The Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) has improved access to birth control services by training its nurses to insert IUDs, or intrauterine devices. This means more FSHS professionals provide this service and students can get an appointment sooner than before to have an IUD inserted.
Sexual health and birth control are part of the healthcare services provided for higher education students by the FSHS. IUDs are a popular birth control method among students as they provide long-term contraception with few side effects. Some 700 IUDs are fitted by the FSHS each year.
Previously students would sometimes have to wait for an appointment to have an IUD fitted as the procedure was only carried out by doctors. Another benefit of the change is that it freed up doctors’ time, allowing them to use it for other appointments.
IUD insertions have been performed by nurses for two years now.
“Nurses at the FSHS have mostly been positive toward this opportunity for further training as it was the nurses themselves who initially suggested it. Nurses are paid a bonus for performing IUD insertions,” FSHS Service Manager Sari Yrjänä says.
In introducing the change, the FSHS made sure it was safe for the patient. Before an IUD can be inserted by a nurse, a doctor first confirms that it is a suitable birth control method for the student in question.
IUD training is currently provided to FSHS nurses by Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
“The training provided by Metropolia ensures that the nurses acquire the skills required to insert IUDs: theoretical knowledge about contraception and how to discuss sexuality at appointments, and the practical skills needed to insert an IUD. Nurses’ competence is ensured through practice and mandatory demonstrations,” Yrjänä says.
To access FSHS sexual health and birth control services, students should start by contacting our assessment of the need for treatment team. In matters related to birth control, students can also contact us using the appropriate electronic form in Self.
Further information for the media: Service Manager Sari Yrjänä, FSHS, 046 876 9288