Ontario RPN-RN Bridge September 2020 Intake

Published

Anyone applying to any RPN-RN bridging programs for Fall 2020?

I applied to Ontario Tech University (formerly UOIT). I’m thinking of applying to George Brown/Trent, Conestoga/McMaster and Mohawk/McMaster as backups but I really want UOIT.

Oh Okay. That makes sense. How did you find the george brown bridge? I’m now torn between GB and Mohawk. 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
49 minutes ago, RNToya2024 said:

Oh Okay. That makes sense. How did you find the george brown bridge? I’m now torn between GB and Mohawk. 

About what I expected haha. I feel most nursing programs are pretty similar to each other. I did PN at GBC so it was basically that but a little easier since it has a hybrid format. It's meant to be a bit of a refresher so definitely not much of a challenge since I graduated PN in 2018. If I could do it again I'd choose Trent over Ryerson though!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hmmm,

Thank you for the information! That sounds promising, LOL. Why would you choose Trent over Ryerson if you don’t mind me asking? I heard that Trent has an extra semester and you’re required to do an extra placement 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
10 minutes ago, RNToya2024 said:

Hmmm,

Thank you for the information! That sounds promising, LOL. Why would you choose Trent over Ryerson if you don’t mind me asking? I heard that Trent has an extra semester and you’re required to do an extra placement 

I think they do require a few more credits. But! I was so impressed with Trent. Their scholarship opportunities were amazing. Their placements are based on personal interviews with you and your career goals. They treat you like a human above all else. At Ryerson I am just a number. I am appalled at some of the quality of teaching (exams are full of spelling errors, clearly never been proofread, courses are basically self taught, professors can barely write proper sentences in emails/course announcements) and they usually save their better placements for their 4 year BScN students. My close friend just finished a year or two ago and her whole cohort was in LTC. I picked Ryerson because they offer part time, and that was the main thing I needed as I had too many opportunities coming my way. This is just for nursing, mind you. I've had some great professors for my elective courses aka not nursing. 

 

Editing to add I have a previous BSc degree and am accustomed to a certain quality when it comes to university, and Ryerson is not at all on par. ? 

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Wow! This gives me a lot to think about, thank you. And it’s pretty surprising to me about Ryerson cause I figured they would definitely be an up to par school. Very interesting. But it sounds like Trent would definitely be the school to go to then. It’s good how they choose placements because I feel like it is a huge disadvantage for RN’s especially to be doing all their placements in LTC. I’m glad that the bridging program you’re saying wasn’t too hard especially now with it being online learning. I know Mohawk they say is self directed and some people said this was hard to adjust to. By what you’re saying, it seems like Ryerson is about the same. I’m so torn but I feel a bit more comfortable with my decision to go the george brown route now. 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
29 minutes ago, RNToya2024 said:

Wow! This gives me a lot to think about, thank you. And it’s pretty surprising to me about Ryerson cause I figured they would definitely be an up to par school. Very interesting. But it sounds like Trent would definitely be the school to go to then. It’s good how they choose placements because I feel like it is a huge disadvantage for RN’s especially to be doing all their placements in LTC. I’m glad that the bridging program you’re saying wasn’t too hard especially now with it being online learning. I know Mohawk they say is self directed and some people said this was hard to adjust to. By what you’re saying, it seems like Ryerson is about the same. I’m so torn but I feel a bit more comfortable with my decision to go the george brown route now. 

Apparently I had some pent up feelings haha. Bear in mind I'm doing Part Time at Ryerson, which is mostly online, so that alone may create an extra emphasis on quality of communication on their part. That said, I did distance education courses through my former university and it was a smooth, positive experience. Yes, I do recall Mohawk saying it was mostly self-directed, but Ryerson's PT is too. I've taken several nursing courses at Ryerson, only two had scheduled lectures, and only one of which has a professor that tries to teach (not very well...everyone's scared of her). 

I feel like a BScN is a BScN in the end, as lovely as it would have been to attend Mo/Mac. My real education seems to be happening in the field as I gain experience as a RPN. NCLEX certainly won't have anything I'm currently being taught at Ryerson (theoretical base), but I'm hopeful for the final two semesters with clinical. They've acknowledged their curriculum is pretty dated, and they are revamping it. I think the 4 year BScN students already have it in place (I may be wrong, but I thought I saw it on the website), but again, they really don't prioritize their Post Diploma students so we're still on the old curriculum. Perhaps by the time you get there they'll have a more updated program, if the school is at all appealing!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
51 minutes ago, bootzie said:

 

52 minutes ago, bootzie said:

Apparently I had some pent up feelings haha. Bear in mind I'm doing Part Time at Ryerson, which is mostly online, so that alone may create an extra emphasis on quality of communication on their part. That said, I did distance education courses through my former university and it was a smooth, positive experience. Yes, I do recall Mohawk saying it was mostly self-directed, but Ryerson's PT is too. I've taken several nursing courses at Ryerson, only two had scheduled lectures, and only one of which has a professor that tries to teach (not very well...everyone's scared of her). 

I feel like a BScN is a BScN in the end, as lovely as it would have been to attend Mo/Mac. My real education seems to be happening in the field as I gain experience as a RPN. NCLEX certainly won't have anything I'm currently being taught at Ryerson (theoretical base), but I'm hopeful for the final two semesters with clinical. They've acknowledged their curriculum is pretty dated, and they are revamping it. I think the 4 year BScN students already have it in place (I may be wrong, but I thought I saw it on the website), but again, they really don't prioritize their Post Diploma students so we're still on the old curriculum. Perhaps by the time you get there they'll have a more updated program, if the school is at all appealing!

The self directed learning is the main thing turning me away from MoMac as I feel like we need the hands on experience rather than just reading notes and teaching ourself. I agree though, as long as the end result is your BScN it’ll be worth it eitherway. I felt the same way though, a degree from McMaster does sound really nice though but by the sounds of it Trent’s program isn’t too bad. Sorry that you’re having this experience at Ryerson but at least you’re almost done! 2 semesters left sounds good! I’m kind of really excited to get back into school and succeed. I don’t think I’d be able to get into Ryerson anyway because of their requirements of not having any repeated course so that is out of it for sure….. you’re information definitely makes me feel Better about my choice to go to George Brown but still trying to hear from someone at MoMac to hear what their experience is like there. I love in brampton so george brown is closer but not by that much. 

 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
1 hour ago, RNToya2024 said:

 

I am currently in CoMac. The cirrculum is same across all sites so I’ll share some insights from my first year. 

I enjoy the program thus far. The professors are so supportive. They will do their best to help you succeed in the program.

For coursework, most courses are lecture with tutorial. For example, in integrative biology, we get 3 hour of lecture and then 2 hour of tutorial (I don’t remember if it was 2 or 3). In the tutorial we discuss case scenarios with small group and then present to large group. Another course called nursing professional is a problem based learning course. This course has no lectures. We basically break out into small groups, we figure out the possible nursing diagnosis of case scenario and create a cate plan, and present to large group.

In second semester we have community placement, however, due to covid we did virtual/simulation.

Overall, this program has  a lot of group discussions etc. I feel like every class we were presenting something. I will be entering second year fall 2021, so I will be med-surg unit for clinicals!

Apparently I heard that many employers favour McMaster graduates because of the problem based learning, but meh. 
 

Ask me about anything else. Hope I gave some good information. 

 

 

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Wow! Thank you so much for this info this gives me some clarity into the Mcmaster program. So would you say there is hardly if any hands on experience? I know other schools still give out lab kits and such to practice skills based on what I’ve read. Does McMaster do that? 
I’m glad that you’re enjoying the program so far and you were able to adapt well to the PBL style learning. I’m pretty shy and quiet so I feel like all the group assignments and presentations in every course would really get to me ?

I was looking at the curriculum online and it looked pretty interesting to say the least which entices me such as abnormal psychology, sociology, human sexuality and so forth. A lot of SSCI courses which all seem to be very intriguing. How are you finding those classes? Also what is the minimum grade you need to continue on into the program? 
 

there is probably so much more I’m wondering about LOL but I think this will do for now as your original post was also very helpful! 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Registered Practical Nurse.
16 hours ago, Toaster2k18 said:

I am currently in CoMac. The cirrculum is same across all sites so I’ll share some insights from my first year. 

I enjoy the program thus far. The professors are so supportive. They will do their best to help you succeed in the program.

For coursework, most courses are lecture with tutorial. For example, in integrative biology, we get 3 hour of lecture and then 2 hour of tutorial (I don’t remember if it was 2 or 3). In the tutorial we discuss case scenarios with small group and then present to large group. Another course called nursing professional is a problem based learning course. This course has no lectures. We basically break out into small groups, we figure out the possible nursing diagnosis of case scenario and create a cate plan, and present to large group.

In second semester we have community placement, however, due to covid we did virtual/simulation.

Overall, this program has  a lot of group discussions etc. I feel like every class we were presenting something. I will be entering second year fall 2021, so I will be med-surg unit for clinicals!

Apparently I heard that many employers favour McMaster graduates because of the problem based learning, but meh. 
 

Ask me about anything else. Hope I gave some good information. 

 

 

Hi there,

Thank you for providing this insight. I will be starting the MoMac bridge Fall 2021 and I am debating on working part time or not. How demanding did you find the first year? Also, with Covid were all lecture classes online?

Thanks ?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
1 hour ago, JJmom94 said:

Hi there,

Thank you for providing this insight. I will be starting the MoMac bridge Fall 2021 and I am debating on working part time or not. How demanding did you find the first year? Also, with Covid were all lecture classes online?

Thanks ?

Congrats! Many of my classmates are working full time or part time. I would say first year was quite stressful at times because there are some weeks where you had assignments due either in same week or back to back. Yep! All lectures and classes were done through zoom. Overall, working part time is doable. I am not sure about full time, though there are people who are currently doing it in addition to taking care of their children.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Registered Practical Nurse.
On 6/2/2021 at 4:20 PM, Toaster2k18 said:

Congrats! Many of my classmates are working full time or part time. I would say first year was quite stressful at times because there are some weeks where you had assignments due either in same week or back to back. Yep! All lectures and classes were done through zoom. Overall, working part time is doable. I am not sure about full time, though there are people who are currently doing it in addition to taking care of their children.

Thanks for getting back to me. That is a little reassuring. I guess it really is individual specific. Did you find the rpn program prepared you for the science courses at the university level?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion