News Archives: GPRC Nursing Program Has Global Connections
Thursday, November 21st, 2019
From L to R: Tara Yurychuk (GPRC), Melissa Bell, Madison Banfield (Holmesglen) and Kathryn Stickel (GPRC) in a GPRC Nursing lab.
GPRC hosted two second-year nursing students – Melissa Bell and Madison Banfield – from Holmesglen Institute in the city this semester as part of an ongoing research partnership between the two schools.
This initiative began in 2017 when GPRC instructors Teresa Evans and Sheila Elliott travelled to Australia. In 2018, two colleagues from down under were in Grande Prairie. Plans call for two GPRC students to head to Australia next May.
With the new regional health and education in Grande Prairie expected to be complete in 2020, GPRC is building a partnership with Holmesglen to share opportunities for research and education. Both institutions have hospitals on college-owned property. A significant element of the partnership is faculty and student exchanges.
Bell and Banfield earned the opportunity to travel all-expenses-paid to Grande Prairie and observe the Nursing Program by writing a 500-word essay and participating in an interview.
“This travel experience is amazing and the opportunity to go to another country and see how their healthcare system works and how the students study there is priceless,” says Bell.
“Who wouldn’t apply? The whole experience has been great,” adds Banfield.
They have both returned to school in Australia and are spreading news about life and nursing education in Canada.
“I will keep studying hard and share the experiences that we had. We will let students at home know about Canada and recommend other people apply.”
The two emphatically stated they would love to return to Canada. They were delighted their time in Alberta provided a wide range of learning opportunities.
Banfield says visiting the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital was of particular interest.
“The hospital experience was probably the favourite part for both of us. We were placed in areas of interest for us, which was really good. We also had a weekend trip to Banff, which was definitely a highlight.”
Bell says they were able to pack a lot into three weeks.
“We were in quite a few classes. Sitting in our GPRC classes and just following them throughout the week to see how students learn was very interesting. We also got to spend a few shifts at the hospital which was absolutely incredible, and that was an amazing experience, and then lots of sightseeing in between, which was also good fun.”
There are some notable difference between being enrolled in nursing at GPRC and its counterpart in Australia.
At GPRC, there is a 56-student intake, as opposed to approximately 600 students in two nursing programs at Holmesglen.
Vanessa Sheane, Chairperson, Department of Nursing Education & Health Studies, says the exchange allows students and faculties from both schools to learn how medical practices and learning occur in various parts of the world.
“An overall goal is just that,” she explains. It’s different ways of learning nursing and how nursing is structured, and just observing healthcare in general. There are a lot of comparisons between Australia and Canada with the histories in the Commonwealth, for example. But it’s interesting when you get into the nursing field how it’s different.”
Sheane notes that degrees in Australia are three years, compared to four in Canada. In this country, students undergo a license exam to become a registered nurse and that’s not required in Australia, which has private and public healthcare. In Canada, healthcare is a public system.
“For the nursing students, it’s great for the Australians and Canadians to see the differences for themselves, experience it for themselves,” Sheane says.
“There’s been a lot of talk between GPRC and the Holmesglen students like, ‘what do you guys do for this? ‘Oh, that’s interesting, we do this’ kind of thing. It’s just that overall learning and getting a bigger picture of global citizenship.”
Timing and other logistics of the initiative continue to be worked on. May works best for GPRC students since they don’t have classes during that month. Australian students, meantime, study during the summer and get time off in six-week chunks.
Visiting and travelling students and staff have not been the only ones to learn as a result the initiative.
GPRC host students Tara Yurychuk, a second-year student, and Kathryn Stickel, in third year, also found the experience valuable.
“It was really interesting,” says Stickel. It’s cool to see how they do things versus how we do things. They were really nice people to have around. It’s also really cool to have someone you know across the world, especially in your profession.”
Yurychuk jumped at the opportunity to have a counterpart from across the globe stay with her.
“It was really nice to make some friends. They invited us to stay with them whenever we want! A favourite part was having them go to class all day and then asking them, ‘how was your day?’ and then having her tell us how different it is from her stuff at home.”