Image Credit: Shutterstock
February 20, 2022 - 12:07 PM
Thompson Okanagan universities and colleges will see additional nursing spaces added to their rosters in the coming years.
The Ministry of Health announced 602 new nursing seats have been added to post-secondary institutions across B.C. adding to the current 2,000 spots.
“The new seats include 362 registered nursing seats, 40 registered psychiatric nursing seats, 20 nurse practitioner seats and 180 licensed practical nurse seats at 17 public post-secondary institution,” according to a press release from the Ministry of Health, Feb. 20.
As part of this expansion, new seats will support health-care assistants who want to train as a licensed practical nurse (LPN), and LPNs looking to move into a career as a registered nurse (RN).
The province provided $5 million to public post-secondary institutions in 2021-22 to begin the expansion of nursing seats throughout the province.
The University of British Columbia, Thompson Rivers University and UBC Okanagan had additional students in September 2021, with new and expanded intakes.
The new seats include: 15 registered nursing seats at UBC Okanagan with the first intake in September 2021, 10 registered nursing pathways for LPNs in 2021 and 15 nurse practitioners in January 2023 for TRU, 48 HCA-to-LPN laddering for Okanagan College starting in January 2023, and 18 HCA-to-LPN laddering starting in the Fall of 2022 at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2022