To better train and retain nursing students, the Cégep de Valleyfield and the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest have created a training clinic that could make a big difference.
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The latter receives many patients referred by the CLSC and Bonjour Santé.
“At the CLSC, instead of being put on a waiting list, and sometimes waiting two or three days before having the first appointment, the person will be seen at the school clinic the next day,” explains the director of nursing at the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, Marie-Andrée Guillemette.
Patients are cared for by students who are in their 3rd year of nursing studies supervised by their professors.
“The stress level is lower. Students learn much more in an authentic situation with the richer teaching time. They have time to ask questions, to continue learning,” says Elahm Niknam, a nursing teacher.
Previously, students only did internships at the hospital. From now on, they come to the clinic in turn for a period of at least 8 days.
They also work with seven doctors who take turns once a week to care for the 10 to 20 patients who come in daily.
Since the clinic opened in the fall of 2020, nearly 1,000 patients have been seen in the Cégep de Valleyfield training clinic.
To see the full report, watch the video above.