June 11, 2025
Community and program supporters celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of the four-year Rural Nursing Program in Wainwright on April 30 Shown from left are: AHS Chief Zone Officer Janice Stewart, students Miranda Corbel, Kayleigh Bartley, Ethan Weeks, Nicole Aventurado, Tanya Worobo-Schenk, Gaeleen Funk and Heather Bensler, assistant dean of academic partnerships, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary. Photo by Tracy Kennedy.
Story & photo by Tracy Kennedy
WAINWRIGHT — It’s looking as though the town’s ‘grow your own’ inaugural nursing program is bearing fruit.
The first crop of graduates has completed the Bachelor of Nursing – Rural Community Route program offered by University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services (AHS), in hopes of being hired in Wainwright and region. The program launched in 2021 to address clinical personnel shortages in rural areas by training and retaining nurses in their home communities.
“Prior to this, I was looking at other programs, but it involved travel for large chunks of time, so it was completely inaccessible to me,” says Gaeleen Funk who, as a resident of the M.D. of Wainwright and mother of 12 children, was looking for further education that would fit logistically into her busy life.
“With family at home, it was just not something I could have done, so when this popped up it was amazing,” she adds.
The four-year degree program has just graduated six students who, through a blend of virtual learning and hands-on clinicals and labs, are being licensed as registered nurses (RNs). The rural RN degree program model has proven so effective, it’s since expanded to Drayton Valley and Drumheller.
“It’s been a long four years, a lot of effort put in. It’s amazing to be finished; it’s amazing to be part of this first year,” says Funk, who shares advice for others interested in the program.
“The opportunities for rural work are huge. You need to be flexible, as rural programs, because they’re newer, they’re going to be some bumps along the road. But the rural community is amazing in pitching in and making it workable and listening to what you have to say — so don’t be afraid to speak up,” she adds.
Many organizations pitched in and stepped up to support their future nurses. In addition to key partners UCalgary and AHS, other organizations that contributed to the success of the Wainwright program include the Town and M.D. of Wainwright, Wainwright Auto Supply, Hardisty Auxiliary Guild, and health foundations in Provost, Viking, Red Deer and Wainwright.
“The community has been overwhelmingly supportive,” says Nicole Aventurado, a Wainwright grad, who also hopes to stay in the community, ideally working in the Emergency Department.
“Because it’s a rural program, it gives you opportunities that people in the city don’t have. I want to be able to work in Emerg, and if I weren’t in a rural program, I don’t think I’d have these skills. I learned everything all at once.
“It’s a long time coming — and a lot of work. It just feels so good to be done.”
Fellow student Miranda Corbel agrees it’s a big achievement. In an address to her class and community at a graduation celebration held April 30 in Wainwright, she encouraged her classmates to take a moment to acknowledge their hard work and dedication in reaching their milestone.
For her part, Corbel says she’s thrilled she didn’t have to move to the city to get her education, only to move back to her home to do the work she loves — rural nursing.
“I like that we’re learning how to be a rural nurse right from the get-go, because I’ve heard from other nurses who were trained in the city, they come here … and a lot of them don’t stay. I found it really helpful to know what to expect,” says Corbel.
She also recognizes that, while it’s an exciting time, it’s also daunting.
“It doesn’t feel real because we have all these extra things we have to do like get our licence. So, it’s scary, too, but we’re so grateful — and I’m really proud of all of us.
“We made it here together, and that in itself is something to celebrate."
