ARTS & LIFE Scooting around E-scooters: fun or dangerous? They are the new craze, but there are also safety concerns. SPORTS Falcons go tech The Langara Falcons develop new virtual recruitment and game strategies. Franchise it Locals have mixed feelings as more franchises move into their § neighbourhood. project Langara research students to help growers and students By GRAHAM ABRAHAM ew laboratory space for | \ | students will be one of the benefits of a five-year proj- ect between Langara and Canadian cannabis growers. Kelly Sveinson, Langara chem- istry instructor and chair of the applied research centre which conducts research with companies, said the project, which involves three cannabis companies and the federal government, has received approximately $4.5 million. He said about half of that will go to college infrastructure. Federal grants provided $3.3 million, while the other $1.2 million came from private cannabis companies. “So, we're facilitating construc- tion of laboratory space, as well as acquiring the most advanced type of equipment that’s available on the market today.” The centre also hopes the project gives students industry experience. “We hope that we .. . will provide them with background and experi- ence that differentiates them from other people that are trying to get employed,” Sveinson said. Legalization has allowed for expanded peer-reviewed research on cannabis which will benefit growers in the industry. Biology instructor Ji Yong Yang, principal scientist on the project, said one of their goals is to study the plant’s microbial features. “I think research improves our knowledge base and therefore improves our teaching.” While Yang points to the knowl- edge base and improvement in teaching that research provides, he also emphasizes what this will mean for students. They will get hands-on opportunities they wouldn't already have, he says. “One of the reasons why I’m interested in research is to provide opportunities for younger students,” he said. One of the businesses funding the project is excited about the scientific benefits. Michael Lattimer, Pure Sunfarms’ vice president of opera- tions, believes Langara College will provide scientific peer-reviewed expertise to the first-hand knowl- edge of legacy growers. Research is expected to commence mid-November. OCTOBER 27, 2021 * VOL. 55 NO. 1 * VANCOUVER, B.C. or a Langara nursing grad- uate, practising on manne- quins in nursing school could not compare to caring for COVID-19 patients in under- staffed hospitals. “When I first started working with COVID patients I was for sure very anxious,” said Langara graduate Rensel Astudillo who began work as a student nurse in May 2020. Because little was known about the virus at the time, he moved out of his home to protect his family’s health. During a recent emergency room nightshift, Astudillo and a newly graduated nurse he was mentoring were left on their own to care for five patients in need of hourly inter- ventions. “Coming home from that [shift], I cried,” he said. “I just felt so overstretched that night.” Astudillo says new graduates have been caught off guard by the toll nursing through the pandemic has taken. “We were all really excited to start working but then, a few months in, we were all really tired and burnt out already. I think that’s one thing sion altogether. B.C. government data indicates the province will need 23,000 more nurses by 2029. When it comes to preparing students for the stress of a pandemic, intensified by understaffing, Langa- ra’s nursing divi- sion chair Wanda Pierson points to that we really “Coming home from the rigours of the happen > | that [shift], Icried.” | ree ne A recent report — RENSEL ASTUDILLO, RNWW of the hardest from the Ontario things you can COVID-19 do in your life- Science Advi- sory Table found that a year into the pandemic, over 60 per cent of health care workers reported emotional exhaustion, up from 20 to 40 percent in pre-pandemic times. The report says interventions are urgently needed to stem the tide of nurses choosing to leave the profes- time,” said Pier- son, who has nursed through SARS and swine flu in her 45-year career. Astudillo credits Langara nursing school with teaching students how to prioritize patients based on how sick they are. But, he says, students typically train with only three stable patients when nurses often juggle Langara nursing students training in the Nursing Simulation Centre. A recent graduate of Langara College's nursing program found nursing amidst a pandemic and shortages distressing. SUZANNE BAUSTAD PHOTO Nursing tougher than ever Pandemic, understaffing cause anxiety for recent grads By SUZANNE BAUSTAD five critically sick patients at a time. He would like to see the scope of nursing training expanded to allow students to care for more and sicker patients while they still have their instructors to back them up. To help with transition shock, the Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of B.C., an advocacy organization that promotes nursing, offers a workshop for new grads. “I think new graduates really need to be aware that there is a lot of resources and a lot of groups that will support them through this transition,” said Kim Withers, the organization's director of member- ship services. Astudillo says the anxiety he developed from working with severely ill patients and insufficient staffing will leave a lasting impres- sion. He wants to see nurses, and the system they work in, better prepared for the next pandemic.