Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question asked by Ms. Lee on June 18, 2002, regarding the Aurora College Nursing Program.
The Aurora College Student Record System began to record nursing access applications and acceptances in 1999. Prior to 1999, nursing access students were registered as adult basic education students.
Applicants must meet the academic entry requirements for admission. The qualified applicants who are admitted to the program, less any no-shows, register and are recorded as full-time or part-time enrolments. Students are admitted to nursing upon completion of the access program, or by direct entry into year one. Attrition in the first semester of year one is made up in the second semester by returning students who are completing coursework, or by certified nursing assistants or licensed practical nurses who receive advance credit for the first semester.
Students must complete all coursework before they can enter the final practicum. This is a supervised semester-long work experience practicum. Upon successful completion of the final practicum, the graduates must write and pass the Canadian Registered Nurses Examination before they can register to practice. Only graduates who have passed the national examination are eligible for nurse registration with the Northwest Territories Registered Nurses' Association. In three of the first five graduating classes, 1996/97 through 2000/01, all of the Aurora College graduates who wrote the national examination passed, and in four of the five years, their success rate exceeded the national average pass rate.
There have been 72 graduates of the Nursing Program in the first six graduating classes. A total of 147 first-year nursing students entered these classes, for an overall graduation rate of 49 percent. The majority of the graduates are now working as nurses in the NWT.
The college student records system does not keep records of home community for students who apply and are accepted. This information is available only for students who enrol in the program. The majority of students list Yellowknife as their home community, when it is in fact their place of residence.