Building Nursing Confidence in the North Island

Written by Kira Barwich, Research Co-ordinator
April 2018

One of the ‘building blocks’ to sustain rural maternity care in the North Island that emerged through engaging community members and care providers was the need for increased confidence and competence in maternity care for the nurses on the North Island. We heard from many nurses in both Port Hardy and Port McNeill of feelings of low confidence in nursing maternity skills and their reluctance to be a part of deliveries in Port Hardy and Port McNeill. We heard this trepidation is due to several factors including a very low volume of births leading to a lack of experience and a lack of training and education opportunities due, in part, to high nursing staff turnover.  We heard from several nurses that they have never been at a ‘normal vaginal birth’. We also heard from the North Island physicians of the crucial role of nurses in the delivery team.

In response to what we heard from North Island care providers, the Building Blocks team along with support from First Nations Health Authority and Island health, facilitated a nursing education session for Port Hardy and Port McNeill nurses.

Dr. Kotaska led a session on birth in small communities April 23rd, Port Hardy   

  Port Hardy CNE session April 23rd

Celina Laursen, RM from Haida Gwaii and Kim Campbell, RN, RM, MN led the 2 full day sessions. Dr. Kotaska, OBGYN from Yellowknife led a session on supporting birth in low-resource maternity communities.

6 nurses attended the Port Hardy CNE session April 23rd, 8am – 3:00pm

3 nurses attended the Port McNeill CNE session April 24th, 8am – 3:00pm

Over 30 nurses, community members, care providers and moms attended a session around  considerations in supporting birth in small communities, led by Dr. Kotaska.

Click here to read the CNE summary report!