RRC joins fight against COVID-19: New training launched to increase testing capacity in Manitoba
Red River College, in partnership with the Province of Manitoba, is proud to announce the creation of a new micro-credential course that will provide essential training to help increase COVID-19 testing capacity for Manitoba Public Health.
“Protecting the health and safety of Manitobans remains our number one priority,” says Premier Brian Pallister. “Our government is committed to expanding our COVID-19 testing capacity to reduce wait times to get a test. This partnership with Red River College will enable us to provide essential training opportunities to highly skilled health-care workers, who can now our efforts to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.”
The course — which takes as little as five hours to complete — is designed to train a number of health-care workers and students studying for careers in health care to safely conduct a nasal swab to collect samples to test for the virus. It will be offered tuition-free to students through RRC’s School of Continuing Education, and will be a blended delivery model, which will include essential theory offered through online delivery and a hands-on training component.
The course was designed to fit with a ministerial order that comes into effect today, enabling more health-care professionals and students training for careers in health care to perform this function at COVID-19 testing sites, including:
- students in at least the second year of one of the following regulated health professions:
- registered nursing
- licensed practical nursing
- psychiatric nursing
- medicine at the University of Manitoba, including medical students and physician assistant students
- students enrolled in an approved paramedicine or respiratory therapy program
- people qualified to practice in one of the following regulated health professions in jurisdictions outside Manitoba or Canada (based on the presentation of valid credentials):
- registered nursing
- licensed practical nursing
- psychiatric nursing
- medicine
- health-care aides
- medical laboratory technologists
- occupational therapists
- physiotherapists
- pharmacists