Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Nurse escorts help take stress off outlying communities

A team of Prince George-based nurses is now in place to accompany patients being transferred into the city from outlying communities.
nurse-escorts.04_632020.jpg

A team of Prince George-based nurses is now in place to accompany patients being transferred into the city from outlying communities.

So-called nurse escorts are common - they're typically accompany ambulance crews about 14,000 times a year across the province, according to B.C. Emergency Health Services.

"This is a long-established practice to ensure patients have the level of care they require when being transferred between hospitals," BCEHS spokesperson Lesley Pritchard said.

But in contrast to past practice, the nurses based in Prince George travel out with paramedics when needed to retrieve patients from community hospitals.

"In the past, nurses from the community hospitals or clinics would have left the community with the patient - often leaving the community without a nurse resource for extended periods of time," Pritchard said.

"This program is intended to prevent this from occurring and ensure nurses remain available to provide care in their community."

The change in procedure was introduced in early May in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic "to ensure that the appropriate level of care is available to manage any surges in demand."

As of May 28, members of the team have been deployed twice, both times on transports using ground ambulance.

In all, nine nurses have received orientation to fill the role, which includes staffing transports by air ambulance, with no current plans to increase that number, Pritchard said.

The unions representing paramedics and nurses have variously raised concerns about encroachment on their jobs, safety issues and a lack of consultation.

But Pritchard said the nurses will not replace paramedics.

"The nurses will be called out only as needed, and only to augment the care provided by the transporting paramedic crews when needed," Pritchard said.

Pritchard also said the BCEHS and Provincial Health Services Authority leadership are working to address the unions' concerns and questions.

"The safety of employees and our patients is core to BCEHS and we have long-established processes in place to ensure safety," Pritchard said.