Fanshawe announces new Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) degree program

Fanshawe College is launching a new four-year Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) degree.  

Combining extensive theoretical and hands-on education, students will learn by doing right from the first day of class, benefiting from real-life clinical experiences to provide health care in diverse settings, such as rural, remote and Indigenous communities. In addition, students will learn to care for clients across the lifespan using new, state-of-the-art technology, including a clinical education suite, extended reality (XR) and realistic simulations.  

According to Fanshawe nursing professor Pat Bethune-Davies, the College’s new four-year Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree builds on a legacy of partnerships with four community Hospital Schools of Nursing – Victoria Hospital, St Joseph’s Hospital, St Thomas Elgin General Hospital and Woodstock General Hospital – as well as a long-standing collaborative BScN program with Western University. “As we offer our new program, we honour our history as well as our colleagues and graduates,” she said. 

Fanshawe’s Honours BScN provides small, in-person and interactive class sizes, creating a strong, close-knit community where skilled and experienced faculty – who have a wealth of clinical experience and theoretical expertise – will lead the program.

There are also inter-professional education opportunities with Fanshawe’s paramedic, respiratory therapy, and dental hygiene programs, and intra-professional education with practical nursing and doula students.  

This new Honours BScN degree replaces Fanshawe’s collaborative nursing program with Western University. Prospective students can now apply to Fanshawe’s program with the first cohort beginning September 2026. Students currently enrolled in the Collaborative BScN program with Western will complete their studies and graduate from that program. 

“We had a very collaborative and successful relationship with Western University for many years, but it is now time to offer our own degree in nursing,” said Associate Dean of the School of Nursing, Dr. Sandra DeLuca. “We have been fully accredited with the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing since the inception of the Collaborative program and our faculty have many years of experience to deliver what will be a rigorous, up-to-date and very compelling degree.” 

Fanshawe has been educating nurses since 1973, first as a nursing diploma program, and then in collaboration with Western, a BScN program.  

“The Fanshawe College School of Nursing will promote excellence in nursing education at a time when there is an increasing need to prepare more professional nurses,” said Bethune-Davies. “We offer dedicated faculty with strong leadership and a commitment to nursing education, practice and research that focuses on student learning to meet the evolving health and health care needs of our communities.” 

Fanshawe’s Honours BScN degree will contribute to addressing Canada’s nursing shortage. The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario notes Ontario needs more than 26,000 registered nurses to bring the province to the same registered nurse-per-population ratio as the rest of Canada.