Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (May 10/02) - Some new programs through Aurora College will provide some much-needed help to the front lines at our hospitals and health centres.

Acting Nurse Co-ordinator at Inuvik Regional Hospital, Leticia Byrch has worked in the Beaufort Delta for 14 years.

She's just returned from Yellowknife where she attended the NWT Registered Nursing Association annual general meeting.

The delegations discussed shortages and recruitment and retention strategies.

"They are pushing for more training for more nurses and a new program called the Nurse Practitioners Program," Byrch said.

Aurora College will be starting the program this fall and they have also extended the Northern Nursing program to a four-year program.

The Inuvik Campus offers the Nursing Access program, which provides upgrading to prepare students for the nursing program.

The Nurse Educators Program was designed to promote retention and recruitment of nurses in the north, said Nurse Educator-Mentor April Manuel.

"Generally, it's geared for an Aurora College student who graduates and wants to form a mentorship with a senior nurse," Manuel said.

As well, it's for nurses who want to get more education in other areas."

There are 26 nurses working in Inuvik and 125 in the Beaufort Delta region.

Fly time

All the hospital RNs are required to do some medevac work on a rotation basis.

The nurse works on an on-call basis and must be ready to go at any time.

Some nurses fly better than others, but Denise Daigle doesn't mind the fly time. She says the job requires quick thinking and preparedness.

"You never know quite what you're getting into," she said.

"You hear the report, but when you get there, things change.

The nurse will stay with the patient from the pick-up to the final destination, be it Inuvik, Yellowknife or Edmonton.

"You have to make sure that all the proper equipment is there," Daigle said.

"If you go out to pick up that patient, you should feel positive that you will be able to care for that patient."

New digs

Inuvik's new hospital will open in April of next year, and will provide some new opportunities for nurses to learn from each other in a more team-oriented environment.

"All nurses are going to work together, as opposed to having the out patients, acute care and long term care facilities, we will all be one happy family," Manuel said.

"Nurses will get the opportunity to get different exposure, different experiences and better skills."

"Northern nurses are generally more experienced and when they go home, they have a varied experience they can't get anywhere else," Manuel said. "Out in the communities you often don't have any choice, because you are the only one there," she said.

Staff Nurse Jackie Doucette says the nurses here get some diverse training here that can only be gained in the north and she enjoys being a part of the profession.

"I believe in it; I promote it and I love working in the north," Doucette said.