College offering Medication Adminisitration Certificate

[jeannette_dvo]

I'm an internationally educated nurse and just recently passed the Rpn exam here in Toronto. I would like to get a certificate because mostly hospitals or Long term Care facility needs certification like this. Any advise as to where can I obtain this certificate aside from George brown College.Thanks

[loriangel14, RN]

You won't likely need to take the certificate they are offering.Usually such a certificate is for RPNs that were educated before the medication administration was part of the program. Many older RPNs had to take the certificate to upgrade once RPNs started passing meds.I would investigate further before taking it.Usually an employer will specify it so the RPNs that didn't take it in school are aware.

[newnursejoan]

Yes I agree, medication administration is typically a component of a diploma or degree program, and usually integrated into their nursing practice component. If you are totally set on taking a course, I would suggest you contact an accredited college such as George Brown College or Centennial College and speak to someone in their nursing departments. Sometimes these schools offer adult learning courses for nurses who have been out of practice for some time to supplement and refresh their knowledge set.

[jeannette_dvo]

Thanks for the advice. I'll look and investigate it before applying. I usually check online jobs fir RPN and they stated certificates for the saud job. Any information as to what certificates I need more for me to be employed in a hospital or LTC.

[Fiona59]

Just luck. It's a tough job market.

[kheemooy]

well for IENs it's kinda tough because we were not educated here in Canada. majority of the RPNs who are IENs are Registered Nurses from the home country (like Philippines) sad to say, some institutions don't acknowledge the credits we had back home even though some had already a lot of experience in the home country.

George Brown had a lot of pre requisites before you can take a course like medication administration. I'm still waiting for my acceptance at Mohawk College because I think they are more linient.

[jeannette_dvo]

Hi Kheemoy,What's the first step to do at Mohawk College? Do they offer online for this course? tnx

[kheemooy]

they offer hybrid courses. wherein classes are held in-class and the rest thru online. are you an IEN? i'm a member of CARE centre for IENs and my case manager helped me. I sent my admission requirements (documents) and the coordinator told me that they will send out acceptance letters on August. search in google Bridging for Internationally Educated Nurses (BIEN) Program in Mohawk, it tells you what the requirements are. :) The only requirement is CLBA with a score of 7. I think they also accept other proof English fluency like MELAB, i think they don't accept TOFEL, but they prefer CLBA.

I'm planning to take Health Assessment, Nursing Theories and Medication Administration. :)

[jeannette_dvo]

Thanks kheemooy, I'll take note on that. I'm from Philippines and currently I'm reviewing for my MELAB exam to complete my registration with the CNO. Based from George Brown College website, I need to have the mathematics for nsg and pharmacology before I can take the Medication Administration course. In which every course takes 3 months to finish. So I'm finding another route for me to be able or at least enroll in the course without the mathematics and pharmacology. I don't know if they will assess my TOR.

[kheemooy]

Yeah, i know GBC has so many pre-requisites even if you just take Nursing in Ontario, you have to take the Critical Thinking for Nurses (or both) if you want to take any course from the Academic Pathway for Nurses, which for me is not practical though you can apply for a bursary. On top of that, you need to pass their English pre-admission test, which I failed by 1 point in the essay part and they require me to take an English course Skills for College English, some are even asked to take Basic English (ESL 1). Actually a lot of people are saying negative things about GBC.

[jeannette_dvo]

Hi loriangel14, I'm not educated as a nurse here in Canada. Usually employers posted inline about the qualifications, so I'm really bothered to it not to obtain this certificate. Where are you located? in Toronto?

[loriangel14, RN]

I am about an hour and a half north of Toronto.