MUN nursing school review finds cramped rooms, rodent problem

A report that says Memorial University's Faculty of Nursing in St. John's is cramped and has a rodent problem is renewing calls for a new building for students.

The panel of external reviewers, in a review dated March 2019, found the current school, next to the Health Sciences Centre has below-par resources and a "disturbing" rodent problem.

"We do have some rodent traps as I think many of the buildings at the university and across Newfoundland and Labrador do," Alice Gaudine, dean of the school of nursing, told CBC News on a tour of the facility, where no sign of rodents or traps were visible. "We haven't seen rats, or mice, to my knowledge."

However, the reviewers drew attention to those traps.

"In the lecture theatre shared with the school of pharmacy, there were four rodent traps, which appeared large enough to catch rats," the report stated.

The external review panel also says the school lacks resources and space.

"The quantity and quality of space are not adequate to support the ongoing future needs and aspirations of the program. Lab spaces are cramped; the skills lab is below par; there is insufficient storage space; and the general state of space is poor,"says theFaculty of Nursing Academic Unit Planning Review, adding the lack of space came up "at every meeting with faculty, staff, students, and alumni."

In response, Gaudine focuseson the school's results.

"We have a veryhigh rate of pass on the national exam. I think last year 100 per cent of our bachelor of nursing students passed on the first try, and certainly I love telling the other deans of nursing that when I meet with them at national meetings," she said.

"So we are very proud of the quality of our graduates who are out in practice and really leading much of the health-care system in this province and beyond."

Will look at infrastructure

Gaudine is confident that the resources and infrastructure concerns raised in the report willbe addressed.

"The faculty of nursing is on Memorial University's infrastructure plan and we'll be putting in a proposal for the faculty of nursing to join with the centre for nursing studies and to bring its students and faculty to the St. John's campus, and then infrastructure is definitely one thing that we are going to have to look at," she said.

But she doesn't believe it will happen soon.

"I'm not expecting it in the next year or two," said Gaudine. "There's a number of buildings that are very high priority for the province, the Waterford Hospital being one and the penitentiary definitely being another one.However, I am very hopeful that nursing education will be a priority."

Three earlier reports in 2002, 2005 and 2008 also recommended improvingfaculty of nursing infrastructure.

A 2002 academic review panel report recommended a new building combining thefaculty of nursing, the school of pharmacy, the school of social work and and the animal resource centre. This year, MUN is building a new animal resource centre near the school of medicine at the very site suggested for the combined faculty building.

• MUN's new $36M animal centre will house mice, woodchucks and exotic swine

Memorial is also considering a proposal to establish a law school at the university. MUN officials say if it happens, it will be cost-neutral and no money will be diverted from other programs for the law school.

• MUN law school 'is going to happen,' says university's VP

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