Ontario college nursing grads set to fill care gaps

The first Ontario class of college Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates are ready to boost health care. Eric Taschner explains.

The first graduates from new stand-alone Bachelor of Science – Nursing degree programs in colleges across Ontario will be graduating very soon. One of the schools to offer this new program is Canadore College in North Bay, Ont.

Clinical placements begin in first semester

Nursing students Samuelle Ranger and Megan LaVictoire spent one of their final times in a nursing lab before receiving their degree in a week. Ranger took the inaugural four-year stand-alone degree at Canadore, which launched in fall 2022.

“I did my preceptorship out in Ottawa. So, the goal is hopefully to move to Ottawa and get a job in the emerge,” Ranger said.

LaVictoire currently works at the North Bay Regional Health Centre’s emergency department and is also a palliative care nurse at the Nipissing Serenity Hospice. She took the college’s enhanced three-year bridging practical nursing to the Bachelor of Science program.

“I started here in the Registered Practical Nursing program. So, I was given the opportunity of clinical placement and then as well as in the RN program. I was given six semesters of clinical placement. So, a lot of experience,” she said.

What is unique about the school’s nursing program when compared to other colleges, said Vivian Papaiz, the college’s Environmental Studies and Health Sciences Interim Dean, is that clinical opportunities start right in the first semester.

“Which is different than other nursing programs that might not start them in until their second or third year,” Papaiz said.

The college has been training nurses for more than 30 years and faculty within the Nursing Undergraduate Program helped construct the hands-on curriculum.

“We learned everything starting from the bare bones. From vital signs, bedside care, running IV pumps, doing our feeds, learning how to read telemetry,” LaVictoire said.

Program launched to fill health care gaps

The Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities partnered with a number of colleges, including Canadore College, to offer the degree program with a goal of training and retaining more nursing students to fill health care gaps. To become a registered nurse in Ontario and be registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario, individuals must obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

“There will be 51 graduates crossing the stage,” Papaiz said.

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said “Everybody got their money’s worth” with the launch of the program four years ago.

“This is a win, win, win all around,” he said.

“This is a really great model. We’ve hired 100,000 nurses since we were elected. Now there’s more coming from Canadore.”

In an email to CTV News, the Government of Ontario confirmed that 15 colleges across the province offer world-class stand-alone nursing degree programs. In addition to Canadore in North Bay, four other northern colleges deliver nursing degree programs: Cambrian College in Sudbury, Collège Boréal based in Sudbury and multiple satellite locations, Confederation College in Thunder Bay and Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie.

Funding, expansion plans

Many of the nursing students were able to access the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant funding to cover tuition, compulsory fees, books and other costs like supplies and equipment for studying in “priority postsecondary programs in underserved and growing communities,” which required them to work in the region where they studied.

Down the line, Canadore said it is hoping to expand its nursing program, adding it is working with the province and nursing placement locations to ensure students get the best possible education.