爱城Stollery儿童医院紧缺床边教师
原始发布日期： 2017-01-21 发布者：玉山字变大 字变小
Sore demand for bedside teachers at Stollery Children's Hospital'It gives them that little break from all the things they're attached to that are medical'Stollery Children's Hospital takes teaching to bedsides 0:42 Edmonton Public Schools is struggling to meet demand for bedside teachers at the Stollery Children's Hospital. Gabe Mancini spearheaded the bedside teaching program in his former role as the principal of the small school at the Stollery, where kids who are in the hospital can go to learn if they are able. Teachers at the hospital school used skip lunch breaks to visit patients who couldn't go to the hospital classroom. When demand for bedside lessons increased, Mancini said the school hired a teacher dedicated to working with students in their hospital rooms. "It became kind of a hit-or-miss approach and then we made a concerted effort," Mancini explained. 
Anna Kopec is the only dedicated bedside teacher for more than 40 patients at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton. (Katie Gobert/CBC) The new teacher, Anna Kopec, joined school staff at the Stollery Children's Hospital less than a year ago. She teaches one-on-one classes to students in kindergarten through Grade 12. Within months, enrolment expanded to 40 students — though Kopec only has time to work with eight each day. Kopec said she tries to check on the other students, even when they don't have a scheduled class. "I probably make about 10 kilometres a day in this hospital," she said, adding it's still not enough to see all her students. "That kind of breaks your heart." Edmonton's public school board plans to ask Alberta Education for extra funding so the Stollery school can afford two more bedside teachers. The board wants to add one elementary school teacher and another to teach middle and high school students. "That would take a lot of pressure off because I'm scrambling a lot," Kopec said. Giving students who can't leave their hospital room an opportunity to continue in school can be crucial to their wellbeing, she added. "It gives them that little break from all the things they're attached to that are medical," Kopec said. "They get to understand that lots of things can happen, even in this confined space." 
Shayna Nent says teachers at the Stollery Children's Hospital helped her graduate Grade 12 on time, despite her cancer diagnosis. (Supplied) Shayna Nent said she spent weeks at a time in her hospital bed after she was diagnosed with cancer at age 16, eight years ago. At the time, Nent didn't have a regular bedside teacher to help with Grade 12 coursework such as advanced chemistry. Instead she relied on her parents and the sporadic lunchtime visit from teachers at the hospital school. "There is a big difference between a parent and a teacher, especially when you get to the higher grades," she said. "It would have made things a lot easier to have someone on a regular basis." She struggled without a teacher but said she managed to graduate on time with her friends. The 22-year-old is now a graduate nurse and said she wants to help others conquer the challenges she faced as a teen. Allowing young patients to stay in school is an important part of that, she added. "School offers you a really strong sense of normalcy," she said. "Sometimes you worry. What's going to happen to me? Is this going to work? Is this going to be forever? And having something to distract you from those sorts of thoughts can be really beneficial. "It helps you know this isn't going to be forever and, at least for now, you can work on something else and just be yourself and be what makes you happy." |