Wondering about transferring credits FROM Athabasca

[LynnfromKW]

Hi All,

I am a new member and a recent RPN grad (May 2010) from Ontario. I having been looking into Athabasca U to work towards the BSN (hopefully not to far down the road). It greatly appeals to me to be able to study online on my own time as I am a mother of two with a truck driving husband who is away a lot. I am currently trying to find work as an RPN with no luck so far.

To get to my questions, I was wondering if anyone out there knows of a way to get around doing the clinicals out in Alberta for Athabasca. That would be very difficult for me as I do not really have anyone who can care for my kids while I am away for that long and it would also be financially straining on my family for me to fly back and forth. As a second option, is it possible to do most of the courses online through Athabasca and then perhaps transfer them to a University here in Ontario to finish up and do the clinicals more locally? If so where and how many credits are you allowed to transfer to get in?

Any other related info would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

The short answer to all of your questions is, sadly, NO.

In order to be admitted to Athabasca's PN-to-BSN program, you need to be registered with the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta and you need a minimum of 1700 documented hours of working experience as a PN. All clinicals MUST be done in Alberta. And the ability to transfer credits for the theory courses rests with the receiving school. You would have to select a school locally then contact them for transfer eligibility. You're not the first one to think about taking this route, but unfortunately it's not as simple as it seems.

[Fiona59]

Factor in that most unis will only let you transfer 60 credits, so you might as well concentrate on obtaining your education locally.

[LynnfromKW]

Thanks for your replies. I was afraid of that, but I thought I'd put it out there to see if there was a way.

[LynnfromKW]

So given that the Athabasca program requires 90 credits for the R/LPN to RN bridge does that mean I could do 60 of them there and transfer them with only the remaining 30 to finish in Ontario? (assuming I got my Alberta licence and the required 1700 hours of work done)

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

It's not that simple. Each university has its own definition of a credit and its own criteria for transfer of credits. You should contact the universities you may plan to attend in Ontario and find out what their policies are before you commit yourself to a path that might lead you nowhere.

[LynnfromKW]

Thanks for your advise. I'll look into that. Take care.