The University of Windsor is a comprehensive, student-focused university, with about 18,000 students enrolled in a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs. We have strong student-faculty relationships, exceptional award-winning faculty, and innovative staff. An atmosphere of excellence across all of our programs encourages lifelong learning, teaching, research, and discovery.

Located next to North America’s busiest international border crossing, the University of Windsor campus looks out on the beautiful Detroit River waterfront. This location speaks to UWindsor’s strength as an internationally oriented, multi-disciplined institution that actively enables a broad diversity of students, faculty, and staff to make a better world through education, scholarship, research and engagement.

The Faculty of Nursing prides itself on its flexible, quality undergraduate and graduate programs. Through our degree programs and highly qualified faculty members, we have made a commitment to excellence, to our students, to providing valuable experience, and to future opportunities.These are exciting times to embark on a career in nursing or to pursue graduate level preparation in nursing. New attitudes and objectives in health care are redefining the skills and mandate of today’s nursing professional. Health care is no longer narrowly viewed as just the treatment of illness, but rather as the promotion and maintenance of health. This evolution means new challenges and an expanding role for nurses. Prepare yourself with a strong academic foundation, valuable experience, and a future-focused philosophy. This will enable you to meet the demands of the nursing profession with confidence, professionalism and excellence.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN),  Honours

The curriculum is designed on the premise that professional nursing is multidisciplinary in nature, applying nursing, biological and social sciences, as well as the arts, to the care of individuals, families and communities. As inquiring, caring, competent practitioners, nurses serve the needs of society through health promotion, health maintenance, prevention of disease and care of the sick and dying.

The Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing is a joint partnership between the University of Windsor and St. Clair College.

The BScN curriculum at the U of W is guided by a humanistic-existentialist philosophy.

A humanistic and existential philosophy emphasizes a person’s subjective experience as one of growth (Thomason, 2010). Growth is facilitated in self and others through attributes such as: dignity, genuineness, compassion, self-awareness, and self-responsibility. Healthy and meaningful interpersonal relationships support what is good and right and inform decisions that are in the best interests of self and others (Thomason, 2010), one’s community, and the nursing profession.This philosophy informs our interpretation of the metaparadigm of nursing. The metaparadigm includes four constructs that are central to the discipline of nursing: person, health, environment, nursing (Fawcett, 1984)

Faculty of Nursing Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation

Strategic Plan Sept. 2022 – Aug. 2025

Capacity Building

Strategic Goal

Enhance our capacity and resources to advance the Faculty of Nursing vision and priorities

Objectives (2 of 4)

• Recruit, hire and retain faculty and staff to support the mission and vision of the Faculty of Nursing
• Build capacity and networks to embrace and implement Inclusive Excellence (e.g. Indigenization, decolonization, anti-Black racism, and inclusion of LGBTQS+, those with diverse abilities and other equity-seeking persons)

UWindsor’s Faculty of Nursing is currently engaged in strategic planning and is expected to complete/launch our new strategic plan in January 2025. This new strategic plan includes a core value dedicated to Reconciliation and Indigenization, while acknowledging the harms nursing has caused. We have also hired Sara Williams, a Registered Nurse pursuing her PhD as our Indigenous Curriculum and Pedagogy Advisor. She is Anishinaabe Kwe from Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Sara’s role has entailed reviewing our graduate to undergraduate curricula, creating simulated learning experiences, and weaving content related to First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples throughout our nursing programs. 

University of Windsor

No explicit Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.

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 

NURS 4999 Indigenous Health

This course reviews the history and current realities of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada and its implications on mainstream health care. Students will learn how to facilitate navigation with a First Nation, Inuit or Métis client through the health care system, exploring policy, Federal reports, and relevant resources. This course assesses the role of the health system in prioritizing cultural humility and awareness in service provision. This course aligns with The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s health related Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Rights to Health.

Indigenous Health Learning Outcomes:

1. Analyze the historical and contemporary impact of the Indian Residential School System, Indian Hospitals, and the Indian Act on the health and wellbeing of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
2. Evaluate the significance of treaty rights to health and the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People in advocating for the health rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
3. Understand the importance of utilizing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report to support policy change in the health care setting.
4. Comprehend Indigenous social determinants of health and the impact on First Nations, Inuit and Métis population health.
5. Apply critical thinking and application to navigate a First Nations, Inuit or Métis client through the complex health care system while addressing racism, systematic barriers and prioritizing patient centered care and cultural awareness and humility to optimize health outcomes.

Course description: BScN program’s course summary

School of Nursing Commitment to Call to Action # 24: 5 out of 5 = 100%

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

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: 

The Faculty of Nursing uses the Land Acknowledgement.

Located on the University of Windsor “Indigenous Initiatives” website:

The University of Windsor sits on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, which includes the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi. We respect the longstanding relationships with First Nations people in this place in the 100-mile Windsor-Essex peninsula and the straits – les détroits – of Detroit.

This Land Acknowledge appears on all course syllabi, is reviewed in all courses, and is spoken at the beginning of all meetings.

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