Assiniboine Nursing Dean recognized by Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority

Assiniboine Community College’s Dean of Nursing, Suzanne Nicolas, has received a Community Leadership Award from the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority (IERHA).

Nicolas joined the college in 2018 and has been an instrumental leader for Assiniboine’s Practical Nursing program. She helped establish the School of Nursing at Assiniboine and has guided a significant expansion of Practical Nursing programs across Manitoba.

“It is a tremendous honour to be recognized for this award. I think it speaks to how important nursing is to our province, and how Assiniboine continues to be a provincial leader in delivering nursing education,” says Suzanne Nicolas, Dean of Nursing at Assiniboine. “Our graduates are serving the communities they live in; they are having an impact on the health of their region and are committed to good healthcare outcomes in Manitoba. This award reflects all those efforts and I’m honoured to celebrate that.”

By recognizing the need for education and training close to home, Assiniboine’s Practical Nursing program has been a key support in Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority’s approach to meeting their needs. Most recently, Assiniboine hosted a rural rotating Practical Nursing site in Arborg, with intakes in January 2021 and September 2022. The Interlake-Eastern RHA was able to hire 16 graduates from the first intake, with more set to enter the nursing field as they graduate from the second intake this spring.

“Since 2010, Assiniboine has offered the Licensed Practical Nursing program more than 10 times in the Interlake-Eastern region in Ashern, Selkirk, Pine Falls and Arborg,” says IERHA CEO, Marion Ellis. “This award recognizes Suzanne Nicolas for her commitment to providing locally accessible education opportunities within the region.”

The college has permanent Practical Nursing programs in Brandon, Winnipeg, Dauphin, and Portage la Prairie in addition to hosting rural rotating Practical Nursing sites across the province. Upcoming rural sites will be hosted in Beausejour, Morden, Otterburne, Virden and Neepawa. Applications are open for all rural sites as well as Brandon and Winnipeg for January and September 2024 and some January 2025 intakes.

Find out more about available intakes, locations and applications at assiniboine.net/nursing.

The demand for Assiniboine nursing graduates continues to be high; 100 per cent of practical nursing graduates surveyed from the 2021-22 academic year said they had jobs, making on average more than $57,000 a year.