On September 23, 2022, in the Black Lecture Theatre, we hosted a video premier event from a digital storytelling workshop held with four nursing students in the RRC Polytech BN program. The students were invited to share the digital stories they had created, including their challenges and success with learning to be a nurse during the pandemic. The video workshops and the research were funded by the RRC Polytech STAR grant fund. Four nursing student volunteers participated in the workshops and produced the videos linked below: Brynn Clifford, Lami Omidele, Nengi Shadrack, and Donna (Wenying) Wang.

The Video creation was the final phase in a study conducted by Breanna Sawatzky, Campus Mental Health Specialist, and Kim Mitchell (formerly of RRC Polytech, now Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Manitoba). The study began prior to the pandemic in fall 2019 as a way to test the impact of several mental health interventions on student wellness and resilience. After the pandemic-related shut-down, however, we pivoted the study focus to the entire student body of nurses and conducted several surveys from June 2020 to June 2021. In the fall and spring of 2021, we held several focus groups with faculty and students.

The digital storytelling workshops were held both virtually and in person during the month of July 2022. Special thanks to Deb Gural who gave her support and expertise with WeVideo during the workshops. Breanna, Kim, and Deb all participated in the StoryCenter digital storytelling workshop in preparation for this phase of the study.

The first workshop with the students included topics such as the principles of storytelling, scriptwriting, and use of the WeVideo platform for video creation. We shared the focus group findings with students as inspiration for the video creation, but invited them to tell any story they felt willing to share. The second workshop focused on perfecting their scripts in preparation for recording. We then sent them off to spend two weeks finding images, music, and video clips that would support the telling of their stories. During the third workshop, students shared their rough video edits and worked on editing their videos.

The videos produced are moving renditions of the lives of students learning to be nurses in the midst of a pandemic while navigating parenthood, marriage, jobs, supportive and unsupportive instructors, mental health issues, and English as a second language. Each story is its own unique journey and reflects common issues we heard about from students during the survey and interview phases of the research.

Post written by Kim Mitchell – Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Manitoba

The Sim family is happy to see everyone in person again! It has been an exciting term so far with everyone back in the labs and simulation. In-person simulation is expanding into courses that have not had simulation in the past. Simulation participants (actors) are back and interacting with students, giving them real life experiences. This allows students to have a unique learning experience providing them an opportunity to increase knowledge and skills with increased authenticity.

Virtual simulation continues to be integrated into courses within the curriculum. This allows students to begin transferring their theory to practice. Our research continues in virtual simulation through the CI Can Virtu-WIL grant with new virtual simulations being developed and more opportunity for upcoming paid research participation for students.

The research study that many of the Nursing Students at Red River College Polytechnic participated in will now be published. The link is below, and we thank you for your participation and continued support of furthering nursing research.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876139922000743?dgcid=coauthor

Allyson Cooper & Kim Pinel – Nursing Instructors

Brenda E. Enns would like to send out a special Thank You to all the students who nominated her for the Teachers Award of Excellence 2021-2022. She appreciates and loves her job teaching in the Nursing Techniques lab, and receiving this award shows that her students appreciate her too.

Post created by

Jennifer Johnson

Nursing Lab Manager

Welcome back everyone. I hope that you have had the opportunity to rest, relax, recharge and spend time with family and friends over the summer. The faculty are excited to welcome students back and start to work with you to advance your studies. The past few years have been a remarkable challenge for you. My hope for the coming year with the return to closer-to-normal learning experiences, including a return to campus and in-class instruction, will be a positive experience for you.

Regards,
Patrick Griffith
Chair, Nursing

Welcome back to RRC Polytech Nursing Department. As we transition back to in-class learning in BN theory courses, we are provided an opportunity to build on relationships with instructors and students and to enhance the critical thinking and learning that takes place. I have been smiling as I have enjoyed seeing the faces of both students and faculty at the Notre Dame Campus. All instructors, course leaders, advisors, managers, and support staff are present to guide the educational journey of all students. Please reach out to any of these individuals if you have any questions. Enjoy your time at RRC Polytech and keep smiling.

Keep smiling,
Tracey Fallak
Acting Program Manager – Theory

On behalf of the Clinical instructors and course leaders, we would like to welcome you back for the start of the new academic clinical year. Clinical is an opportunity to practice your skills, assessments and communication; implement critical thinking skills and draw from the theory learned in the classroom. Instructors and course leaders are once again looking forward to ‘walking along side’ your learning and support your development in obtaining all these skills. One of the greatest moments an instructor can experience with a student is what we refer to as an ‘aha’ moment. This is the moment when a student smiles and shares their true understanding of the connection between theory and the application of that theory in regards to their clients’ care. We look forward to seeing those smiles once again and in sharing those moments with you!

My door is always open; please feel free to drop by and share with me your clinical experience.

All the best for the new clinical academic year,
Sandra Holben
Nursing Program Manager – Clinical

Welcome Back Everyone! I hope you all had a restful, relaxing summer and took the time to enjoy! It has been nice seeing everyone back in person this week and hearing the laughter and chatter. I look forward to seeing all of you in the hallways and classrooms and working with each of you.

Take care!
Joanna Simmons-Swinden
Acting Program Manager – Academic Operations

Thank you everyone who came out and participated in this much needed in-person gathering of Amazing Race!

Creativity was had by all at the last challenge, and sorry Patrick but because you left early we had to share your staff’s hard work!

A big THANK YOU to the Teaching Excellence Committee for all the hard work put into this day! Great fun was had by all!

(Kim, Tracey, Carla, Winona, Tracy, Kate (Anna and Jennifer too))

Have a great summer and look forward to new beginnings in the fall!

Blog post created by:

Jennifer Johnson

Nursing Lab Manager

For the past 4 years, Krystal Boyce-Gaudreau has taken part in Career Day at William Whyte School. She presents usually to Grade 7 / 8 students, many of whom come from the disadvantaged, core area households. With a personal connection to this school, as her sister also teaches there, Krystal feels deeply motivated to encourage students to pursue their dreams. Highlighting her career of nursing and a variety of nursing programs is one example of how she hopes to inspire students to pursue their passions and to let them know of supports available to them.

Meet Krystal: An RRC / U of M JBN grad of 2002, Krystal worked as an RN BN at Concordia Emergency until 2013, as well as completing her Masters of Nursing (U of M) in 2013. At this time, she began her career at RRC Polytech where she continued to share her passion and leadership in a variety of nursing instructor roles. Krystal has taught in courses from Pharmacology and Diagnostics to Health Assessment 1 and 2, Discipline 4, and most recently developed and taught an elective on Substance Use Disorders and Nursing Care. During the pandemic, she also helped to develop the Health Care Support Worker micro-credential course, taught vaccine administration, AND picked up shifts in vaccine clinics!

How does a nurse prepare for a Career Day presentation? Krystal developed a 1.5 hour presentation including a Powerpoint presentation, Q & A, and the students’ favourite part … experiential – where students can see/touch/use equipment borrowed from RRC Poloytech’s nursing lab (thanks to Jennifer Johnson). Krystal uses student volunteers to teach about CPR and AED machines using role plays with an adult mannequin torso.  Demonstrating how to take vitals using the oximeter and thermometers, listening to heart sounds with stethoscopes – these are always a big hit with the students.

Some of the main points that Krystal always shares:

1) Her own lived experience and struggles in school and how a great teacher in grade 6 believed in her and helped her. She encourages students to not to let things define or limit them… but to believe in themselves.

2) To educate students about what nurses DO and that we CARE about them. Also, that nurses are great people to seek out for help or support.

3) To encourage, support, and inspire students to dream about their careers and their future.

How do the students react? They are nervous and shy at first but then begin to open up and ask questions like: ”Have you ever seen someone die?…delivered a baby?…how hard was schooling? – how much did it cost? – how much do you make?!” They often want to share their own healthcare / hospital family experiences. The kids are also surprised by how much money nurses make AND they get really excited when listening to their own heartbeats and learning what the heart does.

A few final thoughts:

Feeling motivated to speak to a student or group of students? Maybe plant a seed or inspire a young mind to dream? A couple of tips: when doing a Career Day talk for students, make sure to have fun and ensure the information being shared is at the students’ level. Krystal shares that for her, “nursing is an awesome career with lots of opportunities for you to really pursue any passion and any direction!”

Written by Tanya Cole RN BScN, RRC Polytech Nursing Instructor

In case you haven’t heard, after many years of trial and error, the Province of Manitoba has finally signed a contract for the new IV pumps, and it’s not Baxter! Here at RRC Polytech, we are pleased to announce that we had a great opportunity and have already purchased and received the new B. Braun Infusomat® Space Infusion Pump System to offer training in the fall term to our students.

The province has a plan to start introducing these pumps in small specialized areas first this summer and to have it rolled out to all facilities over the next year. Of course there’s going to be bumps along the way and our students are going to see both IV pumps over this transition period, so we’re ready and going to be teaching them both.

Myrna Davis has been hard at work to incorporate both IV pumps into our program starting in the fall! Better too early than too late! Thank you Myrna for being on top of this big news!

Thank you RRC Polytech for allowing us to be on top of the best teaching possible for our students!

Post created by:

Jennifer Johnson

Nursing Lab Manager

We are pleased to show off the new addition to the Nursing Department: Nursing Lab A330, which will be in use starting in the fall term.

There’s still work to be done over the summer, but it has great bones already and is a work in progress!

Hopefully this will allow our program to expand, especially in the Simulation field.

It will be a 5 bed room with the high hopes of hosting Sim in the upcoming fall term….so new and refreshing!

Post created by:

Jennifer Johnson

Nursing Lab Manager

Congratulations to this year’s award winners! It’s been another different year to say the least and we weren’t able to celebrate as usual with our luncheon, but none the less, the awards were celebrated virtually and in spirit and were well deserved!

The Association of Registered Nurses of Manitoba Medal of Excellence Award – Emma Marie Collins :

This award was established for a graduating nursing student with the highest cumulative GPA and has excelled clinically throughout their program.

Jean Burrows Scholarship – Julie Dow :

Jean Burrows was chair of the Nursing Department from 1974 to 1998. Created upon her retirement, this award recognizes outstanding academic achievement for students at the end of the first year of the BN program.

The Bernice Parrott Award was established to provide financial assistance to a deserving
student after term six of the BN program. This award recognizes the hard work and effort
that all students put forth as they complete the requirements of the program.

Bernice Parrott Award – Emily Pollard, Geraldine Real, Alyssa Sinclair, William (Bill) Gibson, Shannon Bianca Hiebert Sawatzky, Kira Lourenco, Zachary Penner :

Nursing Students Endowment Scholarship – Samantha Thompson, Emma Collins :

These awards were established because of the foresight of students who in 1997 established
an endowment fund. Each student, as part of their tuition fees, contributes to this
endowment fund. In 2001, a portion of this money was dedicated to the creation of these
awards. Since then, the class of 2002 made a sizeable contribution from their own
fundraising efforts.

Nursing Legacy Award – Julie Dow, Robyn Lafreniere, Jaina Cairns, Jamie Harland, Janina Hryndzio, Mallory McIntyre, Emma Collins, Jamie Lytle, Maria Rowena Santos, Gabrielle Greenberg :

This award was established by combining donations from a number of sources.
The Stanton family, the Duncan family, and Phyllis Aaron along with the Nursing faculty have
made substantial contributions. The award recognizes outstanding clinical performance of
students from year one to year three of the nursing program. The Nursing Techniques 3
award recognizes a year one student who excels both in the academic course work and the
performance of Nursing Skills.

Thorey Johnson Nursing Award – Ryan Rempel, Rickie Lucas :

In honour of their mother, Mrs. Johnson’s daughters have established this scholarship to be
presented to a nursing student who has expressed a special interest in rural nursing
practice. The recipient has demonstrated an interest in front line nursing work in a hospital
environment; a high level of skill in the clinical setting, sound academic achievement, and a
caring and compassionate attitude with patients.

Nursing Leadership Award – Brynn Clifford, Inbar Lichtenstein :

This award is for deserving students who have gone above and beyond in support
and leadership of their peers. It was established by the Awards Committee, with
nominations from faculty and peers.

Discipline of Professional Nursing Award – Julie Dow (1 & 2), Kezia Balzer (3 & Research), Emma Collins (4 & 5) :

This award is presented to students for their outstanding achievement in the courses of Discipline of Professional Nursing 1-5.

Mary Langhan Nursing Award – Alyssa Reimer :

This award is presented to a 3rd year student who has demonstrated a high level
of skill in the clinical setting and has expressed a special interest in obstetrics and
gynecology.

Karla Ferens Memorial Entrance Award for Health Care Aide – Hallee Holmlund, John Thomas Sellick :

The Karla Ferens Memorial Entrance Award for Health Care Aide was established
by family and friends in memory of Karla Ferens, a 2011 Red River College
graduate of the Health Care Aide program. The award recipient has displayed the
same accomplishments exhibited by Karla Ferens: Involvement in sports and
leadership qualities.

Community Service Award – Taylor Rizzo-Johnson, Naomi Brodland :

This award is presented to a second and a third year student who has volunteered
for a community agency while maintaining sound academic achievement.

Karen Wall Indigenous Nursing Student Award – Ashley Prince :

This award is presented to a 3rd year student of Canadian Indigenous heritage
who has achieved academic success in the BN program, and has demonstrated
leadership and community service.

Elizabeth Scaife Memorial Award – Iris Alcantara :

This award is presented to a BPIEN (Bridging Program for Internationally
Educated Nurses) student who has demonstrated outstanding academic
achievement and demonstrated exceptional clinical performance.

Christiane Gabrielle Bonin Memorial Award – Michelle Herms

Jaime Manness Hike Manitoba Award – Erica Wilken :

This award is present to a second year student who exemplifies a love for hiking
and the outdoors with good academic standing. The award was established to
honor a RRC alumna and instructor who wanted to share her passion for
Manitoba’s wilderness.

Written by Jennifer Johnson – Nursing Lab Manager
with descriptions of awards courtesy of the Nursing Awards Committee

Amber Moffat shares her experience and insight since graduating from the Red River College/University of Manitoba Joint Baccalaureate Nursing (JBN) Program in 2008:

Where are you now?

I am currently working in Whitehorse General Hospital as a float nurse, clinical nurse leader, and acting clinical care manager. I did my final practicum at WGH back in 2008 and have worked throughout the Yukon since then!

How easy was it to find a job after graduation?

Finding a med/surg job after graduation was quite easy; I found it harder to find the right work life balance. Part-time, full- time, and overtime were all options so I worked hard to find what worked best for me.

How did you manage the responsibility of going from student to nurse?

That was a while ago now…I remember having lots of hot baths with cookies and tea. Actually one of the things I did back then was learn how to knit on night shifts. One of the senior nurses showed me and even to this day, it is one of the ways that I deal with stress.

Thinking back, what were the most important lessons from school that you took into the workforce?

There were a lot of important lessons but one that always stood out to me was a lecture titled “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” and it was a lecture on feeding patients. It’s funny the things you remember.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were a student?

I just recently moved into a different house about a year ago and when I was going through my belongings I found a letter to my future self that I wrote when I was doing a particularly challenging clinical placement. In that letter I wrote to myself asking if I was ever going to belong in a place like this (hospital); if I would always just be focusing on tasks or if I would ever actually be able to help people. I am currently the acting clinical care manager of the med/surg unit at WGH and I sometimes bring this letter out to show new grads who may be going through something similar. Being a student and a novice nurse is only a season and soon you’ll look back and see that it was only a moment!

Thank you Amber for sharing your experience and words of wisdom!