Academic News

Abstract: At the early stages of startups development they need to change. They must change and adapt to the market. As the young entrepreneurs learn more about their business, their market, and their customers they need to incorporate that knowledge into their business plan. The business plan at that stage of development in the author’s opinion is a dynamic document that keeps evolving until it reaches a state of maturity. And even then there is a level of adaptation takes place based on the changes in the market, technology and other external factors like policies and regulations. On the other hand most of our funding and startups help programs assume all applicants to be at the final state of maturity (there are few programs target the early stages of development) which put young startups at a great disadvantage and they are automatically disqualified in being part of these programs. The author believes that this requirement is just a filtering process to make sure that funds are allocated to mature ideas where there is a higher probability of success. This model is working to a degree, but the question is how many good ideas are disregarded due to the lack of support or the environment to foster them. Many young startups especially in the IT field fail to continue beyond their first year due to the lack of support regardless of the idea. Young entrepreneurs will have to go back to the job search engines to start new career and abandon their ideas no matter how good they are. In this article the author will suggest a model on how post-secondary educational institutes can build that support in their programs and help new entrepreneurs reach the level of maturity to be qualified for other programs. The author will demonstrate that with an experiment conducted by the department of Accounting and Computer Education at Red River College. The author proposes the utilization of the co-op and project terms offered by many programs to help entrepreneurs’ idea cross the gap between the moment of the inception of that idea and the point when they are qualified for other programs.

Date of Publication: October 2015

Author: Haider Al-Saidi

(Read Full Text PDF)

Manitoba Health’s Office of Disaster Management (ODM), in conjunction with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) of Manitoba, hosted a full scale disaster management health exercise on September 18th 2015. The exercise, titled Turbulent Sky, simulated a multi-organizational response to a plane crash.

Among other organizations, 55 third year Nursing students and 5 instructors from Red River College participated as part of their Inter-professional Practice course. The students joined the response to the simulated plane crash of Flight 725 at Winnipeg’s James Armstrong Richardson International Airport.

The Nursing students were able to experience an Interim Medical Treatment Facility (IMTF), through its setup and efficient triage and treatment of patients. The simulation allowed students to observe and practice effective communication and information sharing between response agencies.

The students collaborated with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Emergency Medical Services Branch (EMBS), Manitoba Materials Distribution Agency (MDA), Manitoba Health’s Office of Disaster Management (ODM), Manitoba’s Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Red Cross, Salvation Army, Winnipeg Airport Authority (WAA), Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS), as well as representatives from the airline industry and students from Criticare and Brandon University’s Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies. The organizations worked together in their response to the simulated crash.

The Nursing department is proud to have participated in this health exercise. The experience was incredibly positive for the students as they put the theory of Inter-professional communication into practice.

The Turbulent Sky health exercise will continue to inform Nursing students. Currently, a Disaster Management virtual simulation is being developed. The project, similar to Nursing’s Journey North virtual simulation, will allow students to virtually experience the multi-organizational response to the Turbulent Sky plane crash. The project is being produced in conjunction with eTV, who was on hand to record footage of the health exercise.

Red River College’s Nursing faculty are committed to the furthering of nursing, health, and education innovation. From attending conferences to conducting and disseminating research, the department continually strives for professional development and modeling the importance of research and scholarship to students.

Nursing instructor, Wilma Schroeder BN MMFT, recently attended and presented at the 12th International Family Nursing Conference: Improving Family Health Globally through Research, Education, and Practice. The conference was held in Odense, Denmark from August 18th to 21st.

Wilma, along with Janice M. Bell from the University of Calgary, Wendy Looman from the University of Minnesota, and Kris Isaacson from St. Cloud Technical and Community College, presented four aspects of the topic Leveraging Social Media to Create a “Tipping Point” in #familynursing. The four presenters are all members of the IFNA Communication Committee, with Wilma and Dr. Bell being co-chairs. Their presentations explored how social media can be used in family nursing education, practice, and research, as the presenters discussed what is currently happening in social media and how it can be applied to promoting the work and ideas in family nursing.

The conference was a wonderful experience, Wilma related. She reiterated how there was literally something for everyone. “Even if you don’t call yourself a family nurse, you’ll find something relevant to your area of interest.” The conference was filled with excellent information and research from around the world. With 458 participants from 31 countries, Canada being the fourth largest group, the conference was truly international. Wilma talked about how exciting it is to see family nursing growing world wide. She relayed what a great experience it was to be a part of the conference with so many nurses dedicated to family health. She said one of her biggest excitements was meeting people whose work she uses in her own teaching, once again reinforcing the connection between education, practice, and research.

To learn more about the conference and the International Family Nursing Association, click on the image below to view their position statements on family nursing education and competencies.

The Public Relations Committee would like to thank Wilma for sharing her experience and promoting the importance of scholarship and connectedness with the global nursing community.

The idea of Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) is not new, it’s been around for quite some time. It may not be a real position in a firm or educational institute. Matter of fact, there are few variations to the function of this “position” depending on the firm or the institute. Here, I will focus on our implementation which is still in the experimental phase, never the less it produced so far an excellent results. The Accounting and Computer Education (ACE) department at Red River College (RRC) requires that students do an industry project as part of their education. The projects are typically provided by industry partners (usually well established organizations). They are real projects with specific outcomes. The students and faculty work on the projects and deliver the results by the end of the term. This year ACE wanted to open the door to young organizations in their early stages of development. An entrepreneur with a sound idea can qualify to be the Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) who will work directly with faculty and students to further develop the idea and change it to a real product. The investment to create this “position” is just a desk and safe environment where the Students, Faculty, and the EIR can brainstorm to transform the idea into something that is of benefit for everyone. The results were phenomenal, we can judge by the response of the students who took just a bare idea and in a short time transformed it into a product that can be displayed and demonstrated to the world. The interaction between the EIR and students was something of great interest, first this direct interaction taught the students how to be innovators themselves. Second, the EIR demonstrated first hand to the students how to pursue the path of being independent and how exciting to have a dream. There are other accomplishments achieved beside the academic goals that must be achieved as part of the students development in this term.

The overall experience was wonderful, we can say that in a short period of time with the help of an EIR we created more entrepreneurs with more ideas.

Date of Publication: October 2015

Author: Haider Al-Saidi

Andrea graduated in 2015 and here she shares her experience working as a RN in a rural setting:

I am currently working in rural nursing at Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach on the Surgery and Obstetrics Unit. I am absolutely loving every moment of rural nursing as the skills that you get to use are immense! I was hired out of my Senior Practicum at the end of May 2015. I was fortunate to successfully write my NCLEX the first time in July.

Andrea also offers some words of encouragement for our current BN students:

Don’t be so hard on yourself! You can and you will make it through nursing school, even if it may not feel like it sometimes! Just look back at where you’ve came from and how far you’ve made it. Your hard work will pay off in the end, I promise! Ask questions if you are unsure about something; there are no dumb questions. Always remember to really get to know your patient as a person and not for the disease that they have; it will definitely pay off in the long run when building that therapeutic relationship that we all learned so much about in nursing school! Good luck in your studies and I look forward to having you all as my colleagues in the near future!

Well said, Andrea!

Karen graduated with the 2015 class and is preparing to write the NCLEX. Here she shares a bit about her journey through senior practicum and into the role of employed Nurse!:

I completed my senior practicum on WRS3 (postpartum unit at Women’s Hospital) and I got a position following its completion. I am currently working as a grad nurse right out of school making great money at last!

Karen also offers some insight for current BN students about the transition from student to actively employed Grad Nurse:

I’m so glad I picked a senior placement in a hospital setting that hires their new grads. I have many friends that did their practicum in public health or the OR and it is incredibly tough to get jobs in those areas as new grads. I just wanted to start working right away.

The RRC Nursing Public Relations committee thanks Karen for her submission and wishes her all the best in her journey as a professional nurse!

Red River College Nursing Program Awards Presentation 2015

Congratulations To This Year’s Award Winners

Jean Burrows Scholarship  – Allison Hay : Jean Burrows was the Nursing Dept. Chair from 1974 to 1998 and upon her retirement this scholarship was created for a 1st year student recognizing their outstanding academic achievement.

Nursing Students Endowment Scholarship – Emily Lapp, Ashley Jahns, Candice Plett, Kari Feilberg : This award was established from students who, in 1997 as part of their tuition fees, contributed to this endowment fund.  In 2001, a portion of this money was dedicated to the creation of these awards.  The class of 2002 also made a sizable contribution from their own fundraising efforts.

Bernice Parrot Award – Emily Taylor, Kaitlin Nakonechny : This award was established to provide financial assistance to a deserving student after term six in the BN program to recognize their hard work and efforts.

Nursing Legacy Award- Jackie McAuley, Miranda Martens, Shannon Gray, Erin Dahl, Victoria Cammarata, Candice Plett, LaDawn Dyck, Melissa Walker, Starr Wiebe:

This award recognizes outstanding clinical performance of students.

Thorey Johnson Nursing Award – Helene Kreker : In honor of their mother, Mrs. Johnson’s daughters have established this scholarship for a nursing student who has expressed a special interest in rural nursing practice.

Nursing Leadership Award – Laurie Chan, Jennifer Russell :
This award is for deserving students who have gone above and beyond in support and leadership of their peers. This award was established by the awards committee, with nominations from faculty and peers.

Discipline of Professional Nursing Award – Alexa Fraser, Emily Lapp, Darlene Mary Jackson : These awards are presented to students for their outstanding achievement in the courses of Discipline of Professional Nursing 1-5.

Mary Langham Nursing Award – Starr Wiebe : 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.

Community Service Award – Tricia Tyerman, Meagan McRae :
This award is presented to second and third year students who have volunteered for a community agency while maintaining sound academic achievement.

Karen Wall Aboriginal Nursing Student Award – Jennifer Russell :This award is presented to a 3rd year student of Canadian Aboriginal heritage who has achieved academic success in the BN program, and has demonstrated leadership within the Aboriginal community.

Dean of Business and Applied Arts, Graham Thomson trying the Google Cardboard

On October 6th, 2015, the President and CEO of Red River College, Mr. Paul Vogt visited the BIT/BTM Project Space. He was given a tour of the project space as well as an introduction to the various projects being developed there under the guidance of BIT Space Development.

The chair of the Accounting and Computer Education department, Haider Al-Saidi, presented his vision for the future of the project space and his hopes that the project space will continue and grow and be the host for more innovative ideas and a way for Red River College students to learn valuable skills in a real world project environment.

Haider Al-Saidi presenting his vision for the BIT/BTM Project Space

Thursday, December 3, 2015  |  5 – 8 pm
Exchange District Campus, 160 Princess St.
William Building, Main floor, A104 Lecture Hall

Graphic Design is holding an information night for students, parents and high school staff who would like more information about admission to our program. No need to register. Presentations will be run at 5 pm and 6 pm. After the presentation we invite you to:
• tour the facilities,
• meet with instructors, enrollment staff and current students,
• ask questions about the entrance portfolio and see samples of work.

Download a pdf of the invitation RRC_GDinvite2015

For more information contact:
Diane Livingston, Program Coordinator
at dlivingston@rrc.ca

Student Life App

Team Members: Jie Chen, Fiona Grant, Samara Hoffmann, Skye Valde

Goal: Support students’ decisions when coming to Red River College by presenting pertinent information and leading them through a process of LIFE (Living, I [as in me], Finances, and Employment) self-assessment so they can consider how ready they are for college life.
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