Last minute opening leads to lifetime in healthcare field

Frank Watt, Alumni, Class of 1980

If you had asked a 37-year-old Frank Watt what he was going to do with his life, he probably would not have predicted a career in nursing. Some 43 years later though, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

As a young man growing up in Alexander, Manitoba, Watt would act as a driver for his elderly neighbours while they were going back and forth to the Assiniboine Centre (a long term medical centre attached to the Brandon Regional Health Centre) for various treatments. He attests that this action and what he saw during that time was a life altering moment for him.

“I found during my trips with them that sometimes families or the staff would get busy and leave the patients alone for long periods of time. They needed companionship and care and I felt I could provide that so that is what inspired the path for me.”

After a collection of odd jobs here and there, Watt first entered the healthcare field in the summer of 1975, mostly due to the fact he had recently been laid off from another job.

“I did everything from driving a taxi to working as an orderly” recalled Watt. “Over the summer of 1975, I worked as an orderly. In November of that same year, they called me back because somebody quit so then I stayed on as an orderly for another 3-4 more years.”

Working at the Assiniboine Centre, Watt got a feel for what a career in nursing might be like, but it was that aforementioned act of kindness for his neighbours that ultimately would point his life’s compass toward becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN).

Watt began his time as a student at Assiniboine College in 1980 through an initiative of Manpower (later called Employment Insurance), and some unconventional circumstances. He applied in the late summer for the Practical Nursing program but was placed on a wait list as the program was full. As chance would have it though, a few weeks into the program, a a last-minute spot opened up.

Being a mature student was new for Watt, who had already spent time in the working world and had a family at home.

“It was a new experience for sure. I think there were about 25 of us in the class, and they split our class in half so each group would work in a different area…I kept in touch with a few of them after graduation.

Following that graduation, Watt returned to work at Assiniboine Centre, where he worked his entire career before his retirement five years ago at the age of 75.

It is often said that nursing is a calling, and Watt’s career and the calling of nursing also shaped his life in other ways―he met his wife Elaine, who worked as an administrative assistant at the old Assiniboine Centre, during his first tenure at the facility.

“It helped that she knew people,” he said with a chuckle. “My wife knew most of the staff there. She didn’t have much to do with nursing, but she knew who they were”, which helped Watt connect when he entered into the nursing field after his time as a student. Elaine went on to work with the Parks branch and MGEU before her retirement.

So many stories of Assiniboine College graduates are inter-generational. For Watt, his family connection continues to this day―his granddaughter Amanda Dorscheid joined the college staff as a Student Recruitment Specialist in 2022. Generations removed from her grandfather’s experience as a mature student in Practical Nursing, Dorscheid now works to inform the next generation of students about the possibilities at Assiniboine. And she keeps her grandfather updated from time-to-time about the current happenings at the college.

“He is very interested in how the program has changed after so many years, and we had a really cool opportunity to bring him in recently to see the program spaces first hand,” said Dorscheid. Along with that tour, Watt was presented with an alumni pin by former Alumni Association Coordinator, Lisa Huston.

In his retirement, Watt continues to care for family and spend time in his flower beds. He lives a simple life in retirement and shared that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

When asked about words of wisdom for students getting into the profession, Watt summed it up like this: “You have to want to help people. For the most part, they will appreciate it and that means a lot”.