UNews - School of Nursing

A love of learning spurred Shermayn Menicoche on a unique educational journey

caroline.zentner — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 20:36:15 +0000

When she crosses the stage to receive her Bachelor of Nursing at Saturday’s convocation ceremonies, Shermayn Menicoche knows her parents couldn’t be prouder.

Growing up in the small town of Fort Simpson in the Northwest Territories, she didn’t imagine she’d ever call Lethbridge home, become a nurse, or be brave enough to live and study in a foreign country halfway around the world.

After finishing high school, Menicoche moved to Yellowknife to work for the territorial government. Her love of learning was sparked when she began taking night courses. After completing four courses, she knew she wanted to pursue higher education full time so she enrolled in a management studies program at Aurora College in Fort Smith. She then set her sights on completing a degree and, taking advantage of a transfer agreement between the two institutions, decided to continue her studies at the U of L.

“That was quite the transition,” she says. “I had never been to Lethbridge prior to moving here and I’d never lived so far away from my family.”

The nursing degree will actually be her second from the U of L; Menicoche completed her Bachelor of Management in 2013. Management was a natural choice of career, as her immediate and extended families are involved in business. As a youngster, she spent a lot of time on the land as her father operated a jet boat business, an eco-friendly tourism company that offered fishing, guiding, sightseeing and cookouts. When she was a little older, she began doing paperwork.

“I always had administrative type of roles growing up,” she says. “I’d work in the summers and, when I graduated high school, I worked for a couple of years for Xah Ndah Resources, a company owned by my mom and her siblings.”

A cousin, who had moved to Lethbridge a year earlier to study management at the U of L, helped Menicoche get acquainted in Lethbridge.

“I love it here and I like the U of L; I really enjoy going to school here,” she says. “They have lots of support systems and because I knew people, I didn’t feel so lonely. It was really easy to meet people.”

While she could have completed her degree in two years, Menicoche opted to do a double major and double minor. For her minor in international management, she completed the Malaysia work-study in Kuala Lumpur and a semester-long exchange to Poznan ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Economics and Business in Poland.

“Those experiences definitely opened up my eyes to the world,” she says. “They let me experience different cultures that I never thought I’d see. I came from a really small town in a remote community in northern Canada. Not everybody from my hometown gets to see things like this. It was really scary to leave and be on my own for three months in Poland but I don’t regret one bit of it.”

After completing her management degree, Menicoche returned to Yellowknife but, by then, southern Alberta had firmly established a hold on her. She became a First Nations, Métis and Inuit recruiter at Lethbridge College, travelling all over southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. While she enjoyed her work, travelling most of the time eventually took its toll.

“I kind of recruited myself into going back to school and I first looked at the U of L to see what type of programs they offered to someone who already had a degree,” she says. “The one that intrigued me the most was the nursing program.”

She completed courses in anatomy, physiology and microbiology and applied to the program.

“I was one of 21 students who were accepted out of more than 350 applicants,” she says. “The program is amazing. There’s a lot of work to it because it’s such a fast-paced, condensed program for two years straight. You develop good relationships with your peers because you’re in every class together and you go to clinicals together.”

The after-degree program offers plenty of hands-on experience. Every semester, students take part in clinical placements for two days a week and the final months of the program are devoted to a practicum, which Menicoche spent in public health.

“It was amazing. I had two preceptors who helped me and they took me under their wings,” she says. “They had a really great work environment and culture there. As soon as I pass the NCLEX (RN exam), I am going to apply to work at the public health office.”

Linking past to present

trevor.kenney — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:35:16 +0000

When the Galt School of Nursing Alumni gifted close to $150,000 in scholarship money to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge nursing program, it was a case of the past meeting the present to benefit the future.

"We're very pleased to continue in the tradition established by the Galt School of Nursing and are proud to educate the next generation of nursing professionals," says U of L president, Dr. Mike Mahon.

For nearly 70 years (1910 to 1979), the Galt School of Nursing trained more than 1,100 nurses who played a key role in providing quality health care to the residents of southern Alberta. The Galt family first established a fund in 1910 that supported nursing students and helped to purchase equipment for the school of nursing.

"It is remarkable that this fund has carried over for more than 100 years, from the pioneering Galt family to the present day," says Donna Karl, RN, and a 1963 graduate of the Galt School of Nursing.

Galt School of Nursing Alumni enjoyed connecting with today's students.

Administered by the Galt Alumni Association for the past 15 years, it provided scholarships to descendants of Galt alumni, but as applications waned in recent years, the association wanted to put the money to good use.

"When we realized that, due to our alumni's aging population, we were not receiving many applications for scholarships, we knew it was time to move this money to a place where it would be utilized and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's nursing program was an obvious choice," says Karl.

While descendants of Galt alumni are still in the terms of reference for the rewarding of scholarships, academic merit will weigh heavily. The fund will be endowed to provide scholarships to entering or continuing Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Nursing After Degree third- and fourth-year students.

"Nursing is all about caring for people and I can see that the students today are carrying on in that tradition," says Karl, who, along with other alumni, toured the new Simulation Health Centre with current students.

"The nursing students that I met today are still all about taking care of people but are far more educated than we were because of the facilities available to them. That lab we toured is wonderful!"

Karl, who works part time at Lethbridge College in the Health Services Office, says the alumni association felt a great responsibility to administer the fund.

"For years we've been managing that money like it was our own – there were about six of us who would gather around my kitchen table and make decisions about scholarships," she says. "We looked after that money very well and gave it out very carefully. I'm happy that the U of L will be able to look after that from here out."

That it will live on in perpetuity and continue a century-old tradition of supporting nursing students is gratifying to Karl.

"I absolutely love this profession, and am really pleased to still be working nearly 50 years after being in school," she says. "Much has changed since 1963 – we certainly didn't have the facilities or services today's students have – but we can continue to ensure today's students are supported throughout their education."

GET THE FACTS

· The U of L first established a School of Nursing in 1980.

· There are 698 students currently enrolled in the nursing program, which is now offered jointly by Lethbridge College and the U of L's Faculty of Health Sciences.

· To date, more than 1,500 nurses have graduated from the U of L's nursing program.

· The Galt family built and supported the original Galt Hospital, which is now the site of the Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives.

· The scholarship transfer agreement required a change in provincial legislation, facilitated at a government level by former nurse and healthcare provider Bridget Pastoor, MLA Lethbridge East.

Galt Alumni gift $150,000 in scholarship

trevor.kenney — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:06:53 +0000

For nearly 70 years (1910 to 1979), the Galt School of Nursing trained more than 1,100 nurses who played -- and still play -- a key role in providing quality health care to the residents of southern Alberta.

Today, Galt School of Nursing alumni and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge officials announced the transfer of nearly $150,000 in scholarship money to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in support of students enrolled in the U of L's nursing program.

"The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is pleased to continue in the tradition established by the Galt School of Nursing and is proud to educate the next generation of nursing professionals," said U of L President Dr. Mike Mahon.

"It is also quite gratifying to know that Galt nursing graduates from up to 60 years ago are sharing in this good news, and can see for themselves how the U of L is working to educate future nurses."

Mahon notes that nursing has undergone an incredible transformation since the Galt School of Nursing was established, especially in terms of educational requirements and advances in medicine and technology.

"There continues to be a need for qualified health care professionals and this gift from the Galt School of Nursing Alumni Association helps ensure that current nursing students have access to much-needed scholarship money."

The fund will be endowed to provide scholarships to entering or continuing Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Nursing After Degree third- and fourth-year students.

Donna Karl, RN, a Galt School of Nursing graduate from 1963 and spokesperson for the alumni group, said the gift to the U of L helps Galt alumni continue their support of nursing in the community.

"It is remarkable that this fund has carried over for more than 100 years, from the pioneering Galt family to the present day. The Alumni Association has looked after it for the past 15 years, and is delighted to have the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ accept it to continue supporting nurses."

Karl, who works part time at Lethbridge College in the Health Services Office, has two daughters who are also nurses.

"I absolutely love this profession, and am really pleased to be working nearly 50 years after being in school. Much has changed since 1963 -- we certainly didn't have the facilities or services today's students have – but we can continue to ensure today's students are supported throughout their education."

The fund was first established in 1910 by the Galt family, who also built and supported the original Galt Hospital (now the site of the Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives). The fund is being gifted to the U of L to manage in perpetuity on behalf of the Galt School of Nursing Alumni Association, which has been responsible for the fund since inheriting it from the former Lethbridge Municipal Hospital more than 15 years ago.

The transfer agreement required a change in provincial legislation, which was handled at a government level by former nurse and healthcare provider Bridget Pastoor, MLA Lethbridge East.

The U of L first established a School of Nursing in 1980. Now part of the Faculty of Health Sciences, there are 698 students currently enrolled in the nursing program, which is offered in conjunction with Lethbridge College. To date, more than 1,500 nurses have graduated from the program.

UNews - School of Nursing

A love of learning spurred Shermayn Menicoche on a unique educational journey

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Linking past to present

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Galt Alumni gift $150,000 in scholarship

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