The University of Alberta?

Fiona59 · May 27, 2012

3 days a week, 7am to 4pm is what I have scheduled.

Have never seen students work those hours. Usually they arrive in the hospital around 0645 for a briefing with their instructor. Then they leave the floor sometime between 1345 and 1415 for a debriefing. Some then return around 1500 (shift change for staff) and grab the charts as staff are trying to work with them.

Do us a favour and remember that we know you need to research your patients for tomorrow morning but we have to get to the charts to verify meds, check orders, timings for procedures, etc. Never tell someone who needs the chart, "you can have it as soon as I've finished with it". It's been done to more than a few of us.

wonderwoman92 · Jun 6, 2012

I got accepted to U of A for this fall too!

Dezy · Jun 12, 2012

sweet I kept wondering if I would find anyone on this board also going!

wonderwoman92 · Jun 12, 2012

Yup, lol. I have my clinicals the same time as you =)

Dezy · Sep 7, 2012

hey yo. just wondering if anyone else is in the program this year! maybe we can say hello to eachother!

wonderwoman92 · Sep 7, 2012

i'm in first year nursing!

7angeldust · Sep 7, 2012

hows the program at uofa? hows cbl working out for you?

rng2013 · Jan 6, 2013

I am in my 4th year of nursing but 2nd year at U of A Collab. program (I transferred from MB when I got married!).

I can say with confidence that I LOATHE CBL. It is beyond me how they think students can learn this way. Tutorial classes are joke. Pretty much goes like this: you go, completely throw 3 hours of your life down the crapper, brainstorm a stupid scenario, break up research topics, come back and end up focusing on points that have little to no impact on nursing whatsoever, maybe the information is correct, maybe it's not, maybe you covered everything the course lead wants you to as a group, maybe you didn't, where is the "tutor" anyway?, what am I even paying for?, then the exam comes and it doesn't even matter how little or how much you studied.

Then you go to a 3 hour "lab" for "practice" where 2.5 hours is spent in discussion and lecture and maaaaybe .5 hour actually practicing.

You hear faculty members say how well this program "prepares you for the real nursing world" and "enhances critical thinking". Maybe those of you who have been nursing for a long time can correct me but I feel that critical thinking is something that you develop primarily in clinical practice. For example, in my last clinical in acute care I had a patient on an evening shift who became slightly agitated, confused, and began shivering. For the life of me, I could not think of why when he'd been "normal" all evening and now suddenly at 2130h things are going wonky. Keeping in mind he is diabetic, I rechecked his insulin orders and blood sugars and noticed he was hypoglycemic. He also did not eat very much at dinner. Brought him some orange juice and it brought his sugar back up. He was sleeping like a baby when I left! Something small (could've turned big) but would we have learned THAT in tutorial? I don't really think so.

I believe we gain some critical thinking through textbook knowledge but that only goes so far. Clinical takes that knowledge the rest of the way.

I don't say this to sound cocky or arrogant but since I have transferred, each clinical instructor I've had has stated, "We need more of our students to be like you". They meant this in terms of communication skills, professionalism, and of course, critical thinking. Each time I feel like shouting, THEN CHANGE YOUR PROGRAM! It's simple. I was at a program before where I got an excellent foundation. I honestly think that's the only reason I'm making it right now.

ALSO - I feel this faculty is so disorganized and miscommunicate (or completely do not communicate) with students aaaaaaaaaall the time. I have 100 examples but my rant has gone on long enough!!

I'm concerned that I will be not as "valued" as a new grad because my degree will say University of Alberta on it. It seems that GMU grads are preffered. When I was transferring, I wanted GMU since it was similar to my original program but it ended up being easier/faster for me to transfer to U of A. Anyway, I'm done this year so I can handle a little longer I guess!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Jan 6, 2013

I am in my 4th year of nursing but 2nd year at U of A Collab. program (I transferred from MB when I got married!).

I read your post in another thread and just KNEW you were talking about the U of A...

Dezy · Jan 6, 2013

rng2013This is my first year of nursing and i gotta say I thought I was the only one!!! I hate the cbl too! I keep thinking this is ******** but so many people in the program don't seem to think anything. I kept wondering why people had a negative opinion of some u of a students! I kept thinking well we start clinicals right away, what's the big deal? Well now I know. I did my fall cbl classes and anatomy and physiology and I decided to go with the 5 yr program so I can really know my stuff inside and out because I'm not so sure cbl classes are goig to help much! Since I have a little more world experience I'm hoping I can still become a good nurse. I try to watch tons of practical videos so when I start clinicals I can perform well.

baby_nursling · Feb 4, 2013

This is a little late now, but I figured I'd throw a thought in...

I'm in my 4th year from GMU, so I can explain the way the courses work a little.

In year one, we spent the first term doing theory (anatomy, physiology, english, healthy populations, and a disipline of nursing course), and in the second term we still had 5 subjects (physiology, microbiology, professional communicaiton, psych, and a nursing foundations course that had a clinical component 1 day/week).

In year two, the first term again was all theory (mental health, pharm, patho, assessment (plus a lab), and another nursing fundamentals course (plus a lab)), then in the second term we did clinicals. This means we have three-5 week placements where we work full shifts, are expected to take on a full load, 5 days/week. Depending on the rotation, you usually have seminar on a monday morning where you meet and debrief with other clinical groups, go to your placement and do patient research (and you'd better finish well prepared knowing your patient(s) inside and out, including patho, meds, history, etc), then you're sent back out for the week. We rotate days and evenings (no nights yet), with the shifts ranging from 0645-1515 or 1445-2315.

In year two, the clinicals consisted of mental health, a medicine rotation, and a surgery rotation.

In year three it was the same set-up - first term was theory (maternal child care (plus a lab), nursing in acute care (also had a lab), population health, research in nursing, and an elective). I should mention that all of the labs have extra readings and assignments as well.

The following clinical term had a maternity/L&D rotation, acute care, and community health.

All of the clinicals also require your to write papers and do assignments on top of working the full shifts, which are worth 20-40% of your grade, depending on the assignment.

4th year has been a lot different. I'm in the first term right now, and I'm taking a leadership course, a future directions course (aka trends and issues in nursing), and a nursing elective in high priority popualtions. There is a phiolosphy in health care course I'm putting off until spring, and an open elective as well (but I completed last spring) - in other words, most people are doing 5 courses again.

The next term we do a 5 week leadership clinical where we work independently with a unit manager or charge nurse, and create and propose a program that would be benifical to the unit. Then there's a 10 week preceptorship - and it's done! (so close!!!)

They also expect you to take spring courses for stats and psych throughout the program, but you can also knock off some of the electives/open studies courses too - it really helps with the work load.

As for perceptions, I'll be honest and say that we've been told we are prefered over the U of A students. The biggest reason is because we just do more (probably because we spend so much time working in clincial). My maternity/L&D rotation was a prime example of this - we were treated like crap for the first while because the nurses just thought we "stood around and watched like the U of A students" (I was told this a few times). We constantly had to remind our buddy nurses that we could take on a full patient load alone, and most of them were much better by the end. Then there were the ones who didn't trust us, which was great fun when you're trying to build a relationship with your patients.

The other obviously nice thing about GMU is the small classes - there's a max of about 180 students/term accepted so you end up knowing almost everyone in your grad class. Two of my classes right now have 24 people in them; they're super cozy haha

teehee · Feb 15, 2013

Hello,

I am hoping someone can help me with this, as I am considering U of A for the after degree program. I have no previous clinical experience but I think nursing is a great degree to get for the current job market and the flexibility. I know I would need as much practical experience as I can get though during this training. Does anyone know how the after degree program is regarded (respected or not?). I would hate to dedicate over 2 1/2 years of my life and thousands of dollars and find out after the fact. I am also 45 years old and so catch up time is not on my side.