Hello everyone! I’m Dr. April Pike, and I’m writing to you as a  fellow alumnus. Memorial is where I did my Bachelor of Nursing, Master of Nursing, and PhD in Community Health in the Faculty of Medicine! You can read more about me here (https://www.mun.ca/nursing/about/about-the-dean/.

I became interim dean on Sept. 1, 2022, following the departure of Dr. Alice Gaudine, who stepped down after serving nine years as dean. She was an accomplished leader, researcher, and educator, as you can read about here https://gazette.mun.ca/campus-and-community/time-well-spent/.

I am proud to be a part of the one of the best nursing programs in the country. Recently we achieved a full seven-year accreditation, the most any nursing program can receive. https://gazette.mun.ca/teaching-and-learning/gold-star-achievement/.  This is testament to the quality of our program and our students.

My start date was around the same time as new nursing students arrived for orientation on the St. John’s Campus, and at our new sites in Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. These are exciting times for us, and for the new BScN students beginning their program at our new sites. It’s a 25 per cent increase in the number of nursing seats available was made possible by funding provided by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador as part of Budget 2022, https://gazette.mun.ca/teaching-and-learning/learning-closer-to-home/. This investment will help grow the number of nurses in practice in effort to meet our goal: to provide quality care to meet the health needs of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As preceptors, clinical instructors, and donors, your support has been instrumental to our success and achieving our goal. Contributions to the Cahill Nursing Simulation Room, our Learning Resource Centre, and scholarships for example, have helped students develop and hone clinical skills especially during the pandemic.

I look forward to seeing you again at a future alumni event...hopefully in the not-too-distant future!

By the way, you ccan connect with us through the website, but also through following us on our social media pages on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Nursing.MemorialU/ on twitter at https://twitter.com/MUN_Nursing and Instagram at munnursing (mobile device only).  Like us and stay in touch! You can follow Dr. Pike on twitter @AprilPike12 and on Instagram 

We also publish our electronic alumni newsletter a couple of times a year, so be sure to contact us with your questions, story ideas, and photos at MUNSONalumni@mun.ca.