The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
All 26 students who completed a nursing course in Flin Flon last year have passed their exams and are now ready to put their skills to practise. And at least 10 graduates of the LPN course, which was offered at Ruth Betts School through Brandon-based Assinaboine Community College, have secured employment in their chosen field. "The course has had a huge impact, and I think a very positive one," said Marlyn Fehr, one of the instructors. The nursing students held their graduation ceremonies shortly before Christmas but had to wait until January 14 to write the exams that would qualify them to enter the health care field. When the results came back that all students had passed, Fehr was pleased but far from surprised. "It just indicates the type of commitment that these people had," she said. "The course was crammed into 15 months and there was a lot of content. I think the icing on the cake is to see 26 out of 26 passing." Fehr noted that nine of the students have already been hired to work in The Pas, which has had to deal with a nursing shortage. Another graduate has lined up work in his hometown of Pukatawagan. Others are in the process of looking for work or preparing to upgrade their education even further. Fehr said that LPN courses typically have a dropout rate of 20 per cent, but the local course had just one student who did not complete, just a four per cent attrition rate. "The students were at a level where they knew what they wanted to do, and I guess some of the success also goes to the instructors for fostering an environment that motivated the students," commented Fehr. The LPN course began in October 2002 and wrapped up last month with the exams, written at St. Ann's Hall under the supervision of the College of Licensed Practical Nurses. Although the LPN course was offered through Assinaboine Community College, none of the instruction used distance education methods. All instructors are local residents, most of whom are still employed in the health care field. With a professional on hand to answer their questions, the students spent their days in class or taking one of their practicums at a local health care facility. To accommodate the course, one vacant room at Ruth Betts was converted into a well-equipped training area complete with hospital beds and medical dummies. The students also made use of a spacious classroom that doubles as a meeting room for the Flin Flon School Board. See 'Courses' P.# Con't from P.# Assinaboine Community College regularly rotates nursing courses to different communities throughout the province. Graduating were: Darren Bolme; Lyn Bradt; Linda Chute; Anna-Beth Clark; Sherryl Downey; Patricia Feuerstein; Eunice Gustafson; Cheryl Hanna; Julia Hiebert; Janice Jackson; Angeline Jerome; Michelle Korte; Meri-Jo Moran; Debbie Murphy; Debra Olfrey; Duane Pelly; Lisa Quick; Tracy Shoemaker; Roxane Stadnick; Sharalyn Strom; Sheri Tait; Trudy Taylor; Shauna Trueman; Terry Tulman; Carmen Weseen; and Brenda Zagrodney. The two full-time instructors of the course were Marlyn Fehr and Dawn Nowlin. The part-time instructors were Tricia Sattleburger, Meryl Ramshaw, Marg McNeill and Karen Leifso.
