nursing Cr Carmelle Joseph and Katherine Picken Contributing Writers HAVE you heard of the nursing shortage around Canada? Well we were wondering it it has affected Lions Gate Hospital. The nursing shortage has caused problems for every- body, but mostly for the nurses. We think that it’s caused by the schools like BC!T and the government. In the last year we had over 2,600 applicants for only 949 spaces in nursing programs. That means the schools had to turn down over 1,650 applicants. Another reason there might be a nursing shortage is 13,000 of the nurses are between age 45-65. That’s getting close to the age of retirement. 4,000 of those are ready for retirement any- time. Lions Gate Hospital has to close some of their beds because they don’t have enough nurses. Katherine Robinson, a registered nurse at Lions Gate Hospital, says, we usu- ally close beds during major holidays.” ts this nursin going to affect shortage e care of go lling devices: our people in’ Lions Gate HospitaP Uf the government. isn’t paying cnough money to health care, the hespitals can’t pay enough to the nurses. If the government isn’t paying enough to edu- cation, then we can’t train enough purses. Not every: one will get a nurse at their side. Three years ago, the Canadian Nurses Association did a study saying that Canada could be short of nurses in the year 20L!. They estimated — hospitals would be around 59,000 to 113,000 nurses short. We already have a nursing shortage and it’s not even year 2011 yer! What will happen in the years to come? “I chink it will get worse over the years,” — says Katherine Robinson. Will the government put more money into health care? Since the schoels won't allow more than 949 stu- dents we will have to find more ways to train nurses. The U.S. doesn't seem to have as much of a problem with the nurses, maybe because they pay better. So maybe our Canadian nurses are going to the U.S. We think this nursing shortage is a really big prob- lem, because what if the gov- ernment doesn’t come up here you are. going and* Produced by the Grade 6 students of Norgale elemeniary scnoo Teacher sponsors: M photo submitted SNOWBOARDER Den Hellmann waits for treatment at Lions Gate Hospital after injuring himself on Cypress. with the money to get more training and to pay more nurses? We will have no nurs- es, or very few. Hopefully more nurses will come to inada from other countites and this nursing shortage won't be as bad. We've heard that this year is the worst year for the flu. If the elderly catch the flu they might get really sick and go to the hospital. So that takes away some nurses that we need for the emergencies. Katherine Robinson says, “I think it’s a problem that we have to work overtime!” Not enough nurses means more nurses have to work extra hours. ichelie Pratt and Patyick Rickard itlustration Alison McGillivray North Shore Rescue works for free Chrissy Savilie Contributing Writer THE North Shore Rescue team is a volun- teer community-based search and rescue team. The team has existed on the North Shore for over 30 years. They provide life-saving services 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The North Shore Rescue team has three main services. They are mountain and canyon search and rescue, civil emergency response (for such causes as floods, earthquakes, ete.) and educating the public on mountain and hiking safe- Many people get lost in the mountains, especially in the winter time. Over the last 30 years, over 1,000 mountain search and rescue operations have been made. Lots of times skiers and snowboarders go out of bounds and get lost. Usually there is a fear of an avalanche which could put people in grave danger. Last year a per- son was killed on the Grouse Grind because of an avalanche. The most recent search was for a 29-year-old snan who went out of bounds. He was reperted missing on Friday Jan. try 7, 2000, and found Sunday morning January 9. TE Ce SOR omit His response to a three-day search and rescue, a $5,000 process, was the middle finger. The North Shore Rescue team provides its services for free! The team needs dona- tions from the public. Right now, the team is doing a fundraising drive for a new command vehicle. . I interviewed Andrea, a rescue volunteer, and he said to find someone, “it could take anywhere from three Keep out THE entrance to the Grouse Grind trail is fenced off, with a signpost advis- _ing hikers that the trail is closed dus to dangerous weather conditions. hours to three to four days. On average, it takes eight to ten hours.” ; Can you imagine deing outside, especially in the frozen. cold, for a couple of days?