Academic News

Wilma Schroeder, RN BN MMFT is course leader for the Family Nursing course here at Red River College, and is co-chair of the International Family Nursing Association (IFNA) Communications Committee. On March 18, 2015 the committee presented a free webinar related to IFNA’s upcoming conference.

Wilma Schroeder MMFT BN

Wilma, along with co-chair Dr. Janice Bell and committee member Dr. Wendy Looman, presented on the topic of social media, its benefits, and how conference participants can use it.

The webinar, titled “Tweet, Post and Chat: Maximizing Your Conference (IFNC12) Experience Through the Use of Social Media” was attended online by family nurses around the world. The webinar is now archived on the IFNA website at http://internationalfamilynursing.org/webinars/

Commencing January of 2015, all RRC BN Graduates write and pass a national computer adaptive test (NCLEX) in order to be licensed to nurse in Canada. Brittani Rainkie, 2014 Graduate of the BN program was among the first Canadian candidates to write the NCLEX in early January. She generously agreed to describe her experience about the process and shared some tips on how to prepare for the NCLEX exam so that this information could be posted on the RRC Nursing Blog.

Writing the NCLEX Exam

Brittani described being nervous on the day of the exam. Not so much about writing a computer based exam. Nervousness was due to the “high stakes” of the exam outcome, her license to practice being the goal. She felt more anxious when she was in the test environment as there were high security measures in place. For example, each candidate had to have their palms scanned, their pictures taken and their clothing checked prior to entering the testing room. Brittani felt she was prepared for some of these measures but not others. She had prepared by reading all the information available to licensing candidates on the College of Registered Nurses (CRNM) website.

Brittani also told us that the environment that she wrote the exam in was intimidating. There were glass walls surrounding the test room and cameras monitoring the candidates at every step of the process. She told us that the computer screen will prompt you after a specified time that you are eligible to take a break but you do not have to take a break if you do not need one. The test room seats several writers at a time (in her session there were 6 people writing at the same time) and it can get noisy. She was able to hear the typing of the other candidates and the moving of the mouse to answer questions. Candidates are offered earplugs to eliminate some of this noise. Candidates also receive a white board to jot notes on, do calculations etc… She also told us that when the computer analyzes that you have completed the exam the screen will go blank and a message will appear telling you that the exam is over.

Preparation Tips

Before attempting to write, Brittani recommends that all candidates gather as much information as possible from all sources well in advance of their exam date. She began her preparation early in her Senior Practicum. She did a thorough search of the CRNM website for all information available on the Canadian NCLEX and felt this did help her to know what to expect. She utilized an online resource with computerized NCLEX style questions, testing herself frequently during the weeks prior to her exam date. Brittany felt this was an excellent opportunity as several of the questions on the actual exam were very similar to those she had practiced. The opportunity to practice answering the various types of NCLEX questions was invaluable. For example, in addition to multiple choice questions there were drag and drop questions, priority ordering questions, audio and video questions and many “select all that apply” type questions on the exam.

Brittani also utilized a NCLEX Preparation text book that tested her knowledge, but more importantly gave her valuable strategies to successfully write the exam. Some of these strategies included looking at what the question was actually asking, eliminating distractors based on wording in the question, and distinguishing what type of question was being asked (application, knowledge, and analysis).

Things Brittani suggests exam candidates not do, include: do not try re-reading all your notes from the 3 years of nursing education; do not buy more than one reputable text book to prepare to write the NCLEX. She reiterated that it is important to start practicing NCLEX style questions well before the date on which the exam will be written.

Brittani successfully demonstrated her knowledge in her first writing of the exam. Brittani is currently employed at HSC Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg and is a role model for the students completing their Pediatric rotation. Students and faculty of the RRC BN Program congratulate Brittani on her success and thank her for sharing her experience with us.

Cindi graduated from the BN program in 2013 and shares a bit about her journey through senior practicum and into the role of Registered Nurse:

“I landed my first RN position in the float pool at Children’s hospital. More than a few nurses cringe when I tell them that I really enjoyed the work. To some, it’s a daunting thought to not have a “home”, but as a new RN I had not favoured a particular patient population yet and this gave me the opportunity to use my full range of skills with medicine, surgical and emergency patients. If you are a “go with the flow” type of person who enjoys a dynamic day, this may be a great job to start with to find your niche.

Currently, I work at Children’s Hospital in the pediatric intensive care unit. I have been here since April 2014, and have learned so much from the job and the great team I work with.

In the future, I plan to return to northern nursing. The experience I had during senior practice was unreal; like nothing I experienced during school or even now as an RN in the hospital. I found myself working with a wide variety of patients: children, older adults, chronic health issues, sexual health counseling, well babies, pre and post natal care, emergency care, and even medevacs. Getting to know the members of the community and seeing them at their best and worst, you really make a connection”.

Cindi also shares a bit of what she learned along the way that she wished she had known while she was a student:

“I wish someone would have told me how long it can take to be hired within WRHA. I was lucky enough to complete my senior practice in a northern nursing station (which was the best experience!). However, this left me without my foot in a Winnipeg hospital door. I was one of the last to secure a job after graduation- 3 of the longest months of my life; I applied for 63 jobs. My friends and family were very supportive, but nothing had prepared me for the disappointment I frequently felt during that period”.

And her words of wisdom and encouragement as current students venture forth:

“Ask questions…a lot of them…especially in your first few months. Maybe this isn’t the case for every unit- but I’ve worked on every unit in Children’s Hospital, and I have never received a negative response to asking questions.

I learn something new every single day. There is so much to know and things change quickly. It’s important to be flexible, and open to new information”.

Roberta Hansen, Graphic Design 2011, Graphic Design Advanced 2012 won a Juno this week in the category, Recording Package of the Year. The project was the 25th Anniversary box-set and campaign for JUNO Award winning singer/songwriter Steve Bell’s latest album, Pilgrimage – See more at: Juno Awards.

The faculty of Red River College’s Baccalaureate of Nursing Program recently met the challenge to collect gently used or new children’s reading or activity books to donate to Knox Healthy Start Program in honour of “I Love to Read Month”.

The challenge was issued by Dianne Brown (BN Curriculum Coordinator) and Luanne Hill (course leader Community Health 2). This is the second collection drive of the school year in which the Faculty of Nursing Program is supporting the Healthy Start for Mom and Me Program. As posted in a previous blog, our first drive was in November when we collected warm clothing to support the participants of the program and a third drive is planned for April when we will be collecting clothing more appropriate for Winnipeg’s warm weather (yes there is warm weather coming for Winnipeg!).

Luanne’s course has used the Knox Healthy Start for Mom and Me Program as one their clinical sites for the past several years. Knox Church Healthy Start is run by Healthy Child Manitoba. This particular Healthy Start site is geared towards Health Promotion of new immigrant women and babies. Participants meet each week and attendance is approximately 70-90 adults at a time. They have over 17 translators on site for each of their language groups to provide interpretation of the health messages provided. The site sets up a table of give-away items including warm clothing, children’s books and toys, which is very popular. The books collected by faculty were dropped off by Susan Care (see photo) and her clinical group and were gladly received by our partners at Knox.

RRC Faculty is proud to support this valuable community resource!

Tuesday, February 10th saw the 82 students graduate from the second graduating class of the Bachelor of Nursing program and 84 students graduate from the Health Care Aid program.  It was an exciting time for students to celebrate their achievements in front of their friends and families.

We wish the new graduates all the best in their new careers and look forward to seeing how they will be influencing nursing practice in the years to come.  Congratulations to all the RRC graduates!

Department of Nursing Graduates seen with their apricot hoods.

Registration is now open for our Technology Camps this May!  The Girls Exploring Information Technology Camp is on Tuesday, May 5; and The Day in the Life of a Business Information Technology Student Technology Camp is on Wednesday, May 6 or Thursday, May 7.

The Technology camps are free to attend.  See the Technology Camps page on this blog to register.

Please click on links below to learn about the Manitoba RN Network.

Manitoba RN Network 1

MAnitoba RN Network postcard

Join us Saturday February 28 for our 13th annual Art at the Forks Fundraiser. We’ve mixed things up this year. Students will be working on pieces all day Friday and finishing up Saturday.  Viewing starts at 6 pm Saturday followed by a Wine and Cheese reception at 6:30. The Auction starts at 7 pm. Tickets are $10 and includes a sample of wine and cheese.
Come out and support our students. Tickets available during the day and at the door..

The students and instructors of RRC’s Industrial Arts Teacher Education program in cooperation with Bonnie Heath of Equality Communication Centre of Excellence (ECCOE) designed and crafted a metal and glass display that will be featured at the Raw Almond Restaurant on the Assiniboine River from Jan 22 – Feb 12, 2015.

The display-project provided an authentic learning opportunity for students in the program. Not only where they able to put their designing, manufacturing, finishing and project management skills to the test, they also gleaned a sense of pride knowing that they were contributing to a worthwhile community activity. While at the Raw Almond Restaurant, the display will serve as a collection site for financial contributions to a 4 million dollar housing unit that will be designed to meet the needs of the Deaf-Blind individuals.

Anyone wishing to make a charitable contribution to the housing project fund can contact Judy McGuirk, of the Teacher Education Department at jmcguirk@rrc.ca or mail a contribution to the Resource Centre for Manitobans who are Deaf-Blind (RCMDB) Housing Project
228 – 285 Pembina Hwy
Winnipeg Manitoba, R3L 2E1