Conestoga RPN Class Schedule Sample

xokw, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2014

Hi there, I just graduated from Conestoga last year! The next two years will be very busy (no matter what school you attend) but worth it!

Each semester I had class (or placement) 5 days/week, unfortunately I never got lucky enough to have a day off throughout the week! Not all are full days, some are shorter!

Each semester you will have a combination of classes (on campus), clinical (on campus, in the lab where you will be learning skills) and placement (off campus).

First Semester - for the first half of first semester you will have three days of class and two days of clinical. After seven weeks your clinical will be over and these days will switch to a placement at a long-term care facility from approximately 7 - 11 AM. During this semester you will learn the basics - normals/abnormals, anatomy and physiology of body systems, and skills like bed baths, taking vital signs and performing simple assessments like abdominal/respiratory.

Second semester - you will be in placement at a hospital (typically medicine/palliative floor or something similar) for the entire semester! You will attend classes and clinical for three days of the week and placement for the remaining two days. Placement is 6 hours and typically runs from 7 AM - 1 PM. You will begin to learn about diseases, more in depth skills such as wound care, catheter care and giving medications including oral and injections.

Third semester - students typically find this semester to be the busiest. You will do a 7 week placement on a surgical unit, which rotates from days (7 AM - 1 PM) one week to evenings (1 PM - 7 PM) the next. This takes place in either the first half or the second half as the students are split up into different sections Again, classes are on the other days.

*The Guelph campus has recently switched to a 12 hour placement day once/week rather than two 6 hour days. I am not sure whether Doon has or will follow suit*

Fourth semester - during the final semester you are only in class for three weeks as the rest of the semester is full-time placement. The first two weeks you attend class from 8 am - 5 pm. After that you will be paired with a preceptor, you will work side by side with this nurse and you will follow his or her full-time schedule (in a hospital or LTC this is often four 12 hour shifts in a row - two days, two nights, then five off). You return to campus for another week of class halfway through, then back to placement until the end! It is exhausting, but this is where you get to really apply all you have learnt and prepares you for the transition from student to nurse.

Aside from this, you are taking 6-8 classes each semester so time-management is crucial if you want to succeed.

This is based on my experience so yours might differ slightly, as a pretty recent graduate though I don't think it would have changed too much :)

Best of luck! Conestoga has a fantastic program and typically has quite a high first-time pass rate on the national registration exam which you will have to take.

http://www.cno.org/Global/2-HowWeProtectThePublic/Statistical%20Reports/NursingRegistrationExamsReport.pdf

AVJD · Mar 18, 2014

xokw...thank you so much for the reply... It really does help clarify for me what I can expect. It sounds like lots of hands on learning which will I think is a great!

I have just one more quick question, what did a typical class day look like for you? I'm just thinking of how it will work with my kids school schedule... Did class days go past 3pm often?

Once again, thanks for the info.... I appreciate you taking the time to explain it to me...plus I'm sure any future student would be happy to read your last post since it was so informative.

xokw, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2014

You're welcome!

I usually had one day/week that hovered later (4-5pm) and one day/week that ended early (before or at noon). Most days finished around 2-3 I would say.

Also, you will not feel alone in being a mature student juggling 20 things at once. I would say that more than half of my graduating class was in that category including many very successful students (valedictorian, those who have carried on to pursue their BScN, etc.). The program is geared to help all succeed.

:)

Jennyfer.xo · Apr 9, 2014

I have accepted my offer to Conestoga's practical nursing program too! :)

So excited to start but also so nervous! Thanks so much for the question & the reply guys...helps a ton!

Jennyfer.xo · Apr 9, 2014

I'm also a mature student with a soon to be 8 year old daughter.

xokw, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2014

Congrats and best of luck!

:)

Jennyfer.xo · May 14, 2014

Thanks! Congrats to you too :)

joljenni · Jun 11, 2014

Hey everyone! I also am in the 2014 September RPN program! :) I can't wait for September! I was in the military for 2 years, I came back home due to family reasons. If it hadn't been for the military I never would have discovered my love for biology! So when I arrived back home I enrolled in HS again to take the required credits (they didn't fit into my schedule when I was in High School) and now here we are! :) I can't wait to meet everyone!

Jennyfer.xo · Jul 5, 2014

YAYY! Congrats! I look forward to meeting everyone too :)

Fiona59 · Jul 5, 2014

Make sure y'all have childcare and back up childcare arranged. One of the first things the instructors told us on my first day was "Childcare is not our issue, nursing is a 24/7 job".

You will also have to make sure your childcare will accept your children at 0600 or earlier on placement days and possibly keep them until 8pm

xokw, BSN, RN · Jul 6, 2014

Completely agree! Nursing is a no nonsense program and the instructors take no excuses. In my second semester I had to leave my house by 4:30 in the morning to make it to placement on time. Have your ducks in a row early and you will have a lot less stress to deal with later on.