When the story of COVID-19 in B.C. in 2020 is told, the impact it’s had on seniors in long-term care facilities will be a defining part of the narrative. On March 10, Canada’s first recorded COVID-19 death was at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver. Since then, there have been more than 400 deaths from COVID-19 in care facilities in B.C., representing 71 per cent of the nearly 700 COVID deaths in B.C. Almost 90 per cent of people who have died of COVID in B.C. have been over the age of 70. Read MoreRead More

A recent study by the British Columbia Nurses Union and the UBC School of Nursing, found that 40 percent of the province’s nurses are struggling with severe depression.The study also revealed that as a result of the pandemic, 60 percent of nurses are showing signs of burnout.“We know 85 percent of our nurses are seriously concerned about bringing this virus home,” said Christine Sorensen, president of the British Columbia Nurses Union, or BCNU. Read MoreRead More

It was a gut punch to people living in assisted living and long-term care and their families who are already all-too-aware of the body of evidence confirming that the pandemic lockdowns have made their fragile health even more precarious. Read MoreRead More

Countries with strong regulation and centralized oversight of their long-term care have fared better overall in dealing with COVID-19, according to veteran, Canadian seniors care researchers. Fuelled by this, co-authors Pat Armstrong and Marcy Cohen are making recommendations to Ottawa in a discussion paper today by Vancouver-based Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a left-leaning think-tank. Read MoreRead More

Too much of what you’re writing comes from the dark side, he said. Maybe you should retire. It got me thinking. … And no, not about retirement. To the question of joyful stuff, I can answer a conditional yes. They’re have been small scale things close to home in a year when, ironically, I had planned to visit Bhutan – the first place in the world where government budgets are screened through the lens of their effect on citizens’ happiness and well-being. Read MoreRead More

Two health-care workers who served on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in a private long-term care home say they’ve been unfairly excluded from a temporary wage top-up given to their counterparts in publicly funded facilities. A care aide a nurse who both work at a privately owned and operated care home in Port Coquitlam said they worked 12- to 16-hour shifts to care for the home’s 49 residents in the early weeks of the pandemic. Read More Original Article Source Credits:   CityNews1130 , https://www.citynews1130.com/ Article Written By:  KELVIN GAWLEY Original Article Posted on:   Oct 22, 2020 Link to Original Article:  https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/10/22/private-care-home-workers-call-exclusion-from-b-c-pandemic-pay-extremely-unfair/Read More

Opinion: More funding is needed for raw food costs and dietary staff to support homemade meal service, more direct care hours to offer daily showers or baths if desired, a decrease in the use of antipsychotics without a supporting diagnosis of psychosis. Read More Original Article Source Credits:  The Province , https://theprovince.com/ Article Written By:  Dan Levitt Original Article Posted on:  Oct 25, 2020 Link to Original Article:  https://theprovince.com/opinion/dan-levitt-a-new-deal-is-urgently-needed-in-long-term-careRead More

We are excited to welcome our students back to campus from October 13, 2020. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to reduce the potential risk of exposure, please read the Covid-19 campus access safety protocol emailed to you BEFORE you come to the site for training this coming Tuesday, October 13, 2020. Complying with Gateway College’s safety protocol is in the interest of maintaining a safe campus for students, employees, and visitors and is consistent with the requirements of WorkSafeBC Limited Access for Visitors: The campus can be accessed by appointments only for essential business from October 13, 2020. Mask is mandatory to be on site. Visitors must complete a pre-screening questionnaire before the visit. We encourage phone or email inquires to avoid in-person contact as much as possible to maintain safety. The office hours are from 8:45 am to 4:45 pm. Contact us at (604) 738-0285 or info@gwcollege.ca.Read More

The B.C. government is adding 22 primary care networks in 13 regions where teams of health professionals will provide services for patients without a family doctor. The networks connect care providers including doctors and nurse practitioners in a particular area with an aim to provide faster service. Read More Original Article Source Credits:   CBC News , https://www.cbc.ca/ Article Written By:  The Canadian Press Original Article Posted on:  Sep 15, 2020 Link to Original Article:  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-to-add-team-based-primary-care-networks-for-patients-without-family-doctors-1.5725301Read More

Jessica Steinwand was still finding her feet as a nurse when COVID-19 hit, having just started work last May. “At that point, that’s when I really started to feel … I’ve kind of got this, I can deal with this stuff,” said Steinwand, who now works on a medical unit at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops. Read More Original Article Source Credits:   Vancouver Sun , https://vancouversun.com/ Article Written By:  Derrick Penner Original Article Posted on:  Aug 29, 2020 Link to Original Article:  https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/new-nurses-on-b-c-s-health-front-lines-get-more-behind-the-scenes-backupRead More