College seeking nursing program

Aaniiih Nakoda College at Fort Belknap Indian Reservation is looking to kick-start its nursing program and seeks help from area residents.

The plans for the program are in their first phase, in which the college needs to document the need and support for the program.

“If this phase is completed the second phase would be to formulate a curriculum, hire faculty and determine clinical sites and admit students,” a press release from the college reads.

The nursing program would follow Montana regulations and once the foundations of the program are established, the State Board of Nursing will visit the campus to make sure everything is up to par.

The college asks that people visit the college website and click on “Please take our survey” to establish a need for the nursing program at the college.

“A program currently funded in the State of Montana has a mandate to increase the number of American Indian nurses, because there are so few compared to the number of American Indians in the state’s population,” the press release reads. “Having a nursing program at ANC would go a long way in meeting this target.”