The University of Saskatchewan College of Nursing created the country’s first Aboriginal nursing program, the Native Access Program to Nursing (NAPN), in 1985, when there were only 35 Aboriginal baccalaureate-prepared nurses in Canada. The program began with a nine-week spring orientation to nursing, modeled after a similar program provided by the Native Law Centre. In 1997 however, the access program model gave way to a focus on local recruitment directly into the nursing program and retention to graduation through advising and support. NAPN remained the most successful program in the country for recruiting Aboriginal nursing students, with 29% of all Canadian Aboriginal nursing students studying in Saskatchewan.

When the College of Nursing moved from a two-provider model to an indirect entry Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program in 2012, it was time to re-examine the NAPN program and its name. After extensive consultations with community stakeholders and students, the College of Nursing decided upon a new, aspirational name to describe the services it offers to its Aboriginal students at its six sites across the province: La Ronge, Ile-a-la-Crosse, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Regina and Yorkton. The University of Saskatchewan Community of Aboriginal Nursing - or UCAN for short – will officially launch on March 13th.

The core of UCAN has been and will continue to be student support and advising, and the College of Nursing has been able to attract a student body that is 15.4% self-identified as Aboriginal. But the new program will also see the College look upstream, by offering services aimed at getting Aboriginal students through the high school science requirements and through the pre-professional year of Arts and Science; and downstream, by offering a mentorship program with the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada that aims to see successful nursing students become successful Registered Nurses as they transition to the workforce.

“We’ve never had a problem attracting Aboriginal students to nursing,” said College of Nursing Dean Lorna Butler. “Where we’ve had challenges, is in getting them successfully through the door with some of the tougher prerequisite courses. We’re now putting more resources into science and math success at the K-12 level, including easy access to bursaries for tutorial support in high school chemistry and math for rural Aboriginal students.”

“We know how important it is for Saskatchewan’s health care system to be representative of the people it serves. UCAN will position us to get to where we need to be as a province, by offering Aboriginal students a pathway into the College of Nursing and then out into the health care workforce.”