September 28,1996 For Immediate Release

At a meeting in Quesnel this weekend, the University of Northern British Columbia Board of Governors gave approval to a new joint four-year Nursing program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing awarded by UNBC. The College of New Caledonia Board has already given the new program its approval.

The Northern Collaborative Baccalaureate Nursing Program is offered collaboratively between CNC and UNBC and provides entry to practice in the nursing profession as Registered Nurses (RN). Graduates of the program will be well-grounded in acute care, rural nursing, community health, and First Nations Health, and will be prepared for the changing context of health care delivery. More than 1200 hours of clinical work are provided for within the curriculum.

Initial planning began in 1991 by the northern colleges. In collaboration with northern health care employers, faculty from UNBC and CNC completed the development of the innovative curriculum designed to meet the changing health-care demands in northern BC. "The present Diploma Nursing program is not meeting the expanded demands of the health care system," says CNC Health Sciences Division Chair Melba Holm. With the phasing out of nursing programs at all northern BC colleges, this new collaborative program will be the only one north of Kamloops where students can enter the nursing profession.

"Employment trends in the North indicate a growing preference for nurses with bachelors degrees and for nurses who can function in rural and remote health care facilities," says UNBC Nursing Chair Martha MacLeod. Evidence supports the claim that nurses educated in the North, stay in the North. More than 85% of CNC graduates surveyed between 1987 and 1993, for example, were working in northern BC.

Resources, such as the libraries, and teaching will be shared between CNC and UNBC. The program is expected to enroll 40 students per year.

Martha MacLeod, Melba Holm,faculty, and students will be available for questions andinterviews at theNorthern Interior Health Unit at 1:30pm on Monday, September 30th.

For further information, contact:
Dr Martha MacLeod, Program Chair of Nursing, UNBC 960-6666
Melba Holm, Health Sciences Division Chair, CNC, 561-5841
Judy Jackson, Public Relations, CNC 561-5869
or Rob van Adrichem, Media Officer, UNBC, 960-5622

Background Information

Northern BC Health Statistics and Implications
for Nursing Program

The Northern Collaborative Baccalaureate Nursing Program has been designed to respond to the particular health needs of northern BC. Some of the characteristics include:

• The four northern BC health regions form a larger land mass than all of the remainingBC health units combined. The population densities of the northern regions, however,are the lowest province-wide.
• In 1995, the Northern and Rural Task Force commented that the mental health ofindividuals in northern regions may be influenced by the prevalence of certain factorsin rural areas: poverty, high unemployment rates and cyclical work schedules, lack ofearly intervention services, little or no crisis management capabilities, and loweducational rates.
• The leading cause of death in the North between 1985 and 1989 was heart disease, as itwas province-wide. The ranking of the second and third causes of death, however,differed. For example, motor vehicle accidents were a greater cause of death in theNorth than in the province as a whole.
• Teen birth rate, low birth weight, and the number of motor vehicle accidents in northernBC exceed the provincial average.
• There is a higher proportion of First Nations people in northern BC than other regionsof the province. The Assembly of First Nations has identified HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis,diabetes, and suicide attempts as the critical health problems facing First Nations.

The health status of people living in northern BC, coupled with geographic issues, requires that this new baccalaureate Nursing program provide a unique focus for students. Specific course content that reflects the realities of northern health issues includes family violence, tuberculosis, trauma, cardiovascular health, accident prevention, alcohol abuse and detoxification, social supports, smoking cessation, and prenatal health.