18 GEORGIANVIEW 2021 SPRING
NURSING PROGRAM
You could say Rachel Simonson comes from a family of
health-care heroes. Rachel and two of her 10 siblings,
along with her mother have chosen nursing as their career.
Her mom, Anne Niemi, started her studies at Georgian
College in the four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing
(BScN) collaborative program, then had to complete the
last two years at York University. Her experience almost
deterred Rachel.
"Initially, the thought of it wasn't exciting," she shares.
"My mom actually did the program just before I did, and I
remember the struggles that she went through when she
went to York. They were super long days and I remember
thinking, I don't know if this is something I really want to
do, but I did really want to go to Georgian because it was
so close to home."
Rachel, who is now a Cardiac Nurse at Southlake Regional
Health Centre and Anne, a Registered Nurse in the
Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit there, had to make
those long drives, but fortunately, younger siblings,
Johanna and Leah, won't have to.
In 2020, the Ontario government announced changes
that permitted colleges to offer nursing degree programs
on a stand-alone basis. For colleges, like Georgian, this
will be the first time they are able to offer the Honours
Bachelor of Science – Nursing (BScN) degree independent
of a university partner.
NURSING DEGREE PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE
ACCESS AND EQUITY
Pictured left: Rachel Simonson, an alumna of the four-
year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) collaborative
degree, class of 2019
Top right: Alumna Melissa Bilodeau, Director of Nursing
and Clinical Services, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare
at the Huntsville District Memorial and South Muskoka
Memorial sites
Bottom right: Dr. Sara Lankshear, Associate Dean of the
BScN program at Georgian
