Athabasca University LPN to RN progam - Page 2

Hi there,
I am almost done the program through Athabasca, just waiting to do my final 3 month placement. I took me a little less than four years to complete but I am also working, have kids, etc.
I think employers love the program as they get an experienced nurse at a new grad price.
Although, you do need to come to Alberta for three placements it is not impossible and many students do it.
It is true you can do your final placement anywhere in Canada.
I started my electives before I got my Alberta LPN license.
You do need to finish cluster A before starting B unless you ask for the instructor's permission. They may let you if it's not a direct prerequisite, but I'm not sure.
I had a lot of questions too before I started, you can start with taking just one pre-requisite and see how you like it without making a full commitment.
Good luck!

Keep plugging onwards. You will be Ok, just plan your study time, focus and apply a lot of self discipline. It is not easy and can be discouraging. In request to how your degree will be accepted you need to research the university standing and contact your particular province or state. Where do you plan to work after your degree?

Thank-you for your responses it is nice to know that others have once felt the same... Kudos to LPNtoBN for finishing it in less than 4 years with kids and working.. im curious as to the flow of which you took your classes if you wouldnt mind sharing.. and also, did you find you had to contact your tutors much? I am also presently working in a private setting that doesnt give me much opportunity to practice skill did you find that the preceptorships were intense and were the instructors assistive?

Joyoueter - i plan to work in a hospital in bc hopefully.. when i contacted rnbc prior it stated i would just need to apply as an out of province nurse as i would hold an alberta license once graduated.

alsoo.. i know it states if you have 2 or more failing grades in 1 or more of the practicums your withdrawn and unable to continue with the program.. have you heard of this happening much :S?

Hi everyone, i've got a couple questions about the athabasca program too. I'm currently registered in with the CLPNA but am looking to move to Victoria BC to work and live. I'm a fairly new grad only been practicing for almost a year now. But im wondering if I would have to keep a license as an LPN for Alberta the whole time throughout the program and be practicing in alberta??? And at the same time i would need to gain a license from CLPNBC to work out there once i move. If this athabasca thing doesnt work out, does anyone have any suggestions for transition programs in BC? SOOO CONFUSING!

If you plan to work in BC, you need a practice permit for that province. It was a pain in the backside to get one five years ago. Slow process, maybe CLPNBC's staff have picked up the pace.

If you plan on doing Athabasca, if you read their info, you need an AB permit while enrolled in the programme. Your clinicals are in AB.

So you will need to maintain practice permits in both provinces while doing the degree.

I usually took 2-3 courses at a time. You can register every month for courses as long as you do it by the 10th of the previous month so when I felt I was ready I would just add a course. The public health rotation is with a preceptor only on site. The mental health and med/surg have instructors on site. I found the med/surg rotation challenging as my background is mainly in long-term mental health, so I had a lot to learn. The tutors are great and I had no problems contacting them although I rarely talked to any of them as mostly I communicated through email.
Good luck, I have no doubt the program was well worth it!

Thanks guys this is all great and helpful information. How long did it take to get your BC license? I've been looking into it and it looks like i need to apply to write an exam to get registered? Or "permitted" to work there. After you wrote the exam did u work under a temporary license? I'm really hoping to get there by october of next year but all they have is casual positions for now. And was it hard for you to find a job when applying from a different province?

It took nearly four months and watch their year end. I was going to have to pay for a license that expired in under 30 days, so I just waited it out for the next year.

If you've passed CPNRE you don't have to write another exam. They will want to look at your transcripts because the AB education is longer than theirs. They liked to make it sound like ABs was inferior to their system but in reality the AB education is more thorough.

It was hard to find a job where I had to move to. My experience was sound, there just wasn't a lot of work and they preferred to hire locals. Yup, I started casual as well.

WOW! that sounds like such paper work! Maybe i should start lookin into all of this now to get set up. I can't believe it took ******* 4 months to get your registration! thats rediculous! What is CPRNE count as? And how do u like working for VIHA? were u getting enough shifts on casual before u got a position? FIONA 59 you are living the dream i want to happen lol I really want to work in victoria if the job outlook is good there. I might even fly out in a few weeks to check the area out myself.