RIH nurses looking after mother goose nesting outside labour and delivery ward

KAMLOOPS — Labour and delivery nurses at Royal Inland Hospital are used to taking care of moms and babies, but they’re now caring for other little ones on the ward. A Canada Goose has settled just outside with three eggs she’s keeping warm.

The nurses first discovered an egg outside a window on the ward on March 31.

“So with a little bit more exploring, we saw this mother goose out there,” said labour and delivery nurse Dara Johnson. “She worked for a couple days laying her eggs. She ended up laying three eggs. We started really watching and set up a baby monitor so we could see her in the nurses station.”

The nurses have banned together and offered up any expertise they have. Monica Manderson has a hobby farm in Kamloops and has cared for geese eggs before.

“I hatched out a couple geese eggs last year and I have embden geese, which are obviously quite different from Canadian geese because they don’t fly, but they have a similar gestation. Canadian geese are somewhere between 28 and 34 days, so we’re going with 30 days as to when they’re going to hatch,” said Manderson.

The eggs are expected to hatch around May 3. They’ve reached out to the B.C. Wildlife Park and a bird sanctuary in Burnaby to ensure they’re giving the mom the best care.

They’re also amazed the mother settled outside the maternity ward of all places.

A baby monitor is set up at the nurses station to look out for the mother goose (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

“What are the chances of that? First of all, a Canada goose to set up outside a window of the hospital, but she chose labour and delivery. She’s right at the end of our hall. It’s very exciting,” said Johnson.

Nurses say looking out for the mother goose has been a nice break from their crazy work environment during the pandemic.

“She’s bringing so much joy to us and so much joy to the unit,” said Johnson. “People love to come and check it out, so it’s been really fun.”

Manderson added, “It’s one of those things where we haven’t had a lot of great things happen over the last two years with COVID. It’s just been exhausting and a lot of nursing shortages, right? To have this new life that’s a little different than our regular new life is kind of fun.”