BackgroundThe Greenlandic Healthcare Reform (2010) required improved quality of services for health promotion, prevention of infectious and lifestyle diseases, family nursing and evidence-based clinical nursing.AimTo investigate current nursing practice in Greenland and to identify whether it meets the requirements of healthcare reform.DesignThis ethnographic study utilised documentary analysis, participant observation and qualitative interviewing carried out in remote areas of Greenland during 2011–2012. Eight registered nurses, four women and four men, aged between 35 and 55, participated in this study. Four were working at healthcare centres in towns and four were working at nursing stations in villages. The nurses were educated in Greenland or a Nordic country and had been practicing nursing for at least 2 years in an Arctic region. They were observed for 1–5 days, and subsequently interviewed. Interviews included in-depth questioning, based on emerging outcomes from observation. Interviews were recorded and transcribed; they were analysed within a phenomenological–hermeneutic approach.ResultsNurses in rural and remote areas navigate their health promotion and preventive work with conflict between health strategies and everyday realities, where unpredictable tasks often lead to prioritisation of urgent, acute work. There is interaction between personal and professional skills. Everyday life is characterised by opportunities and challenges in the grey areas, namely nursing, medical and social work.ConclusionThe nature of nursing practice in rural and remote Greenland is characterised by a high degree of variability and complexity, with a requirement for a wide range of knowledge and skills. Nurses need to be better prepared with regard to acute medical care, preventive care, social work, humanistic approaches and information technology to implement the ideology of health strategies.

BackgroundSmoking-related illnesses, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease and lung cancer, are common in Greenland. Factors such as age, gender, cigarette use, restricted smoking at home and socio-economic determinants are well-known predictors for smoking and smoking cessation. In 2005, 66% of the adult population in were Greenland smokers, despite widespread smoking cessation campaigns. It is therefore imperative to identify the factors that influence the low levels of smoking cessation to be able to offer cessation interventions of high quality.AimTo develop knowledge about how smoking forms an incorporated part of a social and cultural context in the daily lives of unskilled residents of a small town in northern Greenland.DesignAn ethnographic field study was carried out in 2010, including participant observation, informal conversation with health professionals and semi-structured interviews with 4 smokers (2 women and 2 men). Data were analysed with a phenomenological hermeneutic approach.ResultsAll informants were daily smokers. During work hours, they smoked fewer cigarettes due to control policy as well as having something to do. At home, they smoke more during leisure time. Having time on one's hands can be a factor in smokers remaining as smokers. It appears that smokers seem to consider themselves to be stigmatised. This may be one reason for wanting to stop smoking. Smokers ask how to quit and also ask for help to give up smoking with regard to medical treatment for withdrawal symptoms. Serious illness and pregnancy both appear to be triggers to consider giving up smoking. Severe withdrawal symptoms and lack of knowledge about how to give up smoking are barriers to participants achieving their goal.ConclusionPrevention initiatives should be targeted at all smokers and a smoking cessation service should be developed, where smokers are supervised and receive medical treatment for withdrawal symptoms.

BackgroundThe first case of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Greenland was diagnosed in 2000 and led to the first guideline on screening and treatment for MRSA. Up to 2015 there were only 13 patients with MRSA but since then a nearly 4-fold increase in incidence has been seen. The objectives of this study were to analyze the reasons for this increase.MethodsMRSA data were collected from the laboratory surveillance database at Dronning Ingrids Hospital, typing results from the Reference Laboratory for Antimicrobial Resistance and Staphylococci at SSI, and the patient records.ResultsFrom 2000 to 2017, 48 patients (15 children and 33 adults) have been diagnosed with MRSA. Thirty patients were colonized with MRSA, predominantly in the nose and throat. Eighteen patients had infections: conjunctivitis, middle ear infections, wounds, skin abscesses, mastitis, surgical site infections, for example.The increase since 2015 was mainly due to three large outbreaks in three different cities: Aasiaat in 2014/2015 (seven persons with MRSA; three children and four adults), the capital Nuuk in 2016 (six persons with MRSA; two children and four adults) and Tasiilaq in 2017 (13 persons with MRSA; three children and ten adults). The first two outbreaks were community-acquired with transmission in families and the last one was community-acquired or community-onset hospital acquired. Each outbreak was caused by a specific MRSA-type: t902 CC22 in Aasiaat (unknown epidemiology), t3979 CC5 in Nuuk (probably from Australia), and t304 CC6 in Tasiilaq (probably from Denmark).MRSA was mainly imported from Denmark or abroad due to admission to hospital or due to traveling to high-endemic countries like Australia, but in some cases the epidemiology was unknown. Transmission occurred mainly in families with close contact.ConclusionThe increasing number of patients with MRSA in Greenland can be explained by factors such as import from Denmark or abroad due to admission to hospital or traveling, and transmission in Greenland. An ongoing surveillance, compliance to screening procedures (especially patients admitted to hospitals abroad) and guidelines for infection prevention and control are necessary in order to combat MRSA in Greenland in the future.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.