ABOYNE – To celebrate National Nursing week, the RBC Foundation is donating $10,000 per year for the next three years to provide support and continuing education for nurses at Groves Memorial Community Hospital.
“One of the things we plan to do with this support is revitalize our annual perinatal refresher skills day for obstetrics,” said Kate Kobbes, vice president of clinical services and chief nursing executive at Groves hospital, adding skills days will provide vital training opportunities for a variety of different techniques and modalities.
“Last year, 513 babies were delivered at GMCH, so RBC’s funding for this program will have a significant lasting impact on our community’s newest members,” she said.
The sessions, which had been on hold due to the pandemic, include guest speakers and professional hands-on instruction at stations like vacuum delivery.
“Nurses play a vital role in building prosperous, healthy communities for today and for the future,” said Melanie Renon, regional vice president at RBC.
“Each year, RBC is proud to recognize the contributions and commitments of nurses by supporting their ongoing access to training and resources. It’s our small way of saying ‘thank you’ to these courageous individuals.”
Carla Ryan is a registered nurse in the obstetrics/labour and delivery department at Groves. Submitted photo
The RBC Foundation has been supporting nurses’ access to education, training, resources, and most recently including mental health care, since 2009.
This year’s commitment of more than $500,000 over three years will provide funding to 22 hospitals in Southwestern Ontario bringing the total investment in local nursing to $1.7 million by 2025.
“This donation, administered through the Groves Hospital Foundation, will also ensure that we are able to continue to provide all new nursing hires at GMCH with ‘Non-Violent Crisis Intervention Training’ as a part of their onboarding training,” said Kobbes.
“This vital training provides new RNs and RPNs with proven strategies for safely diffusing anxious, hostile, or violent behaviour in patients, their families, or visitors, at the earliest possible stage.
“We anticipate that this training will greatly benefit new hires, as well as improve their ability to deliver quality patient care.”
The show of support comes at a critical time. Recent Statistics Canada data shows Canadian frontline healthcare workers are feeling strained and overloaded.
In July, Statistics Canada reported 23,620 vacant nursing positions in the first quarter of 2022 (up 219% from 2019), and an all-time high of 136,800 job vacancies within the health sector throughout the first quarter of 2022.
Recent data released by Mental Health Research Canada also shows that healthcare workers, and nurses in particular, were profoundly impacted by the pandemic.
Held in honour of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, National Nursing Week is designed to increase the awareness of the many contributions nursing makes to the wellbeing of Canadians. National Nursing Week runs from May 8-14, 2023.
