Colleges Ontario argues the province should allow colleges the ability to grant nursing degrees
PHOTO: FLICKR USER COD NEWSROOM (CC BY 2.0)
A recently released report by Colleges Ontario, Opening Doors to Nursing Degrees: Time for Action argues that colleges in Ontario should be allowed to offer stand-alone nursing degrees.
According to the report, “colleges should be authorized to offer high-quality, four-year baccalaureate degrees that are recognized as meeting the requirements for entering the nursing profession. This change will make it possible for colleges to play a large and distinctive role within a long-term provincial strategy for sustaining and renewing the health human resources workforce.”
The Sally Horsfall Eaton school of nursing at George Brown College (GBC) confers bachelor of science nursing degree for students as part of a collaborative program with Ryerson University and Centennial College, and according to Paula Mastrilli, the chair of the collaborative nursing program at GBC, that will not be changing anytime soon.
Calling the collaborative nursing program an example of how partnerships between post-secondary institutions can be successful, Mastrilli says that GBC does not want a stand-alone nursing program.
“George Brown supports the continued delivery of the BSCN degree through our collaboration,” confirms Mastrilli. “I believe the existing collaborations like ours have the capacity to increase enrollment in order to meet the increased demand for nurses which are predicted for the future.”
Mastrilli explains GBC’s reasoning, saying that “George Brown College, Centennial College and Ryerson University have a long history of attracting both students and faculty from diverse communities within and outside of the GTA. Our collaborative BSCN program is reflective of the diverse communities we serve and this diversity adds to the strength of our program and our graduates.”
Karen Horsman, manager of communications and media relations for Colleges Ontario, says, “we have provided compelling research and background to support the argument for the right (of colleges) to offer the stand-alone nursing degrees.”
The independent study conducted by R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. investigated institutional intentions and the capacity to offer stand-alone nursing degree programs.
The study found that implementation plans ranged from one to four years and could be started as early as this year.
Recognizing the existence of these implementation plans, Colleges Ontario is working to make them a reality.
“There have been on-going discussions with the Wynne government about the issue of stand-alone nursing degrees. The government has been engaged with the colleges on the issue and have asked numerous thoughtful questions,” said Horsman. “We (Colleges Ontario) are currently waiting for further consultations with the Ontario government on the matter of stand-alone nursing degrees.”
