Bilingual LPN program answers stated need in community
The historic role of nurses providing medical assistance in addition to the traditional tender loving care (TLC) will soon be available in Saskatchewan in both official languages.
Collège Mathieu, Saskatchewan Polytechnic and the University of Regina last year signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) committing them to working together in support of nursing and health related French-language educational programs. As part of that, the Collège will begin offering a two-year bilingual licensed practical nursing (LPN) program this coming fall.
The only such program in the province, it is in response to a stated need in the francophone community, says Francis Kasongo, CEO of Collège Mathieu, and follows in the footsteps of the college’s successful continuing care assistant program. “We’ve been running this program, and students and francophone community expressed a need to step (up) to the LPN program and bilingual registered nursing (RN) program at U of R. The LPN program is responding to community need that was expressed a few years ago,” he says.
Founded in 1918, the collège offers post-secondary certificates and diplomas in a variety of programs, including trades, as well as non-credited programs, continuing education, basic literacy and various customized training. With its campuses in Gravelbourg, Regina and Saskatoon, and online and on-site courses, Kasongo estimates there are a total of between 700 and 800 students attending some form of Collège Mathieu classes each year.
While there are courses on a range of topics —the collège also works with Tourism Saskatchewan for example to provide customer service training to francophone employees in the tourism sector — it is likely the health care sector where people can be most vulnerable and patients whose first language is French may be at a disadvantage. “We have seen that in the past when people are sick or they are getting old, and may need the health sector, they want their first language, and the best way to provide care is in their first language,” says Kasongo.
The LOI that was signed last fall brings the three institutions together in support of a continuum of French-language/bilingual nursing and health programs, including continuing care assistant, practical nursing and registered nursing to help meet the demand for bilingual health care providers. “This collaboration allows access to greater health-care services, but it also contributes to professional fulfillment for any French language natives and francophiles who are planning to build a career in health,” Kasongo said in the news release announcing the agreement.
In addition to working with the province’s other post-secondary institutions, and the already noted collaboration with Saskatchewan Tourism, Kasonga says the collège also partners with other organizations. “We have signed different MOUS. We are working with the national network with a focus on post-secondary education in French,” he says. The new LPN program has a relationship with Moose Jaw Hospital for clinical training, and there are also programs delivered right at the worksite in conjunction with various companies. “Combining everything, our goal is to train francophone or francofile people by providing different programs for credit or related to professional development across the province,” Kasonga says.
It’s these kinds of collaborative efforts that Kasongo says is key to the continued success of the collège, and the province. “It is important, the collaborative approach, because around the world institutions have to work together. There is an economy of scale in working together,” he says.
The net effect, Kasonga says, is a workforce that is highly capable – in both official languages. “We are playing a very key role in developing a workforce, improving employment for the citizens of Saskatchewan. We are providing to the employment market people who are well skilled, people who are well trained,” he says. And that makes sense in either official language.