Resolute Bay mayor asks for nurse rotation scheme

The mayor of Resolute Bay, Ludy Pudluk, asked Nunavut’s health minister this week if there is any procedure for rotating nurses out of a community once they’ve been there for a while.

Nurses can get “tired,” when they’re no longer new in town, Pudluk said.

When a nurse is new, they’e excited and happy to be in the community, he said.

But after a while, they become less enthusiastic, Pudluk said, suggesting it would be good for nurses in such a situation to at least be temporarily rotated to another community to take a break from their regular posting.

Pudluk spoke to the heads of the Department of Health and Social Services at the Baffin Mayors Forum on March 2.

The department’s deputy minister Alex Campbell, appeared surprised by Pudluk’s question.

“Usually we hear that communities usually want them [nurses] to stay longer,” he said.

Tagak Curley, the health and social services minister, said he has heard similar complaints from people in Arviat and Qikiqtarjuaq.

Curley said it’s important for nurses to respect elders and Inuit culture.