RBC funding to cover training for nurses in Huron County

A mock “code blue” would test anyone’s abilities under pressure, which is the point of the nurses training happening at the Clinton Public Hospital Tuesday.

“In rural communities, there’s always situations where nurses need to respond quickly, so having that background knowledge and training is so important in order to respond in real scenarios,” said Sarah Brenneman, manager of inpatients and the Emergency Department at the Clinton Public Hospital.

The training in Clinton, Ont. is being watched by the people who helped fund it.

Members of the local branches of the Royal Bank of Canada are handing over $15,000 to cover the next three years of nurse training at the Clinton Public Hospital.

RBC is providing similar funding to 22 hospitals in Ontario this year.

“This is Nurses Week, so we want to get out into the community, and support these heroes. These are true heroes,” said Jamie Pereira, community manager for RBC banks in Exeter, Ont., Clinton, and Goderich, Ont.

While today’s training is focused on a cardiac emergency involving an adult, future training will focus on emergencies involving children, in response to a recent rise in respiratory illness amongst young people across Ontario.

Nurses at the Clinton Public Hospital received training on a cardiac emergency on May 9, 2023. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“Nurses are tired, right. It’s hard to come in on their day off when they’ve worked so many hours, so this is a little incentive to keep them on top of their game,” said Lori Mercer, director of patient care at the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance who oversees the Clinton Public Hospital.

The training is even more acute in Clinton as they work towards, hopefully, reopening their Emergency Department to 24-hour care.

It’s been reduced to daytime hours since 2019.

“It’s important to retain and recruit nurses to a rural community. Super important,” said Merner.