CanU youth explore nursing careers

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Fourth-year students David Gawryluk and Omotayo Aremu discuss nursing careers with students in the CanU Explore Nursing program.

The College of Nursing recently welcomed 250 Grades 5 – 6 students from the CanU Inspire program who came to explore careers in nursing.

CanU is a charitable organization that empowers Winnipeg youth from low socio-economic backgrounds through a wide-range of educational experiences on post-secondary campuses. CanU’s programs are designed and led by post-secondary student volunteers who are honing their leadership and community service skills.

This year, two representatives from the Nursing Students Association (NSA), fourth-year students David Gawryluk and Omotayo Aremu, led 50 nursing student volunteers in the Explore Nursing program that ran twice a week for five weeks.

The youth learned skills such as wound care, vital signs, moving and transferring patients with wheelchairs or crutches, and caring for infants.

“This is a great program to inspire youth, and our students get to showcase the skills they’ve learned,” said College of Nursing instructor Sufia Turner. Turner is the college’s faculty advisor for CanU, working directly with the NSA and overseeing the program.

“The mentorship works two ways, in that our nursing students get to interact and mentor the CanU youth, but they also get to mentor within the college, for example fourth-year students work with and help second-year students on skills they have not yet done and both get to learn through their experiences,” said Turner.

CanU was founded in 2010 and brings together over 700 Grades 5-12 Winnipeg kids, over 500 post-secondary students, more than 20 corporate and community funding partners, and more than 30 post-secondary departments and faculties.