Eight Red Cross nurses coming to Manitoba for COVID-19 aid
Up to eight nurses are coming to Manitoba to help the hospital system deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
The press secretary for Minister Bill Blair confirmed the number with CTV News saying the deployment will happen through the Canadian Red Cross and the nurses are for ICU, ER, acute care, and general nursing.
“Nurses from the Canadian Red Cross are arriving today to bolster staffing resources at HSC Winnipeg,” a Shared Health Spokesperson said in a statement. “Nurses will be working in settings that reflect their specialized skills and experience. We are thankful to the Canadian Red Cross and the Canadian government for their support in the care of Manitoba patients with COVID-19.”
MNU GRATEFUL FOR HELP
Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses’ Union (MNU), told CTV News on Monday that nurses in the province appreciate any help they can get at this time.
“We are in wave four and our ICUs are full, and it’s very, very busy with high workloads and high patient loads out there,” Jackson said.
She added the MNU is hearing the contingency will be six to eight nurses.
“Unfortunately, six nurses are not going to make a huge impact on our health-care system at this point although it will be helpful to have those additional bodies in the workforce right now.”
Jackson said there are 2,200 nursing vacancies in the province currently.
She said the entire province is working short with higher workloads, and the nurses will be helpful anywhere in the city where there has been an influx of patients in the last several days.
Jackson said Southern Health is also in dire straits with their COVID-19 numbers and they too are experiencing a nursing shortage.
“Southern Heath is a very big region, and so it’s really hard to pinpoint exactly where you would take eight nurses and spread them out across that region,” she said. “So that’s why I’m saying if we can keep them in Winnipeg in the ERs and on the COVID units and the ICUs here we probably have a better chance of more effective utilization.”
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