Home‑field advantage

There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. It can foster camaraderie and teamwork, challenge your creativity, help you discover hidden talents, and be a lot of fun. At least that was the thinking behind the first Atlantic Nursing Games.

Last weekend, Dalhousie played host to over 90 nursing students from our own School of Nursing as well as from the programs at Cape Breton University, St. Francis Xavier University, and Memorial University. Dal’s students have previously attended nursing games at schools in Quebec and Ontario, but decided it was time for Atlantic nursing schools to have something of their own closer to home.

“It can get expensive to go to nursing games out of province and we have such busy schedules due to clinical studies,” says Shana Vidito. “It’s difficult to take the time off to go elsewhere, so we thought why not host our own here.”

Shana and Jessi Janes, both first-year students in the accelerated (two-year) nursing program, took on the challenge themselves and sent out invitations to all the nursing programs in Atlantic Canada.

Besides the friendly competition, the weekend involved lots of networking opportunities for the students. Each participating university was invited to send a team of 20 students to participate and showcase their athleticism, academic abilities, creativity, and nursing pride in various competitive challenges such as dodgeball, team dances, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, educational trivia, and a simulation lab.

“As nurses, you’re always working as a team,” says Shana. “We do it every single day, we’re always working as a team, always supporting, trusting and looking out for one another, so it’s been really nice to foster that nursing spirit over this weekend. It’s nice to see that happen in a different context, outside of class or work.”

The event was open to students in any year of their undergraduate program, as well as those in accelerated nursing programs. Third-year Cape Breton University student, Kathleen Chafe, thinks the event can shine a great spotlight on the profession and encourage more socialization not only between schools but also within them.

“I think it generates a lot of interest in nursing, for people who might not necessarily have thought about it before,” she says. “It’s also been a good way to get to know students from your own school in the program, because you don’t always get to see people from other years of your program. You just stick with your year, and it encourages people to come out of their shells.”

While the end goal was to bring together students from across the region for a weekend of fun, there was also school pride on the line with points awarded to the winners of each event. In the end, the Dal team was the big winner with St. FX placing second.

“It’s been a really great weekend,” says Meara Singh, a first-year student in Dal’s accelerated nursing program. “It’s nice working with the other schools and forming connections with other nursing students so we can share our experiences. It’s an event I’d really like to see happen again so we can continue this networking.”

This is exactly what organizers Jessi and Shana want to see. They’re hoping this was the start of an annual event and that the participating universities take turns hosting it. It’s a great way to give each of the teams home-field advantage and allow the students to visit other parts of the region.

“We’re hoping that more teams will join from different universities, and it will become an even bigger event that nursing students can look forward to every year,” says Shana.

“Seeing it all come together this weekend, and seeing everyone having fun is so rewarding,” says Jessi. “This event has helped us create a big Atlantic nursing family, which is a huge accomplishment.”

For more information about future Atlantic Nursing Games, stay connected with the Dalhousie Nursing Society on Facebook.