NorQuest-Practical Nurse for the Health Care Aide

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has anyone taken the course this way? or know of someone who has?

i have e-mailed them a few times but their answers are so vauge.

the diffrence in having your hca is...

you can challenge 3 courses and only pay half the tuition.

then if you take engl 2550, anph 1001, anph 1002, soci 1000, and psyc 1060 which can be taken as general studies courses at norquest college. you will receive advanced standing in the practical nurse program upon successful completion of these courses.

what in the world does "advanced standing" mean?

another college... bow valley i believe takes the hca right into the second year of practical nurse studies.... that would almost be worth the extra travel... unless they don't do distance??

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There is a huge difference between a HCA with a certificate and a PN student who has completed first year. Uhm, pharmacology, wound care, etc.

I'd double check that fact very carefully. The HCA certificate might exempt first semester but not an entire year.

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"Advanced standing" means that you will receive credit in those courses you mentioned if you decide to take them before going into the practical nursing program (so those credits will all transfer into the practical nurse program); in other words, if you take those courses prior to beginning the PN program, you will not have to do them again when you are actually in the PN program. It really means "advanced credit".

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Ahhh so thats what advanced standing means!!!

Fiona you are right! I went and looked for my self!! At Bow Valley the Health Care Aide Bridging to Practical Nurse Diploma program will PREPARE learners to enter the second year of the Practical Nurse program.

The girl I was talking to was full of marbles!!

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Im going to to it!

Getting excited!!

I thought that I had a bunch of stuff to upgrade, as it turns out my grades are not as terrible as I had figured!

I am in the HCA program right now. It is so basic and straight foward. The labs are kinda fun though and the PN students look like they are having so much fun.

So I am getting set up to take a few of the PN courses through general studies while I finish the HCA certification. I am going to start with just the two Anatomy and Physiology courses. Then 3 other courses (English, study of society and psychology) I should be able to apply to the PN Program for HCA's by April.

These distance programs through NorQuest are so awesome. It brings options to people like me living in rual Alberta.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

I guess I don't see the logic. In terms of your knowledge base, you will learn more just completing the 2 year PN program. I work with Aides, and many of them have no clue about basic nursing procedures (wound care, infection control) and they don't really need to as Aides. You need a solid knowledge base as a nurse.

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I needed a job to pay for the PN courses. HCA jobs pay more then what I could make anywhere else. Once I drive into town working a "regular" job is just not worth it.

I figure the that gaining a little bed side mannor skills will also help me.

I know that the HCA education touches base on alot of the most basic stuff....Nothing indepth, but it is all there. We just got through infection control.

I am hoping having th HCA under my belt once I get into the swing of things at school will help me out. Even if I have never done a procedure I will still have been there watching/helping as it was completed.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

I think doing an HCA course is great, don't get me wrong. You learn a lot. However, that course should not be a substitute for part of an LPN program, IMO. I know the depth of knowledge that is required, and you really will need the full 2 years to be able to grasp the breadth and depth of what you need to know. After you have worked for a while, it won't make any difference. But as a new grad LPN, it might. You don't get wound care or pharm in an HCA course, and the infection control you learned is the very basic.

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I think everyone needs to take a look at the Noquest site:

http://www.norquest.ca/programs/certificate_diploma/practical_nurse.asp

You don't really graduate any faster and you are still required to complete and pass all the nursing courses.

From what I remember from my time at Norquest, all the student with aides experience really came out ahead of the rest of the class was the ability to lift/transfer, do personal care and make beds. No real technical/practical nursing skills.

The pharmacology course was pretty intense, at the time it gave the PN students more of a drug education than the RN students in Edmonton got.

It's the A&P course work that was the deal breaker for many students. Fail that and your toast.

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