Healthcare Students Training To Test ForCOVID-19 In Auckland

Healthcare students from across Auckland are stepping up to help with COVID-19 testing.

The Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC) is training 200 healthcare students from The University of Auckland, Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Unitec to carry out swabbing at Community Testing Centres (CTCs) and in primary care across the Auckland metro region.

The students, who all need to have had their second COVID-19 vaccination, will learn how to safely take a swab, donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection prevention and control procedures.

The two and a half hour training sessions start today and will run daily until Friday 27 August, and it is expected that 200 students will be trained this week.

Students will also have on-the-ground training supervised by a Registered Nurse at CTC before they take their first swab. They will be paid for all training.

Northern Region Health Coordination Centre Lead (and Counties Manukau Health CEO) Fepulea'i Margie Apa thanked The University of Auckland, MIT, AUT and Unitec for their assistance in reaching out to their healthcare students and all the students who have registered their interest.

“The Auckland metro region has seen unprecedented demand for testing in recent days and we appreciate the willingness of these students to be part of our frontline COVID-19 response.

“When trained, these students will support the testing workforce across the system including community testing centres, primary health care and DHBs who are all working to quickly identify any new cases.”

MIT Head of Nursing School Associate Professor Deborah Rowe said: “This is an opportunity for students to support a kaupapa that will help protect the wellbeing of our communities.

“It provides our tauira with additional experience contributing to COVID-19 response which will be part of the worldwide healthcare landscape for the foreseeable future.”

If you are a healthcare student in Auckland and interested in joining our COVID-19 testing team, please register at:

https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/PKNqCMwGq5hRpD1gFwrB6p?domain=cognitoforms.com

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