Portage la Prairie to host Assiniboine’s next rotating Practical Nursing program

Portage la Prairie (Southport), Man. has been named by Assiniboine Community College as the next community to host the college’s rural rotating Practical Nursing diploma program. The program will commence there starting in September 2020 with capacity for 25 students.

We are pleased to work with Southern Health-Santé Sud and the community to deliver this program,” said Suzanne Nicolas, Associate Dean of Health Programs at Assiniboine.

“The demand for nurses continues to be strong across Manitoba, and we know this program will help to address the need for skilled graduates in this region.

“Nurses are intrinsic to the health of our communities,” said Jane Curtis, CEO of Southern Health-Santé Sud.

We are excited to host Assiniboine’s next rotating Practical Nursing program in Southport. This program will enable opportunities for new graduates to apply their training so that patients in the community are looked after with a high level of quality, effective, people-centred care.

A request for proposals to host rural rotating sites was issued in October this past year with the college receiving seven submissions from communities and Regional Health Authorities.

Proposals were evaluated based on criteria including labour market demand; health care partnerships, which primarily involve practicum placements for students; student demand; student experience and available training facilities. The college has delivered its Practical Nursing program through rural rotating sites since 1999.

The college also has permanent Practical Nursing programs running at its campuses in Brandon, Winnipeg, and Dauphin. Applications for Assiniboine’s nursing program in Brandon and Dauphin are currently open and will remain open on an ongoing basis. Applications for the Winnipeg nursing program is currently closed as the waitlist there approaches two years.

The demand for Assiniboine nursing graduates is high; 100 per cent of graduates surveyed from the 2018-19 academic year said they had jobs, making on average more than $47,000 a year. Since 1975, nearly 3,800 individuals have graduated from nursing programs offered by the college.

In the past number of years, Assiniboine has delivered its Practical Nursing program in many communities across Manitoba including Russell, Melita, Peguis First Nation, Selkirk, Steinbach, Winkler/Morden, Arborg, Flin Flon, Beausejour, Killarney, Carmen, Boissevain, The Pas, Neepawa, Ashern, Deloraine, and Pine Falls.

Applications to the Portage la Prairie offering of the program will open from May 4 to 22, 2020.

All qualified applications received within that three-week window will be treated equally in a lottery system; however, those applicants living in a rural community within a 100-kilometer radius of Portage la Prairie will be given preference in the first lottery draw. Important updates, information, and checklists for prospective applicants are available at assiniboine.net/nursing.

(Source:  ACC College News)