Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, for myself, I was a labour and delivery nurse, so I don't understand why nobody wants to be a labour and delivery nurse, so. But, you know, for the most part I know even when I was a manager trying to convince some nurses to go and train to be a labour and delivery nurse -- it's a specialty. It's just like any other thing people want to do. And, you know, and I think for a long time here once we -- one of the issues that we know that within the current obstetrics where we -- I mean, it's not a secret that there was many vacancies over COVID, and then that's when, you know, it enacted the time that we needed to start using agency nurses to ensure that we could provide birthing services back in Yellowknife. And since then, we've done lots of training. We've trained nurses. We've provided training. We provided combination training of education so that they could get the mentoring and the specialized training to be able to become obstetric nurses. And so we're starting to get more in that area. As of right now, they still need mentors because they're not independent and so that's why we're still having to use agency nurses to bring in because we don't have any permanent staff that are available or able to recruit at this time. And our goal is to be able to train enough nurses. And then with the change in model in supporting those registered nurses to be able to work at their scope, we've changed the model so that we could bring LPNs on into the obstetric unit, which wasn't there before. And that is taken off the weight of the RNs so that they can do the job that they need to do and then the LPNs can support them in that department. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Lesa Semmler on Committee Motion 8-20(1): Tabled Document 93-20(1): Main Estimates 2024-2025, Deferral of Administrative and Support Services - Health and Social Services, Carried
In the Legislative Assembly on May 30th, 2024. See this statement in context.
Committee Motion 8-20(1): Tabled Document 93-20(1): Main Estimates 2024-2025, Deferral of Administrative and Support Services - Health and Social Services, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
May 30th, 2024
Page 631
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