Nursing education to change in Saskatchewan

April 24, 2009

By Mark Ferguson

To meet a growing demand, the province, the U of S, the University of Regina and the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) are partnering in a process of restructuring the way nursing education is delivered in Saskatchewan, and those changes could be in place as early as 2011.

Students currently entering the College of Nursing spend their first two years at the SIAST in Saskatoon or Regina or the First Nations University of Canada (FNUC) in Prince Albert. Third- and fourth-year classes can be taken in Saskatoon, Regina or P.A., with all nursing degrees granted by the U of S.

According to Lorna Butler, dean of the College of Nursing, discussions are underway to change that structure. The four-year direct entry program at the U of S will become a three-year program, which students can apply for after one year of undergraduate study in the College of Arts and Science. The U of R will continue to work with SIAST to develop a four-year direct-entry program for which the U of R will confer the degree, she explained. The FNUC currently shares faculty and resources with the U of S but has not decided how it will partner to deliver nursing under the new structure.

Butler said the changes can improve the quality of education and training Saskatchewan nurses will receive no matter where they choose to study.

“We wanted to move nursing at the U of S to an inter-professional program with other health professionals,” said Butler in an interview with On Campus News. “The change is not just about nursing—it’s about the health sciences.”

The Academic Health Sciences project, currently under construction, brings together the College of Nursing with medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and nutrition, kinesiology, veterinary medicine, the School of Physical Therapy and the School of Public Health. Butler said keeping health professionals together under one roof for teaching, mentoring, and working integration will improve the future of health care and although “the building itself is not the driving force, [the building] will ultimately change the way we work together as health professionals.”

Butler said the province has committed to increasing the number of students trained to be registered nurses from 520 to 700 by 2011, of which the U of S and the U of R/SIAST program will each accept 350 students per year.

Students enrolled in the U of R/SIAST program will begin the four-year direct entry program in the fall of 2011. At the U of S, students will have to complete one year of prerequisite courses through the College of Arts and Science before they can be accepted into the new three-year program, scheduled to be in place by fall 2012.

For Butler, being a part of this restructuring is an exciting prospect. “There are not many times you have the opportunity to reshape the way nursing education is delivered. It’s a very positive step forward. It’s huge.”