Nurses, faculty concerned about closure of Regina nursing program campus
Concern is being expressed over the discontinuation of the University of Saskatchewan’s Regina nurse training program.
New students are not being accepted to the program and the Regina campus will close in 2024 once the current class graduates. The Regina faculty is feeling disheartened.
“We feel that we are going to lose a lot of hard fought ground in terms of our clinical placements and opportunities for learning in the Regina and surrounding areas,” Kathy Rodger, an associate professor with the University of Saskatchewan, said.
The campus has room for over 100 nursing students but only half the seats were filled this fall.
The University is expected to redistribute the Regina training seats through a new campus in Lloydminster and other unspecified locations. Graduates of the Regina program believe it will make nurse recruitment more difficult in the south.
“Men and women take their training from the southern part, that they like, to stay in the Regina area and that they’ll often come back to these rural areas to nurse,” Trina Korbo, a nurse, said.
One former student who left the Regina program believes the U of S would do well to focus on its Saskatoon campus.
“One of my girlfriends who was in the program in Regina had transferred over to the Saskatoon campus and she said that it was completely different there,” former student Ashley Dick said.
NDP leader Ryan Meili is critical of the move.
“We have a nursing shortage. We are going around the world asking people to come here and do nursing. We’ve got Saskatchewan people who are ready, able and willing to be trained. Let’s keep those spaces open,” Meili said.
Regina will retain another nurse training program through the U of R and Sask. Polytech and the provincial government is satisfied that the total number of training seats in the province will remain the same.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.