At the convocation ceremonies on May 30th, the first four students graduated from the Master of Nursing, Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner Program, offered at Aurora College, Northwest Territories through a partnership with the School of Nursing.

This collaborative program originated because of the vision and dedication of the faculty of Aurora College’s School of Health and Human Services, and the School of Nursing, who have shown their committment to health care in the Northwest Territories by providing quality education for nurses, and programs that meet both local needs and national standards.  As a result of the collaboration, graduates are qualified to write the Canadian National Nurse Practitioner examination bringing the Northwest Territories in line with the national standard that the master’s degree is the exit credential for nurse practitioner education.

Our first four graduates are pioneers who had only two weeks notice that the program had been given approval, and managed to organize themselves and their families in order to arrive in time for the first class.  As with all trailblazers, there were difficulties, usually technical, as recognition by the Dalhousie computer system for registration, library access and payment responsibilities were sorted out.  This courageous group not only survived, they shone.  The combined efforts of faculty, administrators, staff and students – at both sites – demonstrated that it is possible to deliver a quality Master of Nursing program in the Northwest Territories.