{"id":94216,"date":"2024-11-05T16:29:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T21:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=94216"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:31:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:31:28","slug":"innovative-new-nursing-program","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/innovative-new-nursing-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton University Launches Innovative New Nursing Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton University Launches Innovative New Nursing Program\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Ontario’s health-care system is stretched thin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The province has an aging, diverse and growing population with complex needs. A lack of family doctors means people often don’t receive preventative treatment. And data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information reveals that Ontario needs 26,000 additional registered nurses (RNs) to catch up to the RN-to-population ratio in the rest of Canada \u2014 a gap that has widened by three per cent since 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s good news, then, that Carleton is launching a new nursing program<\/a> in September 2025, in partnership with Ottawa’s Queensway Carleton Hospital<\/a> (QCH). Designed to send graduates into the workforce swiftly to address the shortage, it also promises to transform how nurses care for patients \u2014 a huge step toward modernizing health care in Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“I’m thrilled to be here at Carleton University as we announce Ontario’s first new nursing program in 25 years,” Premier Doug Ford<\/a> said at Carleton on Nov. 5.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“As we invest $50 billion in more than 50 new and upgraded hospital projects across the province, we’re also investing in the health-care workforce Ontario families are counting on. Today’s announcement is part of that ongoing work, which includes the largest medical school expansion in over a decade, so we can continue connecting more people in Ontario to convenient care close to home.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Premier Doug Ford attends the launch of Carleton University’s new nursing program on November 5.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the \u2018Theory to Practice’ Gap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The province’s first new university nursing program in more than 20 years is compressed into three years and includes early and frequent clinical placements, starting in the first semester of the first year. This will address what program director Danielle Manley calls the “theory to practice” gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People learn really well when we can connect classroom sessions to a meaningful human interaction,” says Manley, an RN and nursing educator who worked at QCH before joining the university.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“Nursing programs are rigorous, so when classes get hard, the clinical side can be a motivator. Students link classroom concepts to experiences they’ve just had with a patient.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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