By Tyler Marr

Sask. Polytechnic training will further prepare nurses for ER

May 22, 2017 | 1:40 PM

A course offered through Saskatchewan Polytechnic will help prepare nurses new to emergency rooms in the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region (PAPHR).

The 15-week emergency nursing course will provide registered nurses with certification for those interested in emergency room care. It will also work to standardize training among staff at the Victoria and Shellbrook Hospitals.

“We always have had an orientation program that is made up of both theory and practical experience,” Sharon Griffin, director of acute care and nursing services said. 

“What this course allows us to do is provide some of the experiences in a simulated lab, that prior, we would have to wait”

She explained how it can be difficult to mentor staff through particular emergency situations that do not frequently occur.

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“Unless you see those things when you are buddied with an experienced nurse, you have to wait for those real situations to occur to check them off your list of things you need to learn,” she said.

A return for service agreement will be made between the health region and nurses it helps obtain the certification, requiring them to stay with the region for a set amount of time.

Griffin expects this to lower turnover rates and said it may attract new nurses to the area.

“If you can see yourself working there, it is a huge recruitment [tool],” Griffen said. “We can help the nurses receive their certification and provide the opportunity for them to learn, but for us, we have some commitment long term for providing the certification.”

The training will additionally reduce the senior-junior mix issue faced by the emergency department. As it is a critical care area, people have to be competent in dealing with any incident before they can work in the department. 

With the focus on practical experience, the course will streamline the time taken for nurses to feel comfortable and confident in the emergency room. It can take some, even those with experience, upwards of a year to feel at ease in the ER.

The program is part of an ongoing relationship between the college and the health region. Currently, the organizations work together in critical care and operating room instruction courses.

This, alongside the success of the emergency nursing course in other markets, sparked the health region to start the program. The first intake will begin this fall.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr