WINDSOR, ONT. -- A raft of new hires at Community Living Windsor (CL Windsor) will be trained Wednesday by staff at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) in the absence of the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON).
A five-hour training session will walk more than 20 new hires through ‘controlled act’ exercises concerning infection control best practices, tracheotomy care, enteral tube feeding and even EpiPen administration.
Despite health guidelines advising against large gatherings, the training happened in-person at the hospital’s west-end campus with measures in place to ensure safety.
According to Sarah Picco, the hospital’s manager of professional practice and infection control, a virtual training session was considered, but deemed insufficient to train staff.
“Myself and my team felt that it would be most appropriate if we would be able to do it with them one-on-one, demonstrate those skills and have them demonstrate them back to us and really ensuring those staff feel really comfortable in those skills as much as possible."
According to an HDGH news release, the training assistance was offered after it was “determined that the third-party agency normally contracted to do this work had suspended this portion of their business due to COVID-19.”
The training is usually handled by a VON nurse, according to the executive director of CL Windsor, Melodie Cook, but due to COVID-19, training services have become unavailable.
Without the training provided by HDGH, the staff would not have been able to go into clients' homes or carry out necessary duties.
“This is a huge life-saver for us because we needed the staff,” said Cook. “With COVID, we obviously have a number of our employees who are off.”
The ability to fill a need created by the pandemic will not go unappreciated as different agencies and partners pull together in difficult times.
Cook says there are roughly 460 staff providing care for those with disabilities and in need of support. She expects more hires will be needed in the summer months to relieve staff for time off, and the issue of training will again be a question for the new cohort of staff.
“We are very grateful to the team at HDGH on undertaking this important and necessary training for our staff in this time of need,” said Cook in the news release.
The training on Wednesday put infection control at the top of the lesson plan.
The fear of COVID-19 is an obstacle staff will need to overcome to provide care to some of the most vulnerable in the community during the pandemic.
“We really wanted to make sure that we relieve some of that fear but, also letting them know how cautious they need to be when going into a client’s home and what it means to keep themselves safe and the client safe,” said Picco.
VON Windsor-Essex Marketing, Communications and Philanthropy Officer Rosie Michel responded to a CTV News request for comment about training in an email.
It read in part, "The health and safety of our clients, employees, and volunteers remain our top priority as we continue to deliver essential care. Considering the unique circumstances associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, our team is working around-the-clock and actively monitoring the situation in collaboration with our partners."
She added that further details would be released Thursday.
