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.
On the heels of success in Flin Flon, Assinaboine Community College is now offering a licensed practical nurse training program in Thompson. Close to 30 students representing some 25 First Nation communities are enrolled in the course, which began on January 19. "There's a real need in the North for nurses and a really desperate need in the First Nation communities, especially, to have nursing professionals," said Gerald Brashfort, vice-president of enterprise development for the Brandon-based college. The course is slated to wrap up in January 2006, when the students will write the national exams required to enter nursing. Last month, all 26 students who completed an Assinaboine Community College nursing course in Flin Flon passed their required exams. At last report, at least 10 graduates of the LPN course, which was offered at Ruth Betts School, had secured employment in their chosen field. Brashfort said the college tries to offer LPN courses in Manitoba when and where they are required. "When we'd be back in the North depends on the demand (for nurses), and I see the demand as being quite high," he said.
