Thursday was a momentous day for Loyalist College.
It was announced at a small COVID-19 safe media event on the top floor of the college that, starting in the fall of 2022, there will be a be a Bachelor of Science in Nursing offered exclusively at Loyalist.
For the past two decades nursing students have come to Loyalist for the first two years of their schooling then finished the second half of the joint program in partnership with Brock University in St. Catharines.
In early 2020, just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the province announced that colleges would have the ability to offer standalone nursing degrees without the assistance of a university.
Minister of Colleges and Universities and MPP for Simcoe North Jill Dunlop was on hand Thursday to make the announcement.
“Offering this program in Belleville will introduce the flexibility nursing students may need to pursue this high demand career path locally. It will be an exciting step welcoming the inaugural cohort of students in 2022. Last year when our government introduced this new pathway for nursing education, our goal was to offer more choice for students. Earlier this year our government announced the expansion of nursing education in the province so even more prospective nurses can access the education they need.”
President and CEO of Quinte Health Care Stacey Daub was on hand as well and she spoke about what it will mean to have nursing students coming to and staying in the Quinte area.
“Nurses are the heart and soul of Quinte Health Care and our longstanding partnership with Loyalist is just about to get even better. From my perspective there could not be a better time, so thank you Minster Dunlop and Minister Smith. This fast-tracked investment in nursing and PSWs, PSW is a great example, the investment you made in PSW, we already feel it in the community, it’s already made a difference to our ability to serve our community. The stealth speed that you move this forward and work this through is just so appreciated by me and by our team.”
Loyalist College President Dr. Anne Marie Vaughan said that Loyalist was ready to answer the calls for the labour shortages in nursing with this new program and broke down some of the finer details.
“With today’s announcement we’ll be delighted to be offering 300 new seats to both our Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing over the four year and we are developing a PN-RN bridge program. Empowering us to enhance our existing health care education capacity as we know our powerhouse nursing faculty are excited for this opportunity.”
Students currently enrolled in the joint program between Brock University and Loyalist College will have the opportunity to choose whether they continue their education at Brock or stay at Loyalist to finish the four year degree.
Vaughan said that representatives of the college are exploring the opportunity to further expand programs in a similar fashion at the college in the future.
Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith spoke about the important effect an expansion like this can and will have in the Bay of Quinte area.
“Colleges are really best suited to provide that type of accelerated program. In this case the nursing program is going to provide the full four years of a degree for nurses so they won’t have to go off to other places like south-western Ontario, they’ll stay right here.”
Registration for the program is already generating attention from current and aspiring nursing students, according to Dr. Vaughan.
(Photo: Ryan Peddigrew)
