National Nursing Week

4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2022 NATIONAL NURSING WEEK MAY 9-15, 2022 #WeAnsWerTheCAll BY LAURALOU CICIERSKI W hile Manitobans were encouraged to keep apart in order to contain the spread of COVID-19, health-care teams across Manitoba were coming together, joining resources and communities to support the needs and protect the health of populations at greatest risk. In Manitoba's Interlake-Eastern region, mobile teams from Southeast Resource Development Council Corp., Interlake Reserves Tribal Council and Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority worked together in partnership with individual First Nations communities to curb the spread of COVID-19. The mobile teams supported COVID-19 testing and worked with First Nations community pandemic teams. Together, they were deployed 22 times over the course of a pandemic response that has spanned two years. Cindy Garson is a health director with a nursing background for Interlake Reserves Tribal Council (IRTC), an organization that represents six First Nations communities including Dauphin River, Kinonjeoshtegon, Lake Manitoba, Little Saskatchewan, Peguis and Pinaymootang. The organization's purpose to unify, maintain and expand the interests, lives and identity of its members formed the core of a combined response to pandemic threats in IRTC communities and beyond. "This experience seemed to spark a sense of solidarity amongst health-care professionals from different organizations," Garson says. "I believe how well — and how quickly — the teams worked together has developed better working relationships across the jurisdictions and organizations." A focus of the mobile teams was to provide support to communities managing the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak without requiring residents to leave the community in order to seek testing. "The mobile team was a huge support for the communities as residents were able to remain in their home communities rather than travelling out to a testing site," Garson says. The mobile teams also offered some Interlake- Eastern RHA staff the chance to visit and work in communities where they may not have been in the past, an opportunity that Garson believes to be very valuable to future partnerships between the health region and the communities. It's a statement echoed by registered nurse Candace Linklater, interim director of clinical SUCCESS IN COLLABORATION: CREATING HEALTHY CONNECTIONS AMONG COMMUNITIES Thanks to the generosity of Manitobans, we are proud to support oncology nurses at CancerCare Manitoba. From the front lines and throughout the cancer treatment and recovery spectrum, these health-care professionals provide outstanding care to patients across our province. Our heartfelt gratitude for your commitment and passion, today and everyday. BLACK RIVER FIRST NATION MOBILE COVID-19 TESTING SITE PHOTOS SUBMITTED Candace Linklater interim director of clinical services with Southeast Resource Development Council Corp. (SERDC) Partners in the mobile response teams saw how First Nations prepare, support and protect community members." "

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