CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2019 - 6

6

COLLEGE

The overall goal of the Wilderness
Medicine course is to inspire and train
nurses who have the desire to work
in rural, disaster, or humanitarian
healthcare situations, additionally
motivating current students to take
their skills to the rural setting."
- Laura McGladrey, FNP, PMHNP, RN, FAWM

Wilderness &
Ski Patrol Nursing
By Trisha Buck

T

his year's ski season is coming to a close.
With multiple avalanches - even across
Interstate-70, the season has been extraordinary. Nurses and volunteer staff
have been on high alert handling the
inevitable injuries that occur in the back
country and ski resorts. Many injuries are
minor, affecting mostly knees.

In the state of Colorado 70% of all nurse providers are in
the front range, leaving a deficit of nurses and healthcare
providers in rural Colorado. Rural emergencies need the
advance skill set of nurses in order to mitigate tragedies
until the patient is intercepted by a hospital, ambulance,
or Flight for Life.

University of Colorado College of
Nursing Senior Instructor Laura
McGladrey, FNP, PMHNP, RN, FAWM has
been hosting the Wilderness Medicine
courses for several years. McGladrey
currently serves on the Monarch Ski
areas Ski Patrol. She has also encouraged other nurses to join the patrol as a
way to care for patients that may need
more intensive care on the mountain.

A nursing deficit means that the nurses that have moved back
to rural areas of the state need a different type of preparation
and scope of training. This is especially true in the winter,
when urgent care is often needed at the various ski resorts
around the state.

"The overall goal of the Wilderness
Medicine course is to inspire and train
nurses who have the desire to work
in rural, disaster, or humanitarian
healthcare situations, additionally

Additionally, head traumas account for over 40 deaths
annually. Increasingly, such emergency conditions require
more skilled assistance on the mountain.

CU College of Nursing
CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2019
