Best school to take BN in Calgary??

[MRUOC]

So I got my final acceptance letters from both MRU and U of C with an overall average of 87.

Please somebody give me a piece of advice on which school to take?

I understand that MRU has better reviews for Nursing program.

I've read on this website that school reputation really doesn't matter when it comes to Nursing.. IS THAT TRUE???

And if I wanted to take my master's at U of C later on... how hard will it be to get into the graduate school as a MRU graduate compared to U of C graduate?

And what are the factors people consider when hiring new gradate?? clinical hours? school? gpa?

Which school should I take? Please help!!

[petethecanuck]

Hands down MRU.

You will have more clinical hours, more final practicum hours and (IMHO) be better prepared to transition into a grad nurse to do bed side care. If the new regulations that CARNA wants to implement re: grad nurses, (see page 6) http://www.una.ab.ca/files/264/CARNA_Proposed_RN_Profession_Regulation.pdf goes ahead, this is a good thing for you.

The U of C is my alma mater and has a decent program (I did the old 20 month BNAT program) and has a strong emphasis of nursing theory. The 4 year program has been revamped so you won't see your first acute care clinical placement until 3rd year.

I really enjoyed the program and I want to work in education/academia so it worked for me. If MRU had an accelerated track program (like the one I did at the U of C), I would have gone there.

I start the Master of Nursing program in September and they look at your GPA, work experience etc for acceptance. Not so much where you went to school.

Far as hiring practices within AHS. Well right now it comes down to money, of which there are cut backs, so things are tight. By the time you graduate things will have boomeranged back in the other direction (the sky is falling, the province has a shortage of RN's etc :) ).

Bottom line, go to MRU. :)

[weemsp]

I second all that!!!!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^