NSCC to add Mi’kmaw nursing cohort
Nova Scotia will make healthcare training more accessible to Mi’kmaw learners next year.
As part of a goal to provide a diverse range of care in communities across Nova Scotia, aspiring practical nurses can learn as part of a Mi’kmaw cohort at the Pictou campus of the Nova Scotia Community College starting in the 202324 academic year.
“We’re so pleased to be working closely with Mi’kmaw leaders and community members to create a custom learning experience that will help more Mi’kmaw learners achieve their career goals,” Advanced Education Minister Brian Wong said in a release.
“This is an important part of our responsibility to answer the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action and increase the number of Mi’kmaw and Indigenous professionals working in health care.”
The program will be open to 30 Mi’kmaw learners from across Nova Scotia and falls under the 120 new practical nursing seats the government announced for NSCC in July. This brings the number of practical nursing seats to 390 per year, on average.
Cohort-based learning allows a group to learn and work their way through a course or a series of courses together, offering a supportive style of learning that helps students succeed.
“Not only do we need more licensed practical nurses across our health-care system, we need more of them who can also provide culturally responsive care to Indigenous communities and others,” Health Minister Michelle Thompson said. “In our vision, health providers from all communities are respected, valued and heard. That’s why every effort to support this cohort will be made and I wish them every bit of success.”
Curriculum for the new Mi’kmaw nursing program is in the early stages of development and will be a customlearning experience developed with a Mi’kmaq and Indigenous lens.
Representatives from Mi’kmaw Kina’matenewey, Tajikeimɨk, NSCC, the Dalhousie Indigenous health care in nursing team and the Nova Scotia College of Nursing will all contribute.
Karla Macfarane, the minister for L’nu Affairs, called it a positive step to incorporate Mi’kmaw ways of knowing into health care in response to the need to strengthen communities across the province.
Elizabeth Cremo, education director at Eskasoni First Nation, said the program is a wonderful opportunity to create health-care professionals within our communities.
“Cohort-based programs have long been identified as a best practice for student success,” Cremo said. “It is very exciting to see more programs work within our communities to provide these valuable learning experiences that work to the strength of our learners.”
Jill Provoe, academic vicepresident for NSCC, said the interest and commitment from so many within the Mi’kmaw community in support of this new section is a recipe for success for the program and the individuals who apply.
“As a college, we know that offering a cohort with a culturally responsive educational experience founded on Indigenous perspectives, theory and practice will help attract more individuals from the community to the field,” Provoke said.
‘I can’t wait to see this program launch so we can train a new group of health professionals so needed in this important caring sector.”
The government announced in 2021 that all nurses graduating from Nova Scotia’s universities and NSCC for the next five years will be offered a job in the province and in July 2022, the government announced the 200 new nursing seats at postsecondary institutions.
Eskasoni is also offering prerequisite courses through Cape Breton University’s School of Nursing.