Canadian Rpn to RN through a michigan school

[Stef003]

Hello! I'm currently enrolled in the 2 year RPN program in a school in Ontario. I was iffy about taking the 4 year RN program and then I heard about some schools in Michigan having a fast track bridging program to upgrade to an RN in less than 2 years. One of these schools being http://www.sc4.edu/. Now I looked into other schools such as Wayne state and they still require a bachelors degree to upgrade to RN even if you have your RPN, which would be another 4 years plus whatever the RN would be for that school. Any comments on upgrading from RPN to an RN once I finish or did I make the mistake of not taking the 4 year program instead? I'm not really familiar with any other Ontario colleges that offer choices like this so any school in Michigan that offers an upgrading program and the steps that I would have to go through after completing my RPN would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks.

[clorox]

The USA and Canada have drastically different educational systems and licensure boards where nursing is concerned. In the US, they have RPNs (1 year degree), and RNs who either have an ADN (2 y) or BSN (3y).

When Americans with ADNs come to canada, they are seen as equivalent to RPNs even though they were recognized as RNs in the USA. Since you are already pursuing an RPN, you would just be earning a duplicate degree basically. So earning an ADN is a waste of time for you, unless you're planning on moving to the USA instead. In almost all provinces, Canadian RNs need a BScNs or a BSN, not an associates degree. Unless you're planning on moving to Quebec, but then you'd need to learn French.

If you are pursuing a BSN program in the US, you're gonna have a lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through when you get here, possibly have to apply here for an internationally educated nurse program, and if that Michigan program isn't recognized by the CNO it will be garbage, and you'll almost definitely have a harder time finding a job since you won't have any local placements or contacts here.

If you're planning on moving to the USA permanently, you're going to have a lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through both as a student and especially when entering the workforce, potentially be denied immigration, and have a harder time finding a job because you're not a US citizen and Michigan isn't the best job market from what I gather.

There are RPN to BScN programs here in Ontario, they take about 2 1/2 years. I suggest you talk to your college counselor about those options, and look into george brown and mohawk and others.

Why do you want to go to Michigan anyway?

[deannahamid, ASN, BSN, LPN, RN]

good question