Expectant parents at the Sturgeon Community Hospital can breathe a little easier thanks to a new program bringing neonatal nurse practitioners (NNPs) on-site to assist with at-risk births.
Eight NNPs from Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) at both the University of Alberta Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital will be on permanent rotation in St. Albert to provide resuscitation and stabilization care for newborns.
Deliveries at the Sturgeon Community Hospital have increased from roughly 1,000 births in years prior to the current annual volume of 2,700.
“Their deliveries have increased so quickly for a community hospital that they really needed additional support for their newborn babies because there’s a certain percentage of babies who will have (complications),” said Christene Evanochko, NNP and St. Albert resident.
She said roughly two to three per cent of newborns require the assistance of an NNP.
First-time parents Danusia and Brett Gale were relieved an NNP was present when giving birth to their son Matheson on May 8.
The couple, who live in north Edmonton, planned to deliver at the Sturgeon Community Hospital almost two weeks prior, so doctors decided to induce labour.
All went well, Brett said, but prior to being discharged from the hospital, it was determined that Matheson wasn’t eating enough and the NNP began monitoring his nutrition.
“It was definitely concerning, but just the way everybody here reacted to it was casual,” he said. “The care that we got here was really fantastic. They put us at ease every time they popped in.”
The Gale family was transported to the Stollery Children’s Hospital where Matheson was monitored by the same NNP they saw in St. Albert.
“When I came in and I saw her there, I was really, really relieved,” he said. “They’re here in case a low-risk, regular pregnancy becomes a high-risk because it can at any moment. They have someone on hand who can step in and sort things out.”
The rotating NNPs will fill the single position at the hospital, which covers weekdays. Pediatricians will provide in-house coverage on evenings and weekends.
“The reason we aren’t dedicated here is because there’s only one position and for us to maintain our expertise, we need to be working in the neonatal intensive care unit as well, so we rotate,” Evanochko said.
Rotating coverage gives the NNPs practice with high-risk procedures like inserting breathing tubes, chest tubes and central lines — all are rare occurrences at the Sturgeon but are regular procedures in city NICUs.
High-risk babies are often transported to city NICUs for further treatment and monitoring, as they are equipped with more tools and resources.
“Families love delivering here, so ideally, it would be nice to have a special care nursery here, but that will take time,” Evanochko said.
Roughly $20,000 worth of equipment was required to implement the program, including heart monitors, a resuscitation bed and a portable ventilator. This equipment was donated entirely by the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation.
There are a total of 25 NNPs throughout the province, centred in Calgary and Edmonton. NNPs have a master’s degree in nursing as well as additional training for diagnosis, treatment and prescribing.
