Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hun føler seg nesten utbrent og vurderer å be legen om sykemelding. - She feels almost burned out and is considering asking the doctor for a sick note.

er nesten utbrent states her condition more as a fact.
føler seg nesten utbrent emphasises her subjective experience of feeling that way.

Both are common; which one you choose depends on what you want to stress.

What does nesten do here, and where can it go in the sentence?

nesten means almost / nearly. Here it modifies utbrent:

Hun føler seg nesten utbrent.
She feels almost burned out (but not completely).

Typical positions:

Before an adjective:
- nesten utbrent, nesten frisk, nesten ferdig
Before a number/amount:
- nesten to uker, nesten ingenting

In this sentence, the natural place is right before the adjective:

Hun føler seg nesten utbrent. ✅

Other placements are possible but sound odd or change what nesten modifies:

Hun nesten føler seg utbrent. (very unusual, sounds wrong)
Hun føler seg utbrent nesten. (colloquial/emphatic at best, not standard)

What kind of word is utbrent, and does it change form?

utbrent is a past participle used as an adjective. Literally it’s “burned out”, and it’s often used about mental / emotional burnout from work, stress, etc.

Forms:

Singular (masculine/feminine): utbrent
Singular (neuter): utbrent
Plural: utbrente

Examples:

Hun er utbrent.
Han føler seg utbrent.
Et utbrent lys (a burnt-out light bulb; neuter noun)
De er helt utbrente. (plural)

In your sentence it’s in the predicate (after the verb) and refers back to hun:

Hun føler seg nesten utbrent.

Why can we leave out hun before vurderer and just write … og vurderer …?

Norwegian, like English, can omit a repeated subject when two verb phrases share the same subject:

Hun føler seg nesten utbrent og vurderer å be legen om sykemelding.

The implied structure is:

Hun føler seg nesten utbrent og (hun) vurderer å be legen om sykemelding.

You only repeat the subject if it changes:

Hun føler seg nesten utbrent, og mannen hennes vurderer å be legen om sykemelding.

Here you have two different subjects, so both must be explicit.

What does vurderer å mean, and how is it different from other verbs like planlegger or tenker å?

å vurdere literally means to evaluate / to consider.
vurderer å + infinitive = is considering doing something.

Nuances:

vurderer å be legen om sykemelding
= is weighing up / thinking seriously about asking the doctor for sick leave
(not decided yet).

Compare:

planlegger å be legen om sykemelding
= is planning to ask (decision is more firm).
tenker å be legen om sykemelding
= is thinking of asking (could be lighter / less formal).

Grammar:

Verb in present: vurderer
Followed by å
- infinitive: å be

This is a standard pattern:
vurderer å dra, vurderer å slutte, vurderer å flytte.

Why is it å be legen om sykemelding and not å spørre legen om sykemelding?

Norwegian distinguishes two verbs for ask:

å be (noen) om (noe)
= to ask (someone) for (something), make a request
- Hun vurderer å be legen om sykemelding.
  She is considering asking the doctor for a medical certificate.
å spørre (noen) om (noe)
= to ask (someone) about (something), ask a question
- Hun vil spørre legen om diagnosen.
  She wants to ask the doctor about the diagnosis.

Here she is requesting a sick note, not asking a question about it, so be … om is the correct choice.

å spørre legen om sykemelding would usually sound like she’s asking the doctor about sick leave (e.g. how it works), not for sick leave.

Why is it legen (the doctor) and not en lege (a doctor)?

legen is the definite singular form of lege:

en lege = a doctor
legen = the doctor

In this context, legen usually means her (regular) doctor, someone both speaker and listener can identify:

Hun vurderer å be legen om sykemelding.
= She is considering asking the doctor (her doctor) for a sick note.

If you said:

Hun vurderer å be en lege om sykemelding.

that would sound more like any doctor, not a specific, known one. It’s not wrong grammatically, but it changes the meaning slightly.

Why do we use the preposition om after be, as in be legen om sykemelding?

With å be in the sense ask (someone) for (something), the pattern is:

be + (person in object) + om + (thing requested)

Examples:

Jeg ba ham om hjelp. = I asked him for help.
Hun ba sjefen om lønnsøkning. = She asked her boss for a raise.
Vi ba læreren om en utsettelse. = We asked the teacher for an extension.
Hun vurderer å be legen om sykemelding.

So om here is part of a fixed verb pattern, not “about” in a general sense.

What exactly is a sykemelding?

sykemelding (also written sykmelding) is a medical certificate for sick leave written by a doctor in Norway.

Typical meaning:

A document from a doctor that confirms you are too ill to work, and that you therefore have a right to sykepenger (sick-pay) or formal sick leave.

It’s a compound:

syk = sick
melding = message / note / notification

So Hun vurderer å be legen om sykemelding is about requesting an official sick leave certificate, not just “telling the doctor she’s sick”.

Why do I sometimes see sykmelding instead of sykemelding?

Both spellings are used in Bokmål:

sykmelding – the short form (officially recommended)
sykemelding – the full form (still allowed and common)

Norwegian has a general tendency to allow optional dropping of some vowels in compounds:

sykehuset / sykehuset vs. sykehuset (here no short form)
bussjåfør / busssjåfør etc.

For this specific word, you can safely use sykmelding or sykemelding in everyday writing; both will be understood. Official forms lean toward sykmelding.

Could we say å be om sykemelding fra legen instead of å be legen om sykemelding?

Yes, but the focus changes slightly.

å be legen om sykemelding
Structure: be + person + om + thing
= ask the doctor for a sick note
(focus on the person you ask).
å be om sykemelding fra legen
Structure: be om + thing + fra + person
= ask for a sick note from the doctor
(focus more on the thing you want).

Both are grammatical. In everyday speech and writing, be legen om sykemelding is a bit more direct and common.

Why is vurderer in the simple present, when in English we would often say “is considering”?

Norwegian normally uses the simple present to express actions or states that are:

happening now, or
taking place over a period of time, or
generally true.

Norwegian doesn’t have a separate -ing / continuous tense like English. So:

Hun vurderer å be legen om sykemelding.
can correspond to:
- “She considers asking the doctor for a sick note.”
- “She is considering asking the doctor for a sick note.”

The Norwegian present covers both of these English aspects; context tells you which one is meant.