Academic News

For the past 4 years, Krystal Boyce-Gaudreau has taken part in Career Day at William Whyte School. She presents usually to Grade 7 / 8 students, many of whom come from the disadvantaged, core area households. With a personal connection to this school, as her sister also teaches there, Krystal feels deeply motivated to encourage students to pursue their dreams. Highlighting her career of nursing and a variety of nursing programs is one example of how she hopes to inspire students to pursue their passions and to let them know of supports available to them.

Meet Krystal: An RRC / U of M JBN grad of 2002, Krystal worked as an RN BN at Concordia Emergency until 2013, as well as completing her Masters of Nursing (U of M) in 2013. At this time, she began her career at RRC Polytech where she continued to share her passion and leadership in a variety of nursing instructor roles. Krystal has taught in courses from Pharmacology and Diagnostics to Health Assessment 1 and 2, Discipline 4, and most recently developed and taught an elective on Substance Use Disorders and Nursing Care. During the pandemic, she also helped to develop the Health Care Support Worker micro-credential course, taught vaccine administration, AND picked up shifts in vaccine clinics!

How does a nurse prepare for a Career Day presentation? Krystal developed a 1.5 hour presentation including a Powerpoint presentation, Q & A, and the students’ favourite part … experiential – where students can see/touch/use equipment borrowed from RRC Poloytech’s nursing lab (thanks to Jennifer Johnson). Krystal uses student volunteers to teach about CPR and AED machines using role plays with an adult mannequin torso.  Demonstrating how to take vitals using the oximeter and thermometers, listening to heart sounds with stethoscopes – these are always a big hit with the students.

Some of the main points that Krystal always shares:

1) Her own lived experience and struggles in school and how a great teacher in grade 6 believed in her and helped her. She encourages students to not to let things define or limit them… but to believe in themselves.

2) To educate students about what nurses DO and that we CARE about them. Also, that nurses are great people to seek out for help or support.

3) To encourage, support, and inspire students to dream about their careers and their future.

How do the students react? They are nervous and shy at first but then begin to open up and ask questions like: ”Have you ever seen someone die?…delivered a baby?…how hard was schooling? – how much did it cost? – how much do you make?!” They often want to share their own healthcare / hospital family experiences. The kids are also surprised by how much money nurses make AND they get really excited when listening to their own heartbeats and learning what the heart does.

A few final thoughts:

Feeling motivated to speak to a student or group of students? Maybe plant a seed or inspire a young mind to dream? A couple of tips: when doing a Career Day talk for students, make sure to have fun and ensure the information being shared is at the students’ level. Krystal shares that for her, “nursing is an awesome career with lots of opportunities for you to really pursue any passion and any direction!”

Written by Tanya Cole RN BScN, RRC Polytech Nursing Instructor

In case you haven’t heard, after many years of trial and error, the Province of Manitoba has finally signed a contract for the new IV pumps, and it’s not Baxter! Here at RRC Polytech, we are pleased to announce that we had a great opportunity and have already purchased and received the new B. Braun Infusomat® Space Infusion Pump System to offer training in the fall term to our students.

The province has a plan to start introducing these pumps in small specialized areas first this summer and to have it rolled out to all facilities over the next year. Of course there’s going to be bumps along the way and our students are going to see both IV pumps over this transition period, so we’re ready and going to be teaching them both.

Myrna Davis has been hard at work to incorporate both IV pumps into our program starting in the fall! Better too early than too late! Thank you Myrna for being on top of this big news!

Thank you RRC Polytech for allowing us to be on top of the best teaching possible for our students!

Post created by:

Jennifer Johnson

Nursing Lab Manager

The Applied Commerce and Management Education department is excited to present the 2022 Virtual Awards Ceremony to be held on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. CST. Our students have had to adapt to a changing environment, while maintaining a high standard of academic achievement and they deserve to be recognized!! Many of these awards would not be possible without the steadfast support of our donors and we are so grateful for their continuous support.

Please visit www.facebook.com/redrivercollege on June 8 to honour and recognize our students for their tenacity and hard work. If you miss the scheduled time, don’t worry, this presentation will be posted after the event is over to watch at your convenience.

Congratulations again to all award recipients!

We are pleased to show off the new addition to the Nursing Department: Nursing Lab A330, which will be in use starting in the fall term.

There’s still work to be done over the summer, but it has great bones already and is a work in progress!

Hopefully this will allow our program to expand, especially in the Simulation field.

It will be a 5 bed room with the high hopes of hosting Sim in the upcoming fall term….so new and refreshing!

Post created by:

Jennifer Johnson

Nursing Lab Manager

Sprint to Innovate – The Innovation Challenge presented by City of Winnipeg was a great success.  Student teams worked on their chosen challenge from Friday, April 8 to Sunday, April 10.  Each team was given 7 minutes to present the solution to their challenge.

Our judges, Wendy Yan (Futurpreneur), Brent Wennekes (Protein Industries), Tyler Gooch (City of Winnipeg), and Lawrence Lazarko (formerly Manitoba Public Insurance) had a tough decision deciding between the 17 teams that would win our four prizes.

This event was established by Tech Manitoba, RRC Polytech, and the University of Winnipeg’s Faculty of Science.
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In DMD, we teach DSLR cinematography: you’ll learn camera settings, composition, lighting and audio. Here are some samples of students integrating motion graphics into their video production. The goal here was to focus on composition, movement, natural light, colour correction, and designing motion tracked graphics. Once students have mastered basic camera and lighting, we move on to advanced digital filmmaking techniques with a focus on storytelling.

Congratulations to this year’s award winners! It’s been another different year to say the least and we weren’t able to celebrate as usual with our luncheon, but none the less, the awards were celebrated virtually and in spirit and were well deserved!

The Association of Registered Nurses of Manitoba Medal of Excellence Award – Emma Marie Collins :

This award was established for a graduating nursing student with the highest cumulative GPA and has excelled clinically throughout their program.

Jean Burrows Scholarship – Julie Dow :

Jean Burrows was chair of the Nursing Department from 1974 to 1998. Created upon her retirement, this award recognizes outstanding academic achievement for students at the end of the first year of the BN program.

The Bernice Parrott Award was established to provide financial assistance to a deserving
student after term six of the BN program. This award recognizes the hard work and effort
that all students put forth as they complete the requirements of the program.

Bernice Parrott Award – Emily Pollard, Geraldine Real, Alyssa Sinclair, William (Bill) Gibson, Shannon Bianca Hiebert Sawatzky, Kira Lourenco, Zachary Penner :

Nursing Students Endowment Scholarship – Samantha Thompson, Emma Collins :

These awards were established because of the foresight of students who in 1997 established
an endowment fund. Each student, as part of their tuition fees, contributes to this
endowment fund. In 2001, a portion of this money was dedicated to the creation of these
awards. Since then, the class of 2002 made a sizeable contribution from their own
fundraising efforts.

Nursing Legacy Award – Julie Dow, Robyn Lafreniere, Jaina Cairns, Jamie Harland, Janina Hryndzio, Mallory McIntyre, Emma Collins, Jamie Lytle, Maria Rowena Santos, Gabrielle Greenberg :

This award was established by combining donations from a number of sources.
The Stanton family, the Duncan family, and Phyllis Aaron along with the Nursing faculty have
made substantial contributions. The award recognizes outstanding clinical performance of
students from year one to year three of the nursing program. The Nursing Techniques 3
award recognizes a year one student who excels both in the academic course work and the
performance of Nursing Skills.

Thorey Johnson Nursing Award – Ryan Rempel, Rickie Lucas :

In honour of their mother, Mrs. Johnson’s daughters have established this scholarship to be
presented to a nursing student who has expressed a special interest in rural nursing
practice. The recipient has demonstrated an interest in front line nursing work in a hospital
environment; a high level of skill in the clinical setting, sound academic achievement, and a
caring and compassionate attitude with patients.

Nursing Leadership Award – Brynn Clifford, Inbar Lichtenstein :

This award is for deserving students who have gone above and beyond in support
and leadership of their peers. It was established by the Awards Committee, with
nominations from faculty and peers.

Discipline of Professional Nursing Award – Julie Dow (1 & 2), Kezia Balzer (3 & Research), Emma Collins (4 & 5) :

This award is presented to students for their outstanding achievement in the courses of Discipline of Professional Nursing 1-5.

Mary Langhan Nursing Award – Alyssa Reimer :

This award is presented to a 3rd year student who has demonstrated a high level
of skill in the clinical setting and has expressed a special interest in obstetrics and
gynecology.

Karla Ferens Memorial Entrance Award for Health Care Aide – Hallee Holmlund, John Thomas Sellick :

The Karla Ferens Memorial Entrance Award for Health Care Aide was established
by family and friends in memory of Karla Ferens, a 2011 Red River College
graduate of the Health Care Aide program. The award recipient has displayed the
same accomplishments exhibited by Karla Ferens: Involvement in sports and
leadership qualities.

Community Service Award – Taylor Rizzo-Johnson, Naomi Brodland :

This award is presented to a second and a third year student who has volunteered
for a community agency while maintaining sound academic achievement.

Karen Wall Indigenous Nursing Student Award – Ashley Prince :

This award is presented to a 3rd year student of Canadian Indigenous heritage
who has achieved academic success in the BN program, and has demonstrated
leadership and community service.

Elizabeth Scaife Memorial Award – Iris Alcantara :

This award is presented to a BPIEN (Bridging Program for Internationally
Educated Nurses) student who has demonstrated outstanding academic
achievement and demonstrated exceptional clinical performance.

Christiane Gabrielle Bonin Memorial Award – Michelle Herms

Jaime Manness Hike Manitoba Award – Erica Wilken :

This award is present to a second year student who exemplifies a love for hiking
and the outdoors with good academic standing. The award was established to
honor a RRC alumna and instructor who wanted to share her passion for
Manitoba’s wilderness.

Written by Jennifer Johnson – Nursing Lab Manager
with descriptions of awards courtesy of the Nursing Awards Committee

ACE Spotlight Series

This is the first in a series of spotlight articles, presented by Applied Computer Education (ACE), where we feature members and projects from the ACE department.

Introducing Al McLeod

Al McLeod is an honorary member of the ACE department, we met with Al to ask some questions about himself.

Amber Moffat shares her experience and insight since graduating from the Red River College/University of Manitoba Joint Baccalaureate Nursing (JBN) Program in 2008:

Where are you now?

I am currently working in Whitehorse General Hospital as a float nurse, clinical nurse leader, and acting clinical care manager. I did my final practicum at WGH back in 2008 and have worked throughout the Yukon since then!

How easy was it to find a job after graduation?

Finding a med/surg job after graduation was quite easy; I found it harder to find the right work life balance. Part-time, full- time, and overtime were all options so I worked hard to find what worked best for me.

How did you manage the responsibility of going from student to nurse?

That was a while ago now…I remember having lots of hot baths with cookies and tea. Actually one of the things I did back then was learn how to knit on night shifts. One of the senior nurses showed me and even to this day, it is one of the ways that I deal with stress.

Thinking back, what were the most important lessons from school that you took into the workforce?

There were a lot of important lessons but one that always stood out to me was a lecture titled “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” and it was a lecture on feeding patients. It’s funny the things you remember.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were a student?

I just recently moved into a different house about a year ago and when I was going through my belongings I found a letter to my future self that I wrote when I was doing a particularly challenging clinical placement. In that letter I wrote to myself asking if I was ever going to belong in a place like this (hospital); if I would always just be focusing on tasks or if I would ever actually be able to help people. I am currently the acting clinical care manager of the med/surg unit at WGH and I sometimes bring this letter out to show new grads who may be going through something similar. Being a student and a novice nurse is only a season and soon you’ll look back and see that it was only a moment!

Thank you Amber for sharing your experience and words of wisdom!

Congratulations to all our graduates from all campuses; Winkler, Portage, and Notre Dame; as well as the LPN-BN Pathway.

If you were like me and everyone else, I was thankful we got to watch the Pinning Ceremony virtually and got to acknowledge all the well deserved graduates for a job well done! Thank you to everyone who took part in putting this Pinning Ceremony together!

This was our first group of graduates from our rural sites, and as they go on to start their careers in Nursing, another group started.

Everyone, students and staff, have worked so hard to accommodate this difficult time, but you did it!

Thank you to the students for being so flexible in a time of need.

I would like to say a special congratulations to this year’s Association of Registered Nurses of Manitoba Gold Medal award that went to Emma Marie Collins!

Congratulations to all RRC Polytech Nursing Graduates of 2021! Wish you all the best in your future as nurses!

I’ll leave you with a quote from one of the speakers: “Don’t strive to make your presence noticed; just make your presence felt”

Post created by

Jennifer Johnson

Nursing Lab Manager

RRC Polytech