National Nursing Week takes place this week, saluting those on the front line.

The theme this year is Nurses: A Voice to Lead - Nursing the World to Health. The theme was developed by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) to showcase how nurses are central to addressing a wide range of health challenges.

Training of nurses is still taking place at Sask Polytechnic, but they've had to get create and go virtual with their classes.

Sandra Blevins is the Dean for the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. She said one of the challenges is the use of simulations in labs on campus

"What's been emerging over these past couple of months is taking that technology virtually. We haven't had a lot of experience in that, we were starting to use the tools but we were still very dependant on our labs."

Blevins added that it was important not to delay the program because there is a need for nurses and any delay would be felt quite quickly within the system. But with that being said, safety is still the number one priority for students working out in the field.

"We're not putting our students into a position of caring for COVID positive patients. The primary reason for that is we are being respectful because the PPE, personal protective equipment that's required, is still in very tight supply."

According to the latest available data, 11,533 registered nurses, 267 nurse practitioners, 3,820 licensed practical nurses and 835 registered psychiatric nurses are practicing in Saskatchewan.  Overall, there has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of nurses compared to 2007.