A notable first

Dal Nursing students at work (Nick Pearce photo)

Sixty years after Dal's School of Nursing admitted its first class of 15 registered nurses into a one-year diploma program, the School has become a crucial part of the region's health system. At Monday’s convocation ceremony, the school saw 127 students awarded their Bachelor of Science (Nursing) and 14 who received their Master of Nursing. And something entirely new –not just for Dalhousie, but for the entire region – was the three students crossing the stage to receive their PhD in Nursing.

Andrea Chircop, Faye Rutledge, and Brenda Sabo were the first graduates of a program that prepares nurse scholars to provide leadership to advance nursing knowledge, nursing theory and practice, and health policy through research.

“The implementation of this program begins to address the shortage of nurse scientists and nursing faculty members who can meet the increasing demand for educating the future nurses in the Atlantic Region and Canada,” says Ruth Martin Misener, Associate Professor and Associate Director, Graduate Programs, with the School of Nursing. “Doctorally prepared nurses are also needed to assume leadership roles in government to direct health care reform and in institutional and community settings to design and implement innovative management practices that improve health care delivery.”

The program was launched in 2004 and remains the only doctoral program in nursing in Atlantic Canada.