Practical nursing diploma hopes to attract more Inuit into health care jobs

Nancy Mike of Iqaluit, left, a nursing student at Nunavut Arctic College, with Andrew Morrison of the Nunavut Research Institute, gave out information about the Bachelor of Science in nursing, practical nursing and pre-nursing programs offered through the college during a stop in Arctic Bay last month. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NAC)

The Government of Nunavut hopes to attract more Inuit students into the field of nursing through a new, shortened health care program.

Nunavut Arctic College plans to add the new two-year Nunavut Practical Nursing diploma to its roster of programming in September, 2012.

“There’s been a call from the GN for more Inuit in the health work force,” said Sally Naphan, program manager for nursing and health sciences at NAC. “Essentially, we hope the shorter program will attract more Inuit students and students from the communities who need to fill nursing positions.”

The diploma in practical nursing will be offered in addition to the college’s four-year bachelor of nursing science, which is offered in collaboration with Dalhousie University in Halifax.

The degree program, which has run for just over a decade, has graduated roughly 30 nurses, including about a half-dozen Inuit graduates who currently work in nursing jobs across the territory.

While the practical nursing program earns graduates a diploma rather than a degree, many of the skills graduates take away are similar, Naphan said. Once hired, the tasks assigned to a licensed practical nurse (known as registered practical nurses in some provinces) depend on the employers’ regulations.

“A practical nurse has a more basic education and a smaller scope of practice,” Naphan said. “They would care for more stable patients with more predictable outcomes, where a registered nurse could specialize.”

But the two programs share about four courses in common, and the requirements to enter both programs are the same: potential students must earn at least 70 per cent in Grade 12 math, English and science (Students who don’t may be admitted to foundation programs to meet those requirements, Naphan said).

Potential students must be at least 18 years of age and fluent in English and Inuktitut, or must be prepared to learn Inuktitut.

The practical nursing diploma program is set to launch in September, 2012 in Iqaluit if a minimum of six — and maximum of 15 — students register. Naphan hopes that if the program is successful, it can be offered in other communities, at least through distance learning.

But Naphan says that prospective students should not expect to find employment in Iqaluit once they graduate. Although there are practical nursing positions in Nunavut’s capital city, the territory’s biggest need is to fill nursing positions in other communities.

Currently, both Igloolik and Gjoa Haven have licensed practical nursing (LPN) positions open at their local long-term care centres, while both Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet are hiring LPNs in their regional health centres.

For more information about the LPN program or to register, contact Penny Nadeau at Nunavut Arctic College at (867) 979-7222.