I've been working as a hospital clerk for about 3 years now and I have decided to pursue a career in nursing - ER nurse in particular. I've grown to appreciate what nurses do and realize that there is more to nursing than just "wiping butts." I've especially grown interest in triaging, and would like to become one in the future - to be an excellent triage nurse. I'm well aware that nursing school is very challenging and, knowing my learning habits, I need to be doing something in repetition in order to excel in whatever it is that I am doing. So i've decided to start off by applying for a spot in a Practical Nursing Program. After finishing an LPN diploma I will gain a bit of experience before applying for the LPN-RN bridging program. I do plan to work as an LPN and and RN at the same time.
I've done my research and my options are (stenberg college, CDI, Sprott shaw, Vancouver community college, or the Norquest distance LPN program.) I'm well aware of the bad reputation that private colleges have (CDI, Stenberg, Sprott Shaw) because of their high tuition costs and lack of proper training, but my question is - if I were to attend one of these private colleges, how badly would the quality of training affect my performance once i'm in the field? Is it really the school's fault for developing poorly trained students or is it the student? From experience, i've always had the tendency to ask unique and important questions during hands on practice or preceptor ships and I've had experience with average performance in class but do really well in practicums. If I do well in my preceptorship then would it really make a significant impact on my chances of landing a job?
I guess my main question is, how will the school that I attend affect me? Some people are telling me that if I had to choose between CDI or sprott shaw, to go to sprott shaw... but what difference does it make? Theyre both private colleges and they both have bad reputation when it comes to training their students. I'm honestly leaning more towards CDI college just because its 5 minutes away from my home and tuition is about the same as SS and Stenberg. Unfortunately VCC has too long of a waitlist for both their RN program and LPN program, which is why I'm leaning more towards the private colleges.
If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
The OP is in Canada, most Canadian nurses who read their licensing body's discipline decisions know in order to ruin their license it typically takes; a serious breach of the nursing practice act, a/or professional misconduct, or fraud, or a criminal conviction etc.
Typically takes. I still don't think it's a good idea to practice under anything but your highest licensure.
My friend could not get hired as an LPN once she had her RN license. She tried but no one would hire her since technically she's an RN.
The majority of nurses that take a PN-BScN program, do so while already working in PN jobs, the ones that work under both licenses, do it by working in the PN job that they already have, not by applying for PN jobs after they are RNs. PNs who keep their PN jobs while working their way into a permanent RN job, seem to understand career planning strategies better than ones who apply for PN jobs after they have their RNs.
I'm confused why you would knowingly go to a school with a terrible reputation that doesn't care about their students and pay an outrageous amount of money in order to do so? Please reconsider, it's not a race. Waiting a year is not a big deal -- but you will likely regret not putting quality education on your list of priorities. Nursing school is very tough, even at the best schools. You need a solid curriculum, dedicated instructors, supportive classmates and quality clinical placements. You can't half-ass nursing school and expect to be successful ( don't mean your efforts, I mean the school's). Of course, there is always an exception to the rule and I'm sure a lot of amazing nurses came out of private schools -- but I think this is the exception, not the rule. Put yourself first, you deserve to have a solid education. It will save you a lot of grief later on when you start working and realize you weren't given the best preparation possible.
AHS is the main employer of nurses in my province. So unless they go the private clinic route or the Catholic system, it would be discovered pretty quickly.
factor in the $10+ an hour difference and you wouldn't see many new RNs working their old LPN lines
Thank you everyone for your input. My apologies, I meant that I will plan on working as an LPN while going for my RN degree. As to why I feel the need to rush my education... I'm not quite certain about what the job market is like for LPNs here in BC, but I want to be exposed to the field of nursing as fast and as often as I can (whether working at a nursing home, or acute facility). As a clerk, I don't get to see much of what bedside nurses do because i'm always caught up in my own paperwork. I would like to work as an LPN and work under a nurse just so I can closely observe and practice some of the things that RNs do and hopefully this would make the grasping concepts in the BSN program slightly easier.
I'm aware that tuition costs are very high for private colleges: CDI, Sprott-shaw, and Stenberg are all offering the program for around 33k/2 years. But i'm not as concerned about the tuition as I am concerned about the nursing experience that I am missing out on. Clerks get paid around 3-4 dollars less than LPNs.
I've taken some notes.
Private college LPN diploma program = 2 years/33k in tuition.
LPN-BSN bridging program = approximately 9k-14k in tuition depending on which college/university.
Most colleges offer their RN program for about 16-19k for a bachelors.
I've seen the CPNRE passing rates at the CLPNBC website and the private colleges(CDI,SSCC,Stenberg) do have, from my perspective, a high passing rate. One of the CDI college facilities has an 86% pass rate for the year 2015 (which I believe is 14 out of 16 students passed) and when I had the interview with the CDI rep, he said that 100% of the students for the 2016 graduates passed the test. I do not believe anything that a private college representative says to me which is why I made the effort to make my own phone calls to the CLPNBC and lower mainland health authorities, as well as do my own research regarding pass and hiring statistics. I've read/heard that Private LPN programs are a lot easier than community/university LPN programs, but in the end, wouldn't everyone be taking the same LPN licensing examination. If graduates from different schools pass the licensing examination, then would it really matter which school an LPN goes to?
Adding it up... it would take about 4-6 years to get a bachelors in nursing by taking the LPN route... Which I believe would be the same amount of time I spend working as a clerk while waiting for the RN waitlist. I would save A LOT of money by waiting for the waitlist, but from my perspective... say the RN program waitlist is 2 years... then I would wait 2 years just to get into first year nursing school which is also a total of 5-6 years for an RN degree. Another issue is that pre-requisite courses tend to be full and it's really hard to gain a spot in courses like Anatomy/physiology and English courses that actually have good teachers.
So here is how I look at it...
2 years LPN program + 1-2 years working as an LPN for experience(1000 hrs) + 2 Years BSN(bridging) = 4-6 years
or
2 years wait-list working as a clerk + 4 years BSN = 6 years
I've also had people tell me to not work and just focus on school so that I get higher grades and have a higher chance of getting into the program but unfortunately I can't afford to be unemployed because I support myself financially.
Also, there are those who have recommended I apply for the VCC (vancouver community college) LPN program which is a lot more reputable than private colleges, but it seems like they have a wait list as well (1-2 years) and if I were to wait for that program then I might as well wait for a spot in an RN program to open up.
Anyways, thank you everyone for your time. My apologies for overthinking, i'm just having a lot of mixed thoughts about how to approach this...
You can be a part a two different unions by working for two different employers.
If you lied yeah. My friend was asked if she belonged to any other nursing union. They told her they wouldn't hire her as a RPN since she was working as an RN.
OrganizedChaos, LVN
1 Article; 6,883 Posts
Typically takes. I still don't think it's a good idea to practice under anything but your highest licensure.