Local students interested in pursuing a career in nursing can now stay at home to pursue their professional goals.
On Wednesday, St. Peters College and USask College of Nursing celebrated the first intake of Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSN) students in Muenster with a formal signing of the agreement.
With this agreement, students have the chance to complete their undergraduate nursing degree without having to relocate.
In their first year, students will take their first year of classes at St. Peter’s College and then apply to the USask College of Nursing to complete their years 2-4 of the nursing program in Muenster.
Previously, students would have to relocate to the main USask campus in Saskatoon or other distributed nursing sites to complete their education.
USask College of Nursing Dean Dr. Solina Richter says the partnership between the USask College of Nursing and St. Peter’s College is an example of the College of Nursing’s “learn where you live” philosophy.
“We believe if we go out to the community, we deliver quality nurses professionals into the communities, where the students will stay in these communities and contribute to the shortages, in particular in the rural and remote areas.”
Along with the comfort for students to enroll in the Bachelor of Nursing Program without having to relocate, Richter noted the partnership between the USask College of Nursing and St. Peter’s College provides an economic benefit as well.
“It’s cheaper for the students to stay in the community, it makes nursing education a lot more affordable for them and also housing at St.Peters (College) is so affordable for our students, it only contributes to their financial piece of their education.”
Richter said to make this partnership possible, the College of Nursing had to perform an assessment to determine how students can enroll in the Bachelor of Science Nursing program at St. Peter’s College.
In the first year of the program, 11 students are enrolled in the program and Richter noted that is currently the maximum capacity of the program.
She added that they are looking forward to celebrating the first group of students completing the program as a part of the Class of 2027 Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates from the St. Peter’s College distributed nursing site.