Youth Care and Education, Mental Health and Sub-stance Abuse Welfare Work, Nursing and Care, Oral and Dental Care, Care for the Disabled, Care for the Elderly, Customer Services and Information Management, Rehabili-tation and Podiatric Care.

The Finnish National Board of Education sets out a national core curriculum for the vocational upper secondary quali-fication in the field of social and health care i.e. the qual-ification of practical nurse. (Finnish National Board of Education Order 17/011/2010). Education and training completed in compliance with this core curriculum shall fall within level 3 of the relevant EC classification.

The vocational upper secondary qualification consists of vocational modules (90 credits), complementary vocational modules (20 credits) and optional modules (10 credits). The studies include a minimum of 29 credits of on-the-job learning, a minimum of 5 credits of entrepreneurship and a final project valued at 2 credits.

Collective agreements applicable in health and social careBefore starting a new job, an employee should always check which collective agreement the employer applies. Further information on the applicable, nationally binding collective agreement is available from the employee representative at the workplace.

The nationally binding collective agreements applicable to practical nurses are:

• General Collective Agreement for Municipal Personnel

• Collective Agreement for the Private Social Services Sector

• Collective Agreement for the Health Services Sector

• Collective Agreement for Employers’ Association for Service Enterprises

• Collective Agreement for Finnish Student Health Services

• Collective Agreement for Seure Employees Services

SuPer membership fees

Basic fee 1.2% of earnings (taxdeductable)

6 €/month

• Members temporarily absent (at home) from work.

• Members in further training (excl. the months spent working, for which the fee is 1.2% of income).

• Members resident abroad (does not apply to member-ship fee of the unemployment fund).

Self-employed members 10 €/month

Retired members 10 €/year

Exempt from paying membership fees

• Members receiving daily allowances and benefits (maternity allowance, parental allowance, home care allowance, labour market benefit, internship allow-ance) from the Social Insurance Institution KELA, pension institutions or insurance companies.

• Members without an employment relationship receiv-ing family care allowance

• Members in development co-operation or missionary assignments, conscripts, members in unarmed military service or civilian service.

Edition 1/2015

THE FINNISH UNION OF PRACTICAL NURSES SUPER

Ratamestarinkatu 12, 00520 HelsinkiTelephone +358 9 2727 910Fax +358 9 2727 9120

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