A new program at the University of Windsor will train registered nurses to care for acutely ill patients using a state-of-the-art simulation laboratory and online courses. The critical care certificate program, offered as a collaboration between 10 learning institutions across Ontario and funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, will give nurses the skills to effectively deal with critically ill patients and their families, said Judy Bornais, the U of W nursing faculty’s experiential learning specialist.

 “What’s great about this is that the program is available to nurses across the province and they’re trying to make it as portable as possible,” she said. The program, which combines self-directed “e-learning” with hands-on work in a simulation lab and then in a hospital, will make critical care training available to nurses who would have difficulty attending classes because of work and family commitments. It will also spare nurses from travelling long distances or being away from home to get trained. “The program is designed so that they can do it at their own pace,” she said. “A lot of nurses are parents, working shiftwork or still going to school.” The critical care training will hopefully keep more nurses in Ontario and address the province’s shortage of health-care professionals, Bornais said.

 Read more…