Island nurses graduate from new critical care and emergency nursing program

Seven nurses from three Island hospitals graduated today from the first-ever critical care and emergency nursing program offered on Prince Edward Island.

The graduates just completed a 15-week critical care and emergency nursing pilot program at UPEI's School of Nursing, which involved classroom study, lab simulation and clinical placements. The program manager is Judy Cotton, and the two nurse educators are Tanya Matthews and Mike Mac Donald.

'Through this program, practicing nurses on P.E.I. can develop their professional skills in the areas of critical care and emergency, which will ultimately improve patient care,' says Dr. Kim Critchley, Dean of Nursing. 'By offering this first-ever educational opportunity here on P.E.I., we can recruit and retain qualified critical care and emergency nurses in the province.'

The graduates are Pamela Condon, Kings County Memorial Hospital, Montague; Angela Neill, Bonnie Bradley and Dana Hood, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown; and Catherine Andrew, Mona MacLellan and Trudy Read, Prince County Hospital, Summerside. Most of the graduates work in critical care and emergency departments at their hospitals.

Another seven nurses will participate in the program beginning in February.

Partnering in this program with the School of Nursing are the P.E.I. Department of Health, Health Canada and the P.E.I. Nurses Union.

'We are pleased to partner in this program and to help provide Island nurses with an opportunity for professional development in critical care,' said Health Minister Doug Currie. 'Nurses play an essential role in the delivery of health care on Prince Edward Island, and providing this program for both new and experienced nurses will result in direct benefits for Islanders.'

This program is one of ten pilot projects across Canada that are part of a pan-Canadian initiative called Research to Action: Applied Workplace Solutions for Nurses, led by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and funded by Health Canada. The pilot projects are aimed at testing retention and recruitment strategies to address the nursing shortage.