Humber College expands opportunities for nursing students

Apr 14, 2021 | News

Humber College became the first public college in Ontario to offer students a four-year Bachelor of Nursing Degree.

The continuing threat of COVID-19 highlights the importance of doctors and nurses, and the college added new technologies to guarantee proper practice for enrolled medical students.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford attended a lab presentation on March 17 to review some the renovated medical laboratories while announcing the new stand-alone degree, which was officially approved March 4.

The college previously a joint program with the University of New Brunswick

“I applaud the President and CEO of Humber, Chris Whitaker, for his leadership as Humber blazes a trail for the benefit of everyone in Ontario,” Ford said during his tour at Humber. “I couldn’t be more pleased and prouder of what this program means to our hospitals, long-term care homes, public health units and everyone in Ontario.”

The first cohort of students will be starting the Bachelor of Science nursing degree program in September 2021 with a limited capacity of around 35 to 40 students in class,

“The pandemic has reminded us all just how invaluable our frontline nurses are as they work incredible hours to care for our sick and most vulnerable,” Ford said in a prepared statement.

“We need more of these health care heroes, which is why it is so important for colleges like Humber to lead the way by offering our students more choice, while maintaining excellence in nursing education,” he said.

Students will be required to complete four years of studying to get the degree. The price will range from $7,386 per year for domestic students to $19,807 for international students.

“This degree will prepare students for healthcare careers through our signature polytechnic mix of career-focused theory and hands-on learning,” Whitaker said.

The remodeled patient care suites have new mannequins that simulate the human body and allow students to practice vital skills, including measuring the pulse and listening to different lung sounds.

“Considering the COVID-19 aspect, we are lucky to have proper mannequins to practise,” said second-year Nursing student Sofiia Danysh. “They let us master skills we can’t practice on people with all the restrictions.”

Danysh was one of the students who took part in the presentation for the premier.

“Five students from my program were selected to demonstrate the new labs, and I think we did a good job,” she said.

Humber students will now have their opportunities expanded with the remodeled nursing labs and an eight-semester Bachelor program. They will be applying their knowledge both in simulation labs and health-related agencies.

“The need for high quality nursing education has never been more apparent,” Whitaker said.