TutkoyaktukSA国际影视传媒檚 top nurse has a simple request for anyone who wants to show their appreciation to nurses during National Nurses Week.

SA国际影视传媒淭he best thing you can give us for nurses week is to go get your Covid-19 shot,SA国际影视传媒� said nurse-in-charge Helena Cole. SA国际影视传媒淭hat would be a great gift to us, if you want to give one.

SA国际影视传媒淚t is very important for people to get their Covid-19 shot, because it is so easily transmissible.SA国际影视传媒�

Cole spoke to Inuvik Drum about how the pandemic has affected nursing throughout the territory.

With few cases of Covid-19 in the Beaufort Delta and none to date in Tuktoyaktuk, much of the work has involved screening and sanitation.

SA国际影视传媒淲e have to protect ourselves and the community with our personal protective equipment. WeSA国际影视传媒檙e always diligent with infectious disease, but itSA国际影视传媒檚 certainly been heightened since the Covid-19 pandemic started.SA国际影视传媒�

Other issues nurses across the NWT and the world have been dealing with are more systematic, as many are retiring or on the verge of retirement. Finding a suitable number of replacements could take years, said Cole.

While she noted there is no serious shortage of nurses in the Beaufort Delta, she said the health centre could always use some more help.

SA国际影视传媒淭here is always a shortage of nurses,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e not always short here in Tuk, but there can be periods of time when weSA国际影视传媒檙e short, but not generally. But itSA国际影视传媒檚 a global issue.SA国际影视传媒�

Cole is not alone in asking people to smarten up and get the vaccine. Tuktoyaktuk Mayor Erwin Elias recently penned a letter to the community calling for the hamlet to push for herd immunity as soon as possible.

In the May 7 message posted to the Hamlet of TuktoyaktukSA国际影视传媒檚 Facebook page, Elias noted he has fielded numerous calls from residents asking when the community will open up and return to normal.

SA国际影视传媒淭he Hamlet can open up when we get to herd immunity,SA国际影视传媒� he wrote. SA国际影视传媒淗erd immunity occurs when a large portion of the community (the herd) becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected SA国际影视传媒� not just those who are immune.

SA国际影视传媒淲ith the cooperation of our residents we can go back to having dances, feasts, baseball tournaments, card nights, funerals, the list can go on! All we need is for 235 adults in the community to get the vaccine to reach herd immunity!SA国际影视传媒�

Though she could not confirm the number, Cole echoed EliasSA国际影视传媒� message, noting all nurses in the NWT had been vaccinated without incident and strongly encouraged anyone who hasnSA国际影视传媒檛 begun the process to get on it.

Cole thanked the people of Tuktoyaktuk for their patience with the health care system during the last year and expressed her staffSA国际影视传媒檚 gratitude to the community, noting there was nowhere else she would rather be.

SA国际影视传媒淲e feel very fortunate to be able to be in the North and able to receive our Covid-19 shot as early as we have, because I know people in the south are still waiting to get booked,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲e truly enjoy working in the North. Many of us are from the south and we feel honoured to be able to work up here, to work with Indigenous peoples.

SA国际影视传媒淲e learn something new every day and it is such a pleasure to work here.SA国际影视传媒�