Need Help to go to Bridge to University

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Hey guys what going on, Im currently attending Centennial College for the RPN flex program currently and am interested in attending the RPN to RN bridging after im done my studies. The thing is though that I kind of messed up this semester :/ and after getting a 62.71 in Theory 1 and a C in English I am worried that I wont be able to get into a Bridging program after im finished since I saw that some universities like lampton say that they dont accept student who have recieved a grade which is lower than a 63. Im hoping that I could be able to do something. After this term my GPA is current a 3.0 on the spot and I will be attending the second semester soon. I also heard that Atabaska university in Alberta is a online university, who accept applicants who have a gpa which is relatively more lower due to the different standards( which I dont know of). Im just looking into all my options here, im just really scared and really want to look into all my options into becoming a RN. Do you think I should take nightschool (as in highschool) to upgrade my courses to apply for a 4 year RN program or should I just continue and look into something that is available for guys like me to bridge. One more thing before I leave. I also heard that people say that if you have over 2000 hours placed in a hospital that they will just look for that as the requirement to enter the university to bridge, is this true, would they not consider your gpa, even with 2000 hours of RPN work? I know that places like Nissipsiping university and Atabaska offer this for students who have this requirement met, however the question is what average for these 2 program is a realistic cutoff and also how our my options looking for living in toronto? Thanks guys first time posting.

Like our fellow peers on here have mentioned, you should focus on your present studies instead of dreading over your chances of getting into a bridging to BScN program. Planning ahead isn't a bad thing but you have to be realistic in what you are capable of achieving. If you maintain a 3.0 or above GPA at Centennial with no failed or repeats you will definitely get into the Bridging program at Centennial. But the question is whether you will successfully complete it and move onto Ryerson. I have completed both the Bridging program and the BScN at Ryerson and it was definitely survival of the fittest. Most of my peers who did not achieve a 3.0 in Bridging or had to repeat a course to complete the Bridging certificate had the option of completing the Athabasca bridging program with some of their courses exempted. Athabasca does require one year's worth of RPN employment experience along with having an Alberta LPN (RPN) license before starting the nursing bridging courses. I'm not sure upgrading your high school courses to get into a regular 4-year BScN program would increase your chances of successfully completing it. You are currently in the RPN flex program with 3-4 courses per semester in which the fulltime BScN program can have up to 8 courses per semester so it doesn't get any easier through that route.

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Many BSN programs have post secondary prerequisites as well so would have to do even more school.

This is incredibly TRUE! Majority of the BScN programs (in Canada) not only require an extremely competitive GPA, but university level perquisites (i.e. Stats, Anatomy, Psych, to name a few)... and they do not care if you are a RPN/LPN. None of the diploma nursing education or LPN/RPN clinical experience is seen as applicable towards the BScN. Please don't be fooled. Even the bridging programs (when you calculate the time-frame) make LPNs/RPNs do the length equivalent to the 4-yeah BScN... which totals 6+ years of school overall, on top of whatever other undergrad degree(s) you may have already acquired -- you might as well have become a doctor.. because, by this point, you would have acquired comparable debt and at least command more respect as an MD by facilites, society at large, etc... If you want to be a Registered Nurse, just do the BScN from the get-go! There's no speedy route to get it done.

Something we're all suspicious of (a subject that a friend of mine & Nurse Practitioner student is doing her PhD on) is the belief that provincial regulators are making it difficult for LPNs/RPNs to transition to RNs because they need "warm bodies" to churn through to do the back-breaking labor in less desirable areas, which are limited to LPNs/RPNs, with irrational nurse-to-patient ratios. A method of balance, if you will... that works with $$$ numbers/budgets ;). Regulatory colleges are quick to announce that LPNs/RPNs are less skilled and/or can only work with stable patients... but they will never acknowledge the reality that we're working to the full capacity of our scope with patients of varying acuity in most facilities for significantly less pay. If there was a clear division, there would be no qualms... but the reality is RPNs/LPNs get exploited. I would love to only have stable and predictable patients, because I DO feel that is the RNs arena of expertise, but it is never the case. We're relegated to mainly LTC/Nursing home environments...just because patients are elderly does NOT mean they are stable and predictable (ex. esp. with all the cognitive issues usually present) and the staffing is never appropriate, there are never enough RNs on staff to transfer care to if a patient becomes unstable, and the few RNs we have on staff are overburdened to the max!!! We're all basically (privately) losing our s***!

This is why I no longer care about loyalty to my birth country or any country TBH. Nurses (RPN/LPN, RN, RN-EC/NP) are not valued or protected by our government. Therefore... Personally, I will go to the US or anywhere if I have to for a better life and career prospects. I'm not going to watch the rest of my life pass me by while I battle a system that makes little sense when I could've accomplished this years ago in the US. My advice is go wherever the opportunities are, and go ASAP!

The main hindrance r/t admissions perquisites for Athabasca's LPN to BSN program is the requirement of 1,700 clinical hours worked as a licensed LPN/RPN (which will take you a while to acquire as many full-time positions are difficult to come by these days). Most available positions are either casual or PT. It could take a couple years or longer to rack up these hours. Trust me ;)

Best of luck to you!

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