FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2020
YELLOWKNIFE, NT – Aurora College is inviting residents of the NWT to help celebrate our nursing students and faculty during National Nursing Week, May 11-17, 2020.
This year’s theme – Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Nursing the World to Health – is especially poignant in 2020 as the world has watched nurses bravely take on various leadership roles on the front lines of the COVID-19 response, putting their own health and safety at risk to help and save others. Standing alongside Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses on the front lines are Personal Support Workers, who perform hands-on daily care for our most vulnerable citizens.
This year’s graduates are entering their professional careers during an unprecedented situation. In addition to the normal course work, practicum and clinical experiences, and national and College exams, they took on extra responsibilities supporting the territory’s pandemic response. Students became COVID-19 screeners at hospitals and primary health care facilities, were support workers at various facilities, and provided support wherever requested by the health care system.
During National Nursing Week, Aurora College’s School of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be holding several virtual events for students, graduates, and faculty. These will include announcing the recipient of the Preceptor of the Year Award, and of the Academic and Clinical Excellence Award, which is presented by the Registered Nurses Association of NWT and Nunavut to a graduating Bachelor of Science in Nursing student.
This year, 39 students are expected to graduate from the School of Health and Human Services at the College: Bachelor of Science in Nursing – 22; Personal Support Worker Certificate – 9; Practical Nursing Diploma – 3; Post-graduate Certificate in Remote Nursing – 3; and Community Health Representative Certificate – 2. Including the 2020 cohort, Aurora College has seen more than 350 nurses and more than 180 personal support workers graduate from its programs. The majority of those graduates have remained in the north, and have consistently provided first-class care to their clients. Aurora College graduates are working in every hospital, health care facility, and long-term care home in the territory, as well as in the majority of NWT communities.
Aurora College’s HSS programs could not provide the level and quality of education they do without the continued support of our many partners, including our preceptors (experienced nurses who serve as mentors and role models for students); the hospitals, health care facilities and long-term care facilities that provide practicum placements; the various professionals and Elders who share their wisdom through guest lectures and on-the-land experiences; and our partner in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program – the University of Victoria.
The World Health Organization has also designated 2020 as Year of the Nurse and Midwife in honour of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.
Applications are being accepted for Aurora College programs that begin in this fall. Apply online at www.auroracollege.nt.ca
Quotes:
“Aurora College is incredibly proud of the
students and faculty in our Nursing and Personal Support Worker programs for
the way they have contributed to the response to the pandemic. Their
professionalism, caring and commitment, especially during this challenging
time, is inspiring.”
– Andy Bevan,
President, Aurora College
“Our students have shown such adaptability and resiliency during this time of uncertainty – they are our leaders of the future. I encourage students to embrace their new learning and use their voice; we know they are ready to shine.”
“Our small and mighty faculty is willing to tackle whatever is ahead for providing excellence in education – they lead our students by example and are absolutely awesome!”
– Jodi Brennan, Chair, School of Health and Human Services
— 30 —
Aurora College delivers academic upgrading, trades and industrial training, certificate, diploma and degree programs to more than 3,000 full and part-time students at three campuses, 21 Community Learning Centres and other community sites in the Northwest Territories. Community-centred post-secondary programs reflect Northern culture and the needs of the Northern labour market. Aurora College’s research division, Aurora Research Institute, conducts, supports, and licenses research in the NWT. Research centres are located in in Inuvik, Yellowknife and Fort Smith.
For more information, please contact:
Jayne Murray
Manager, Communications & College Relations
Aurora College
Phone: 867-872-7021
Email: jmurray@auroracollege.nt.ca