RN program seeking new students

New Application deadline is Dec. 15, 2025 www.ancollege.edu/nursing

Aaniiih Nakoda College Nursing Program will be starting another nursing cohort next fall.  Anyone who is interested in following their passion for working in the nursing field this is a great opportunity to work as a qualified Registered Nurse in 2 years. 

ANC Nursing program believes in the philosophy of “growing our own” not to compete with other nursing programs but to fill in the gaps in the shortage of qualified nurses in our local area. Since the beginning of the nursing program 33 graduates are currently working at different health care facilities along the hi-line, Montana and other states. 

A unique part of the experience during student clinicals is the opportunity to ride with the Northeast Montana STAT Air Ambulance Cooperative. 

ANC Director of Nursing Education, Lynette Svingen, DNP, RN, MHA/MBA, collaborated with Michele Ozark, the manager of STAT Air to develop the partnership with the approval of ANC President Dr. Sean Chandler and STAT Air CEO Brad Varvil.

One such graduate is Kaye Brown, RN, from the first ANC cohort in 2018, is a flight nurse, and acts as a mentor to ANC Nursing students who get the opportunity to help patients who are being transported to Billings or Great Falls hospitals. 

   “My name is Kaye Brown; I am an enrolled Nakoda from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. I was part of the first cohort that graduated from Aaniiih Nakoda College’s nursing program, in 2018.  Since graduating from Aaniiih Nakoda College I have practiced multiple modalities of nursing. 

I began my career on the medical-surgical floor at Northern Montana Healthcare in Havre.  From there I transferred to the ER/ICU during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I enjoyed my time at NMHC in Havre, learning as much as I could from the greatest nurses the highline has to offer.  I then took those teachings and returned to my homelands in Fort Belknap. I took a position in the emergency department at the local Indian Health Service and was able to see how the nursing shortage affects our rural communities.  The access to emergency and critical healthcare in rural Montana is a huge barrier for our patients.  These patients must sometimes travel hundreds of miles to gain access to the care they need when acute conditions arise.  This barrier piqued my interest in becoming a critical care transport nurse and I then began my journey as a flight nurse with Northeast Montana Stat Air in Glasgow Montana.

I have been a flight nurse for approximately three years now and would not have been able to do any of this without ANC.  I can now help patients in multiple rural communities gain access to the care they need.  Being able to serve reservations, as well as multiple other small communities is a dream come true.  However, the greatest success I have known is being able to help others succeed and grow.  Helping ANC’s nursing students see what opportunities can arise from getting their nursing degree has been one of my greatest joys.  Once becoming a licensed nurse the door, you open leads to a world of possibilities.”  

ANC Nursing Program is dedicated to offering this stellar program to qualified students to reach their potential as qualified professionals in the health care of patients. 90% of graduates from this program perform at or above the national average on the NCLEX exam. 

At present there are 10 nursing students who will graduate this spring and will be eligible to take the NCLEX exam. The nursing program assists students in preparing for the 2-day exam, by offering review and study sessions. This additional assistance assures the students can confidently take the arduous exam and pass. If any student must retake the exam, ANC is there for them, to review and retake the exam. Striving to always ensure the students’ success is a key concept at the college. 

For more information, please contact ANC at 406-353-2607, or Lynette Svingen, 406-353-3931. To apply go to the www.ancollege.edu/nursing

The extended deadline is December 15, 2025.