Prince George, B.C.- CNC’s 11^th class of practical nursing students received their parchment at a convocation ceremony this afternoon in the Prince George campus’s atrium.

 

The 25 students were congratulated by CNC President John Bowman, The Honourable Shirley Bond, MLA, Prince George – Valemount, Minister of Justice and Attorney General and Acting Minister of Finance; Prince George Mayor Shari Green, and Patricia Covington, CNC Dean of Health Sciences.

 

Kristen Morey won the Leadership Award; Amy Smith won the Award of Excellence with a Grade Point Average of 4.11; and Rashpal Bains won the Bedside Caring Award.

 

Seventy-four per cent of the class had GPAs of over 4.0.

 

This is the last time CNC will hold convocation ceremonies in late August. The program has now been increased to two years, due to changes in the provincial curriculum and requirements in the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration exam.

 

The students are just completing practicums at various Northern Health sites, including, Vanderhoof, Burns Lake and Prince Rupert. They’ll write their national licensing exams Sept. 12 and then will be eligible to work in a wide range of settings, from acute care to complex care.

 

While the practical nursing class of 2012 will spend the next few weeks celebrating and writing their national exams, the new intake of 20 students begins classes Tuesday, Sept. 4. It’s a competitive program with only 24 seats available each year and often hundreds of applicants. The faculty includes three full-time instructors with a pool of sessional instructors of LPNs and RNs, who provide clinical instruction.