LPN to RN through athabasca

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Hey everyone, this is my first post. I am an LPN looking into the bridging program through Athabasca University. Since its a distance learning type program i was wondering if anyone has completed it or is in the midst of this program. If you have i wonder how long it takes? and How hard it is? If its possible to do in 2 years? I really want to move to BC and work and live there so if i had to do the clinicals i would need to move back for a total of almost 3 months spuratically.

So i guess i'm also asking how is the outlook for jobs in BC for LPNs?

THanks a ton to whoever replies i feel a little flustered!:confused::confused:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

:welcome: Welcome!

Have you tried posting on the Canadian forum? You might get more feedback. Click on the link below to get there.

https://allnurses.com/canadian-nurses/

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Hello,

I am almost done this program. I am really satisfied with it and would encourage anybody interested to pursue it. A lot of the students are from out of town and just rents rooms for the clinicals. Sometimes from other students that live in the area or they are able to rent rooms at the local universities, etc. You can control how long it takes to do the program. By the time that I'm done it will have taken me three and a half years. But I also work and have three young children. Good luck in whatever you decide!:):):)

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Wow, I am just curious how many courses did you take per year,and how many days do you work per week?

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I am not sure how many courses I take each year but I do take them year round. I work 5 days a week but usually only 5 hours a day. It's not easy but it's been worth it.

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Hello,

I am almost done this program. I am really satisfied with it and would encourage anybody interested to pursue it. A lot of the students are from out of town and just rents rooms for the clinicals. Sometimes from other students that live in the area or they are able to rent rooms at the local universities, etc. You can control how long it takes to do the program. By the time that I'm done it will have taken me three and a half years. But I also work and have three young children. Good luck in whatever you decide!:):):)

Hey thanks a ton for your input! I've kind of been trying to collect my own little census about the athabasca program so any info is helpful. so 3 and a half years. Guess it would take me a while anyways to complete it. Did you find it was hard to dedicate time to your courses after work? or are the courses quite simple? Renting rooms for clinicals is a great idea. I'm definitely going to look more into this program. thanks!:yeah:

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Hello,

I am almost done this program. I am really satisfied with it and would encourage anybody interested to pursue it. A lot of the students are from out of town and just rents rooms for the clinicals. Sometimes from other students that live in the area or they are able to rent rooms at the local universities, etc. You can control how long it takes to do the program. By the time that I'm done it will have taken me three and a half years. But I also work and have three young children. Good luck in whatever you decide!:):):)

I found your advice very helpful since i am interested in the PN/RN program in Athasbaca, i have lots of question i would be grateful if you could take your time to answer some of them. I am presently living and working as LPN her in Alberta for the past 2 years, . My questions are, is there any particular deadline to apply for the program? do you have to submit your transcript by yourself or the schools you attended have to send it directly to Athabasca since some of my transcript are not from Canada. I have two years of University education in social sciences ( Sociology & Anthropology), i also did English, statistics and lots of social sciences subjects in the University, will that eliminate some of my electives/ prerequisite?, in other word will i be awarded credit for those. Also will they give me credit for my A&P from LPN school?. After how long of starting of the program did you start your clinicals? Can one do the last 3 months of the clinical in another province? How much is the total cost of this program?. Thanks so much in advance.[/

Also wanted to find out how many days per week did you go for clinicals and at what times when doing the one month clinicals? because i work night shift. Is there any deadline to enroll? . Is there any deadline to enroll? Sorry to bother you with so many question. Is LPN certificate acceptable at Athabasca because that is what i have with two years university education in Sociology and Anthropology.

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What you need to do is send them all your information such as high school transcripts, university transcripts, info from your LPN program and LPN license as well as LPN hours (need to have equivalent of one year) and they will assess this information and let you know what credits they will give you. The transcripts have to be sent directly from the schools, they will not accept transcripts that are not. They will give you 30 credits for the LPN hours and license and maybe they will give you credits for the university courses. They have intake into courses every month. You can start the program in any month once you have been assessed and approved for the program. Electives can be taken anytime at all. Once approved in the program there are 3 sets of courses and each set has to be done before moving on to the next and some courses have pre-requisites within the grouping.

I didn't start doing clinicals until last March and will do my final placement this May, June and first part of July. The public health and psych clinicals were day shifts (Mon-Fri) but we did do some evening shifts during our med/surg clinical. The last placement can be done anywhere in Canada and you follow your preceptors schedule so that could be a mixture of all three shifts, depending on their schedule. You would definitely not be able to work while you are doing your clinicals, as you also need to do patient care plans and written assignments while in clinical (lots of work).

I figure the program cost around $16,000, however, I'm not really sure. You could find out this info on their web site by adding up the figures. Also take into account this isn't counting the funds for lost wages.

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What you need to do is send them all your information such as high school transcripts, university transcripts, info from your LPN program and LPN license as well as LPN hours (need to have equivalent of one year) and they will assess this information and let you know what credits they will give you. The transcripts have to be sent directly from the schools, they will not accept transcripts that are not. They will give you 30 credits for the LPN hours and license and maybe they will give you credits for the university courses. They have intake into courses every month. You can start the program in any month once you have been assessed and approved for the program. Electives can be taken anytime at all. Once approved in the program there are 3 sets of courses and each set has to be done before moving on to the next and some courses have pre-requisites within the grouping.

I didn't start doing clinicals until last March and will do my final placement this May, June and first part of July. The public health and psych clinicals were day shifts (Mon-Fri) but we did do some evening shifts during our med/surg clinical. The last placement can be done anywhere in Canada and you follow your preceptors schedule so that could be a mixture of all three shifts, depending on their schedule. You would definitely not be able to work while you are doing your clinicals, as you also need to do patient care plans and written assignments while in clinical (lots of work).

I figure the program cost around $16,000, however, I'm not really sure. You could find out this info on their web site by adding up the figures. Also take into account this isn't counting the funds for lost wages.

Thanks so much for your prompt reply. Regarding the transcript issue, i did secondary and University education outside Canada, i read on their side that, those who did their studies out of the US and CANADA should request their transcript from their institution, then get then evaluated by foreign docucoment evaluation offices, and send copy of those transcripts to Athabasca. Thanks again for your reply. But overall how is the program? I have been out of school since 2001, it is very difficult?

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I found the program to be really good. It was a really good experience all the ways around. I had been out of school since 1990, and had no prior University at all, so it took me a little to get into writing papers. I took the English course as one of my first courses and this helped me.

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I found the program to be really good. It was a really good experience all the ways around. I had been out of school since 1990, and had no prior University at all, so it took me a little to get into writing papers. I took the English course as one of my first courses and this helped me.

Thanks so much for your prompt reply, you give me lot of courage to enroll to this program.

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Thanks so much for your prompt reply. Regarding the transcript issue, i did secondary and University education outside Canada, i read on their side that, those who did their studies out of the US and CANADA should request their transcript from their institution, then get then evaluated by foreign docucoment evaluation offices, and send copy of those transcripts to Athabasca. Thanks again for your reply. But overall how is the program? I have been out of school since 2001, it is very difficult?

I just have a quick question. I registered for the program today and pay $100 for the evaluation of our LPN

certificate, i am not sure if i am supposed to pay for the transcript evaluation since its a requirement and we're being given 30 credit for the LPN license. Did you pay $100 for your LPN transcript to be evaluated? I have LPN License in AlbertaThanks again for your time

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