By Cheryl Jahn

New nurse-training process could aid the North

Apr 20, 2022 | 4:06 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Great first steps. That’s how the Acting Chair of UNBC’s School of Nursing describes yesterday’s announcement with respect to loosening restrictions around bringing internationally-educated nurses into the BC health care system. And there are already a number of candidates in the North.

“The reason that we can really think about it in the North is the fact that what we do already have here is quite a large community of already-trained health care nurses who have struggled to get their accreditation in BC,” says Dr. Caroline Sanders, Acting Chair of the School of Nursing at UNBC.”

BC’s most recent labour force survey indicated the need for an additional 26,000 nurses by 2030. In February, the Province announced 602 new nurse-training seats, but that won’t address the looming shortage. This announcement will help.

“So we need to expand those seats in every education facility that teaches nursing,” says Aman Grewal, President of the BC Nurses Union. “And increase the number of nurses that are going through the system.”

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UNBC has six different nursing programs – some general, some specialist – accommodating more than 400 students. And the program is gaining in reputation with students coming from out-of-province to attend UNBC’s Nursing Programs. And it could stand to grow.

“We’re definitely growing more in the North. And we have some good works to really unpack that a little bit more. So we’re working on that,” says Dr. Sanders. “And also I’m really keen to grow and nurture the opportunities, that have been supported by the ministry, to bring some Indigenous scholars to the forefront.”

As a British-trained nurse herself, Dr. Sanders knows all of the current challenges of getting certified to practice in BC, having to make multiple trips to the Lower Mainland for assessment after assessment. But why couldn’t those assessments be done in Prince George, with several nurse-training programs and in the hub of the region?

“So I’m hopeful that some of this finance will liberate some of that. Because it really is about making sure there is a program that is sufficiently supported by faculty, that we’re able to deliver, that is credible, that will be able to then allow us to have these already-existing RN’s that are in our population return to the workforce.”

She says if the program for getting nurses back into the profession for which they have been trained can be made less convoluted, it will be an excellent recruitment tool for the likes of Northern Health.