Nearly 70 new Assiniboine nursing graduates this month

May is a great month for Manitoba with 69 new nursing students graduating from Assiniboine Community College.

Last week, 16 students graduated from the Enhanced Aboriginal Practical Nursing program that was based in Southport, Man. First Nations and Métis students in that program came from a number of communities including Dakota Plains First Nation, Dakota Tipi First Nation, Long Plain First Nation, Swan Lake First Nation, Sandy Bay First Nation, Roseau River First Nation and Ebb & Flow First Nation.

Today, 34 graduates received their parchment in Winnipeg, having studied at the college’s Winnipeg Training Centre. Tomorrow, 19 more will formally graduate in Portage la Prairie after the two-year rural rotating nursing site that ran in Southport, Man.

All three cohorts began their studies in September 2016. Graduates will now need to write and pass their licensing exam in the coming weeks and months in order to work as licensed practical nurses (LPNs).

Since 1975, more than 3,500 individuals have graduated from nursing programs offered by the college. In the past five years alone, Assiniboine has delivered its Practical Nursing program in nine communities across Manitoba including Peguis First Nation, Deloraine, and Pine Falls.

In addition to the permanent nursing programs offered at the college’s campuses in Brandon, Dauphin and Winnipeg, Assiniboine has a rural rotating site currently running in Melita, Man.

The demand for Assiniboine nursing graduates is high; 100 per cent of graduates surveyed from the 2016-17 academic year said they had jobs, making on average $54,121 a year.

Graduate LPNs secure careers in hospitals, personal care homes, medical clinics, private agencies and the community. With some advanced preparation, some entrepreneurial LPNs are even choosing to start their own businesses.

[Pictured above: students from the Enhanced Aboriginal Practical Nursing program in Southport]