Ontario Tech University Faculty of Health Sciences

Ontario Tech University, located in Oshawa, Ontario, advances the discovery and application of knowledge to accelerate economic growth, regional development and social innovation. We inspire and equip our students and our graduates to make a positive impact in a tech-focused world. We believe it’s not only about developing the next tech breakthrough. Understanding and integrating the social and ethical implications of technology is our key differentiator. We adapt to the ever-changing educational landscape by experimenting with the most effective ways to deliver flexible and dynamic learning, giving more choices to more people. By offering a range of credentials and experiential learning opportunities, and sparking entrepreneurship activities, we provide learner-centred educational options.

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) integrates advanced technologies, learning methodologies and research in an interprofessional environment to inspire you as a student who is committed to health, inquiry and social responsibility. FHS will provide you with a foundation for excellence in clinical practice, research, teamwork, leadership skills and the desire to pursue lifelong learning which are both essential for a successful career in health care.

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) offers a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing – RPN Bridge diploma training and two collaborative RPNs as well as a collaborative BScN which are partnered with Durham and Georgian (respectively). 

Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Nursing:

It’s a new age for nursing and new skills are in demand. Ontario Tech University is the right choice for you whether you are beginning your career or you are an experienced nurse who wants to upgrade your skills. Our commitment to state-of-the-art practice, leading-edge technology and practical know-how will position you to excel on the job from day one. As new attitudes and objectives in health care redefine today’s nursing professional this is an exciting time to embark on a nursing career.

Our four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program, offered collaboratively with Durham College, will immerse you in the practice of scientifically based nursing

Bachelor of Science in Nursing – RPN Bridge diploma training: 

The post-diploma BScN program is an educational pathway available if you have successfully completed your Registered Practical Nursing (RPN) diploma from an approved program and are interested in pursuing your BScN degree. As a student in the program you will enrich your knowledge in the sciences, nursing and additional disciplines, while being introduced to the latest in learning technologies to enhance your success as a working professional. In collaboration with Durham College there are full- and part-time study options available. Part-time studies are available only at the Ontario Tech north Oshawa campus location, while full-time studies may be taken at the Ontario Tech north Oshawa campus location.”

Faculty of Health Sciences Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation

The Faculty of Health Sciences does not make any explicit commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.

Ontario Tech University

Indigenization and Reconciliation at Ontario Tech

Ontario Tech is committed to promoting reconciliation and to building relationships of mutual respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in all of its actions.Learn how the Indigenous Education Advisory Circle and the President’s Indigenous Reconciliation Taskforce is striving to meet the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action.

Ontario Tech is dedicated to fostering reconciliation by cultivating relationships, addressing systemic obstacles affecting Indigenous Peoples and taking action on the recommendations outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. By confronting the challenging realities of our history and strengthening our knowledge and appreciation of Indigenous Peoples and their heritage, we collectively embark on a journey towards healing and meaningful transformation.

Dr. Steven Murphy, President and Vice-Chancellor, Ontario Tech University

Achieving Ontario Tech’s truth and reconciliation commitments and bridging relations with Indigenous people is a collective responsibility. As part of that commitment, staff, faculty and students from across the university have partnered to provide resources, initiatives and programming to engage the campus community in learning and calls to action to advance Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation process. Learn more about events and workshops held throughout the year.

Call to Action # 24

We call upon medical and nursing schools in Canada to require all students to take a course dealing with Aboriginal health issues, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, and Indigenous teachings and practices. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

Mandatory Course: Yes. Multiple courses

HLSC3823 Health and Indigenous People in Canada (Collaborative BScN and RPN to BScN Program)

Approved changes to the Collaborative BScN Program and RPN-to-BScN Program maps to remove an elective and add HLSC3823 Health and Indigenous People in Canada as a required core course for all nursing students starting in the fall of 2025. Our goal has been to work collaboratively with the IEAC in the development of this course.   

This course offers an introduction to Indigenous Health in Canada. Topics include historic practices of health and epidemiological status across pre-European contact, early European contact and postmodern contact. The health status of Indigenous peoples in Canada will be discussed through the lens of social and political determinants of health. The course will also focus on promising health promotion and research practices with Indigenous communities. The intersection of Indigenous knowledge and Western knowledge will be explored through learning about worldview and cultural practices. This course will also encourage learners to critically appraise colonial practices along with power, privilege and racism. The course will culminate with an examination of the findings from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Year 1: 

NURS1100: Introduction to Health and Healing (Collaborative BScN students)

Ends in sight for week 9 include:  

• Develop an understanding of Indigenous culture and its historical influences & perspectives; 
• Identify values, beliefs and health & healing practices unique to Indigenous culture and communities
• Identify and discuss various health risks prevalent in Indigenous communities (e.g. diabetes) and health promotion strategies to address them. 

Students read the required textbook chapter on Indigenous Health, view the TRC Calls to Action and bring a news item or journal article that describes the impact of the pandemic on the health of Indigenous individuals, families or communities. The lecture covers Indigenous diversity, the TRC, Nursing considerations and Indigenous Health, and illness experiences experienced by Indigenous populations. An Indigenous guest speaker provides perspective on health care issues experienced by Indigenous people and provide a Q&A session for students to explore these issues. 

NURS1700: Health and Healing Older Adult Theory and Practicum (taken by all Collaborative BScN students)

Lesson #10 focuses on end of life care. Students discuss different cultural approaches to death and dying, including Indigenous cultural beliefs. In the fall 2023, a case study was added focusing on end-of-life care with an Indigenous person.   

Year 2:

NURS2420 Knowing through Inquiry (taken by all Collaborative BScN and RPN to BScN Program students)

Course revisions approved in fall 2022/winter 2023 have brought in a stronger focus on anti-racism, bias, and Indigenous health. Starting in fall 2023, this course is described as:  

This course is a place of questioning and discovery, revealing a process of knowing nursing through inquiry and developing a commitment to lifelong learning. Developing reflective and critical thinking skills, students explore their experience and disciplinary literature to construct nursing praxis that is theory-guided and evidence-informed. In addition, students learn about advocacy, anti-racism and to distinguish/implement practices of truth and reconciliation according to Action 24 of the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission programs of nursing” (Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, 2020) from a lens of praxis.  

In this course, students learn to understand their assumptions, values and beliefs and utilize theory-guided, evidence-informed knowledge to construct their praxis (Canadian Nursing Association, 2002). On successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 

• Understand, utilize and critique nursing knowledge 
• Apply concepts and theories from within and outside of nursing in exploring and demonstrating nursing practices situated in anti-racism, cultural safety, and trauma-informed care. 
• Situate nursing theory guided practice within Action 24 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (programs of nursing to integrate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, human rights, the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous teachings and practice, intercultural competency and anti-racism; CASN, 2020). 
• Continue to develop their nursing praxis by integrating a variety of philosophical, methodological and theoretical perspectives   

NURS2701: Health and Healing: Adult Health Challenges Theory and Practicum (taken by all Collaborative BScN students)

Delivered in such a way that each week Indigenous content is woven through the topic. The textbook, used as a required reading, has been updated to include culture as a determinant of health with reference to Indigenous populations.  For example, when discussing pain, we discuss Traditional Medicinal Therapies; with cardiac health challenges we discuss within the Indigenous context or when discussing diabetes, we discuss the prevalence rate and complication rate within the Indigenous populations.  

Year 3  

NURS3700 Health and Healing Community Health Nursing Theory and Practicum (taken by all Collaborative BScN and RPN to BScN Program students)

Learners meet the following outcomes in week 6: 

• Identifying the importance of cultural safety and the strength based approach to working with Indigenous communities 
• Describing how colonization, assimilation policies and loss of culture negatively impacted the health of Indigenous people 
• Describing the health care delivery system for Indigenous people in Canada 
• Discussing the social determinants of health and the impact historical traumas have had on the population 
• Recognizing the importance of Traditional Knowledge for Indigenous people and CHN working with them.

In this course, learners discuss the United Nation Convention on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

NURS3701 Health and Healing Mental Health Nursing Theory and Practicum (taken by all Collaborative BScN students)

Includes information about the TRC and the many health inequities that exist. FOCUS (Fostering Our Compassion and Understanding of Self-Care), is an online module focusing on well-being and self-care developed by faculty at Ontario Tech University (Nursing and Education). It has a section on Indigenous Well-Being practices. Advisors in the Baagwating Student Indigenous Centre at Ontario Tech University and traditional elder and member of the Curve Lake First Nations have worked with us to develop this section. 

Year 4: 

NURS 4100 Leadership and Innovation (taken by all Collaborative BScN and RPN to BScN Program students)

In Week 5, learning outcomes for the class include:  

• Recognize the unique diversity of Indigenous populations in Canada. 
• Understand how health care services are delivered with Indigenous populations. 
• Describe how cultural safety and humility cultivate authentic nursing leadership relationships with Indigenous individuals, families, communities, and nations. 
• Relate nursing leadership through Indigenous health priorities and worldviews. 
• Create meaning through an Indigenous Nursing Knowledge perspective. 
• Describe how all nurses may engage in leadership through reconciliation. 
• Identify Indigenous rights in relation to health as outlined in the United Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 
• Understand Indigenous relations in establishing traditional wellness practices. 
• Relate the importance of decolonization to nursing practice, leadership and healthcare. 
• Consider how nurse leaders support Indigenous populations in designing services and programs to meet diverse needs of Indigenous populations in Canada. Two group activities are completed that focus on the learning objectives.  

NURS4700 Health and Healing Synthesis Professional Practice (taken by all Collaborative BScN and RPN to BScN Program students)

Students work through a case study focusing on Indigenous health – specifically focusing on appreciating that the factors that contribute to high rates of T2DM among First Nations are complex and can be situated within both biomedical and Indigenous frameworks. Discussion includes: historic and contemporary colonization processes, sociocultural disruption, socioeconomic marginalization, loss of overall community wellness, power imbalances, stress, racism, discrimination, and intergenerational trauma (First Nations Information Governance Centre [FNIGC], 2018). 

Faculty of Health Sciences Commitment to Call to Action # 24: 5 out of 5 = 100%

1. Aboriginal health issues
Yes. See mandatory course descriptions.
2. The history and legacy of residential schools
Yes. See mandatory course descriptions.
3. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Yes. See mandatory course descriptions.
4. Treaties and Aboriginal rights
Yes. See mandatory course descriptions.
5. Indigenous teachings and practice
Yes. See mandatory course descriptions.

Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing’s “Statement” of apology for colonial harms resulting from nursing education

Dec.11, 2023: CASN apologizes to Indigenous Peoples of Canada for Colonial harms resulting from nursing education…CASN is committed to a process of self-reflection, learning, and transformation. We will take the following steps to address the harms:

1. Anti-Racism, Cultural Safety, and Humility: Promote education, resources, and practices that address anti-Indigenous racism, supporting decolonization, cultural humility, and cultural safety for nursing faculty, staff, and students. Promote institutional policies and processes that address systemic racism to foster an inclusive and equitable learning environment.
2. Curriculum Revision: Promote a review of nursing education curricula to ensure a strengths-based focus and trauma-informed approach, the inclusion of content on the continued impact of colonialism and racism on Indigenous health, as well as Indigenous perspectives on health and well-being.
3. Community Engagement: Establish meaningful partnerships with Indigenous organizations and communities to ensure their voices are heard in shaping nursing education policies and practices.
4. Recruitment and Retention: Promote strategies that create culturally safe and supportive learning environments including pre-admission supports, in-program supports, and services that are developed in partnership with Indigenous communities.
5. Ongoing Accountability: In collaboration with Indigenous partners, establish mechanisms to monitor progress and address concerns raised by partners, Indigenous nursing students, and faculty.

Land Acknowledgement: 

Located on the School of Nursing Home Page and the Ontario Tech University Home Page

Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation which is covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation which includes Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi.

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NOTE: All content has been submitted to the respective faculty for validation to ensure accuracy and currency as of the time of posting. The Ontario Tech University Faculty of Health Sciences reviewed and approved the document. Managing Editor: Douglas Sinclair: Publisher, Indigenous Watchdog Research Assistant:  Timothy Maton