Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Aug 18/00) - The Deh Cho's nursing shortage will soon be over.

The region will be just shy of a full complement of staff by mid-September, said Sheila Sears, manager of health services for Deh Cho Health and Social Services.

She said five nurses have been recruited to bolster the six nurses already on staff. The first of the new recruits started Monday, three are to report on Sept. 5 and the last is expected on Sept. 18. Their arrival will be a relief, Sears said.

"We were down five (nurses) ... that's pretty bad," she said. "It would have meant really serious repercussions for us in the long term because the nurses that you have just get burnt out and then they leave."

One of the new nurses has agreed to a two-year term. The others are permanent hires, but are expected to give a month's notice before resigning. Four of the nurses are from the east coast and one is from Alberta.

The need for nurses is greatest in Fort Liard and Fort Providence, which have been on "essential services" status for the past month.

"The communities have been excellent. They have been really understanding," Sears said.

A third nurse will be stationed in Fort Providence for at least the next two years, she added.

Federal guidelines recommend one nurse for every 250 people, and Fort Providence has nearly 750 people.

Service to the smaller satellite communities, such as Jean Marie River, Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte, has not been reduced. A nurse still accompanies the doctor for a monthly visit, she said.

A nurse is still needed to fill the vacancy in Wrigley. A half-time doctor is also being sought to share the rotational duties with the doctor on staff. A dental therapist is needed for the next year as well. The former dental therapist has taken a leave of absence.

The difficulty recruiting nurses in the North has received a great deal of publicity, but it's actually a worldwide problem, said Sears.

"It's exacerbated here because (the nurses) are not from here. People always prefer to work near their families," she said.

"But the work is challenging (here) and people like it for that reason. You get so much more responsibility as a nurse here than you do in the south. So people who like it really like it."

Although there has been a shortage of nurses, the Deh Cho hasn't been as hard- pressed to find and retain nurses as other regions in the North. Sears attributes that to a concerted effort to improve moral and be supportive of staff.

"We've been trying hard to retain the staff we have," she said.