Langara College, Vancouver: Nursing Students

World Canada CA Programs

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hi,

i got accepted into the sept 2007 program. how many of you are nursing students or pre nursing students in langara? and those who graduated or are current students - any tips on the courses, professors, practicum, books, tuition etc.?

come out, come out, wherever u are! :D

Specializes in Acute Medicine.
Hahaha I admit to being obsessed with prepping for NS, Eric! I think it's anxiety stemming from having no summer courses this year since I usually take a couple. Having 4 months of nothing is strange LOL. Thank you for your thoughts on the book I mentioned, they were highly recommended in the Students forum but, yeah, the majority of students there aren't Canadian. I'm glad I asked before spending hundreds of dollars. =)

I was sure we had to do care plans before every clinical, although the acronym you speak of sounds pretty bad as well. I've heard that pharmacology and pathophysiology are among the hardest courses but I'm leery of certain guides having American names for drugs, or even different lab values (I'm guessing here, maybe every country has the same lab values). I've bookmarked the Davis Med Deck and lab book for future reference ;) Do you think the PDA version of the Davis Drug Guide could replace the book version?

I don't have the book version of Davis, only the Med Deck which is the same thing but in card version. I never use that anyway, just the computer version on my desktop. The PDA version is ok for checking on the go - I can usually find a drug faster than someone looking in the book version - but it's not good for using as a reference for your papers or your Monday night prep, like I said for Pagana Lab tests. Some instructors want you to make your own drug cards to refer to on the floor, some will be ok with using the Med Deck cards.

Regarding lab values; The US does use different units of measurement for some (all?) lab values, but when you are copying your patient's results for your paper from the computer at clinical they always have the normal value range that are used here. Pagana is good in that it tells you what abnormal high and abnormal low values mean, and it doesn't matter what measurement system is used for that information. High is high and low is low. CBG is measured completely different here than it is in the US. If you go here you will see what I mean: http://www.diabetes-blood-sugar-solutions.com/guidelinesbloodsugarlevels.html

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Hey Everyone,

I'm new to this thing and thought I would give it a go. I don't really know how this site works specifically - so hopefully this gets posted to the right place. I'll be starting Langara in a semester or two (ie. Sept 10/Jan 11) and have some questions regarding work/life balance etc. I have previous degree, school was pretty much a breeze, and I grasp concepts quickly. My only fear for this program is MONEY, making rent and tuition :(

May I ask:

1. How much you typically spend per semester on books, supplies etc? I checked the website but hop to get something from an actual student :)

2. Which semesters are heaviest in terms of workload??? Is the course work as hard as everyone says? How many hours per day do you typically spend on homework/prepping for clinicals? Do you have a life on the weekend - at least in terms of the workload for school work related items?

3. Are you guys able to keep a job during sememsters? This is a huge concern for me and probably my financial need is the ONLY reason I fear will prevent me from completing the program etc. Loans and lines of credit are great...if you qualify....

4. Lastly, is it true that nursing students are a constant form of TIRED???

Thanks guys,

Any info would be greatly appreciated. I'm just trying to figure out the next three years of my life and worry about having one and funding it :)

Good Luck!

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Is there anyone who has been on the waitlist and will be starting at Langara soon? I applied last october(just before they put the application process on halt) and was informed that I won't be able to start until 2013. That's an awful long time I must say... :uhoh3:

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hey guys, i'm new to this forum as well..

@green_tea i was accepted to the waitlist program april 2009, and am finally accepted for january 2011 intake. it was a close call too.. my friend got in with the first batch of letters, and i found out i was in 3rd position, and so as soon as 3 people either declined/postponed, i was informed that i was accepted! it'll be great knowing i have a friend doing it same time, but the waiting part is such a bore... email the nursing department, they are always more than willing to let you know your position

anyway, as for questions, pretty much all of them were answered on previous posts, but if i think of any as it gets closer to january/when i get into the program, i'll post here!

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Hey Everyone,

I'm new to this thing and thought I would give it a go. I don't really know how this site works specifically - so hopefully this gets posted to the right place. I'll be starting Langara in a semester or two (ie. Sept 10/Jan 11) and have some questions regarding work/life balance etc. I have previous degree, school was pretty much a breeze, and I grasp concepts quickly. My only fear for this program is MONEY, making rent and tuition :(

May I ask:

1. How much you typically spend per semester on books, supplies etc? I checked the website but hop to get something from an actual student :)

2. Which semesters are heaviest in terms of workload??? Is the course work as hard as everyone says? How many hours per day do you typically spend on homework/prepping for clinicals? Do you have a life on the weekend - at least in terms of the workload for school work related items?

3. Are you guys able to keep a job during sememsters? This is a huge concern for me and probably my financial need is the ONLY reason I fear will prevent me from completing the program etc. Loans and lines of credit are great...if you qualify....

4. Lastly, is it true that nursing students are a constant form of TIRED???

Thanks guys,

Any info would be greatly appreciated. I'm just trying to figure out the next three years of my life and worry about having one and funding it :)

Good Luck!

Hi happyfuntimes,

Not sure if I'm posting this a little late for you, as you may already be starting your program! I'm currently in my 9th semester, so I can tell you a bit of my experience with the program.

1. For the first few semesters there are quite a few texts to purchase, such as fundamentals of nursing, med-surg, drug books, etc. they all cost approx 100 something. as you get towards the mid and later terms, you'll find that you may not need to purchase all the texts (i.e. community, mental health, maternity --unless you're going to specialize in areas later on). To save $, you can always purchase used texts from previous term students.

2. I'd say terms 4, 7, and 9 would be the heaviest! As some have mentioned, patho is a heavy course load. For terms 7 & 9 there are quite a few paper/projects/presentations, so it can be time consuming! Studying/prepping time varies in semesters & clinical placement. For an example, in my gen surg placement, I found I spent 3-5 hrs prepping on monday night compared to maternity where we get our assignments on the day of clinical (so no prepping the night before). It also depends on how comfortable you are with your knowledge/skills.

I do say nursing is a lot of work, so there were times where I did not have a weekend. But of course, there will be weeks where you do get your weekends! Don't forget there will be end of semester breaks for approx 2-3 weeks! :)

3. I was able to keep my job, but only because my work place was very flexible with my hours. I usually work about once a week or every other week when homework gets really heavy.

4. I'm not quite sure what you mean.. are nursing students always tired? haha.. Not all the time.. it depends. I do see students being tired during our morning classes and other students have a spur of energy. For myself, I do get tired at times from all the homework/tests/projects/presentations/clinicals. Just remember, balance is the key! so if you sleep/rest and have fun in between school work, you'll do fine :)

Hope this helps!

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Specializes in Acute Spine, Neuro, Thoracic's, LTC.
Yep they're no longer accepting any application b/c the waitlist built up; one reason being that some people postpone their sessions. So I considered myself very lucky to be one of the last applicants that got on the waitlist. ;)

Me too :)

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Specializes in Acute Spine, Neuro, Thoracic's, LTC.

Last I check I was number 28 or 29 I believe. Wonder how much longer till I get in?

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Last I check I was number 28 or 29 I believe. Wonder how much longer till I get in?

We could ask where we are on the waitlist?

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coachpooh: that was really helpful! Quick question: did you do all the courses that could be transfer credit-ed before your first nursing school term?

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Hi coachpooh (awesome name!),

THANKS very much for the response - it definitely helped :) Congrats, I guess by now you will be approaching your last semester...must feel nice! I just can't wait to get the bio/patho requirements over with ughs ughs ughs!

Three quick questions:

Is PATHO more work than the two required bios? I heard there were no labs but curious if in effect there is just more to memorize???

2. Any additional tips in terms of getting through clinical placements?

3. No need to answer this if you don't feel comfortable: Is it true that sometimes the nursing program target certain students and make their lives more difficult than they have to be or make big deals out of silly things? Someone told me that they keep files on students' personality types and what upsets them? Is this true or just nursing urban legend of sorts?

Good luck with everything and thanks again...I can't wait to start soon :)

HappyFunTimes!

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Hi!

I'm currently on the wait list for the Nursing Program at Langara. I know that they take people in every fall and spring semesters and I'm just wondering around how many people do they take in from the wait list?

Thanks! :)

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I just graduated from Langara, but I'm assuming the intake size is still the same.

Each intake takes in 80 students from the waitlist.

So in total, 160 students start the program each year.

People also drop off the waitlist because they change their minds, get a placement at another school, etc. so it's often not as long a wait as they estimate. For example, I got in a term earlier than originally predicted.

Some advice (even though you didn't ask for it haha): Make your time on the waitlist worthwhile. Take the english and biology courses, the required non-nursing electives (e.g. psychology, anthropology, whatever), and, if you can get into it, the biomedical ethics course. It will make your nursing classes a lot easier to manage later on.

Good luck!

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