Algonquin Nurses a Passion for Patients

Posted on Monday, May 8th, 2017

Registered Nurse grad gives College a healthy diagnosis

As an Algonquin nursing student, Pat Hamilton was prescribed the right academic medicine.

“Algonquin provided a lot of hands-on (experience),” the 30-year nursing veteran explains. “You were at the bedside for the last (year of) training…. You really came out feeling like you had a concrete experience to go from, and built the self-confidence you needed to continue.”

Hamilton graduated from the College’s Registered Nurse Program in 1986, and found immediate work at the Ottawa Hospital. Her diverse, three-decade career has included stints in the dialysis unit, and neurology division.

She also credits her professors’ encouragement and “great feedback” for giving her a well-rounded nursing education: “We had a great group of teachers at the time.” But it isn’t just the professors and patients who made an impact; her classmates were at the heart of her educational experience.

“We were all around our (early-to-mid) 20s when we started, and because of that we really connected and hung out,” she says, adding she has fond memories of Bert’s Bar (now The Observatory). “I think nursing is a close group of people when you’re going through the program. You’re working together all the time, and develop really close friendships… in fact, I still have those friends. They are dispersed through hospital(s) in the Ottawa system, and I still connect with them quite often.”

That student comradery laid the groundwork for Hamilton’s experience working in a hospital – where units need to be in unison, and staff count on each other for support.

On a recent Algonquin campus visit, Hamilton almost wished she could be back in the classroom. The alumnus was impressed with the amount of equipment and space enjoyed by current nursing students. Back in 1986, her program was taught in portables – separate from the College’s main building.

“(There is a) whole room set up for bedside care and learning,” she says. “We never had all these fancy beds to work with. I think we had one or two maybe.”

State-of-the-art equipment – including a patient lift, and classroom laboratory – keep students at the forefront of modern medical treatment.

“It’s a big asset for nurses now to be able to learn in a setting where you have all the facilities set up like an actual hospital.”

An onsite study hall, Wi-Fi, and Tim Hortons also make her a tad jealous. “You’re far advanced now,” she adds with a laugh.

Hamilton, who currently works in the Ottawa Hospital’s “fast-paced” surgical day care unit, is proud of her career accomplishments. She has constantly strived to learn, and gain new experience. In fact, that’s the best advice she has for today’s Algonquin nursing grads: Don’t stay in the same unit.

“About every three years, I’d move to a different department and try to pick up a new skill,” she says. “I think it’s very important in nursing to diversify yourself. It’s always good to change. It’s always good to move.”

“I just enjoy change. It’s always something that has moved me forward.”

The same could be said about Algonquin, which has continued to evolve and expand over five decades. Hamilton sees the College’s 50th anniversary as a prescription for fun: “I’m excited for it. I hope you have a big, big party. Fifty years is a long time.”

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