Virtual nursing program helps Yukoners earn degree without leaving territory

There's a new program aimed at helping the Yukon's licensed practical nurses (LPNs) earn their bachelor of nursing degree without leaving the territory.

The Learn Where You Live program is being offered in the Yukon, through a partnership between the territorial government and the University of New Brunswick.

Most of the program can be done virtually in the comfort of one's home using self-guided online lessons and virtual reality simulations.

The first 17 Yukoners enrolled in the program in September. Among them was Whitehorse LPN Tiara Topps, who's working to become a registered nurse.

"By being able to achieve my RN here it allows me to continue my own personal academic goals, and my own personal career goals without sacrificing time with family," she said.

Topps said before the program came along, there were only a few ways to get a nursing degree: leave the territory or study remotely through Athabasca University.

"But Athabasca stopped accepting students who were from outside of Alberta so that means when that once that program closed there was really no option for remote classes," she said.

Topps said as a mother, a wife, and a full time LPN working in home care in Whitehorse, she really didn't see an opportunity to pursue becoming a registered nurse. But she said the new program is a dream come true.

'If they make a mistake they can just try again'

Dr. Lorna Butler is the dean of nursing at the University of New Brunswick.

"Essentially we take the university to them wherever they live," Butler said. "We have different scenarios that we take to them virtually. In some situations it would just be on your computer, like any simulated opportunity, but what's different about Learn Where You Live is the use of virtual reality."

Butler said once the virtual reality headset is put on it submerses the person in a clinical area or situation that is exactly what it would be like in the real world.

She said whether in Whitehorse, Dawson City, or Watson Lake, each participant would experience the same thing.

"It provides the opportunity to work through different situations," Butler said. "Seeing it, being able to feel it in a way that feels like they're right there in the clinical setting, and work through that situation where it's safe. If they make a mistake they can just try again."

Butler said the aside from other small communities within New Brunswick, the Yukon is the only other jurisdiction in Canada to offer this sort of program.

CBC News repeatedly requested an interview with the Yukon government's Department of Health and Social Services but nobody was made available.

Butler said 17 Yukoners were enrolled in the program in September and she expects another 20 will be enrolled in the fall of 2025.

She said because it was the first time this program has been offered to Yukoners the territorial government took on the responsibility for all of the recruiting efforts and offered the opportunity to its own LPNs.

In a news release, the Yukon government said it would cover one-third of tuition for all students.