VanLpn

I am applying for 2024! Working on my Bio 235 through Athabasca right now. It's awful and have to basically learn it on your own. I just scheduled my Casper exam for Feb 1st. I have applied twice before ? . I didn't do well on the Casper and that was what did it for me last time. I have a strong application and decent grades.

Hi 2023 hopefuls! I have a question about the CASPer exam. I applied in 2022 and when I did the CASPer it was vignettes and we had 5 minutes to write our answers. I am reading that they have added an audio part to it which some schools use and some don't. I don't love the idea of recording myself, it would feel like an interview. I plan on applying again next year and plan to practice so I can hopefully improve my score. Any insights would be helpful, along with any tips. Thanks!

Just got my rejection email. Looks like CASPER and grades were the decider. I got a 3 for both and 1 for my supplemental. My GPA is 78%. Not sure what I’ll do now. Is it even possible to improve CASPER score? They don’t give any feedback. Congrats to all that got accepted!

I've only done quiz one and two. I found the quiz harder than the midterm. I think it's a good practice for the midterm though. I got the same mark on both. The orion practice quizzes aren't very helpful, they are way too easy. I found using quizlet helpful, they have flashcards there and I'm also watching Anatomy GMC on Youtube, she does a good job of going over the whole chapter which I find a lot less dry than just trying to read it.

I’m doing mine through Athabasca. I’m in a mad rush to get it done by the end of may. I’m on ch 14. ?

I have just under 80 average. IMO I have a very strong supplemental application. I've taken care of foster children with medical needs, worked in addictions on the Downtown Eastside for years, fair amount of volunteer work and did the Care Aid certificate at Douglas. I know a lot of folks that have done the UBC program and a fair number of them had GPA's in the 70's. I think it will really depend on how strong your supplemental application is and your CASPER score. I hate not knowing my CASPER score. I'm frantically working to get through the Anatomy and Physiology pre req and if I knew how I did on CASPER it would help motivate me to get through it...or not. If I don't get in I think it will be the CASPER score that does it for me.

I thought I liked night shifts until I stopped doing them. After a couple of weeks off I felt a fog lift. I just got used to feeling crappy. Now that I don't do them anymore I eat better and have the energy for exercise. It's unfortunate because I liked everything else about the night shift other then how it made me feel. I loved my coworkers we were a great team...day shift not so much but life is about trade-offs

Where I live there most nurses work rotating shifts. We're all union here (British Columbia, Canada) and most people don't like night shifts so this spreads around the misery to everyone. I'm not a nurse yet but I do work in mental health and currently work all days but have worked all nights. In an ideal world I'd work only days but I would prefer rotating shifts to straight nights. I know it's not good for you but most night shift nurses flip their schedules on their days off anyway. A full time line in a hospital here is 2 days, 2 nights 4 days off. Then two days, two nights 5 days off. Health care is 24/7, I don't get nurses that are shocked once they start looking for a job that they can't find something 9-5. There are things about night shift that I prefer so when I've worked it I keep an upbeat attitude and focus on the good parts rather than ruminating over how rough I have it. I think that helps a lot. I also think many of the problems associated with shift work can be lessened by eating well and keeping up with regular exercise.

I did nights for 3 years, then went to days and it took about five weeks to not feel totally wiped out on days. I've recently gone back to nights, although, for general life balance days worked better for me.

John Stossel is an outspoken libertarian. Hardly the picture of someone impartially evaluating another country’s healthcare system. Why did he pick Cuba a poor country with very little in common with the U.S? Why not choose from one of the western Countries with some form of universal coverage…any western country..we all have it in some form. France, England, Canada, Australia…etc…yet he chose Cuba…interesting.

Fair enough. I don't necessarily disagree with that per se. In Canada, however, we all pay for the health care. No one is really getting a "free ride". The only people that don't pay or those who make precious little or are on disability or social assistance. I assume those groups don't pay down south either, so really we're just talking about middle income and working class people having equal access.

Well to each their own of course, I want people to be all they can be as well. I don't see how having access to health care means that someone can't "be all they can be". I want to root for my fellow Canadians to "be all they can be" however if they need health care to be all they can be I want them to be able to access it because without it, me simply rooting for them won't do a whole lot.

Me too. It baffles me that people wouldn't want a universal healthcare system. This discussion has also highlighted to me how individualistic the U.S as a whole is with an "every man for himself" kind of philosophy. I am very grateful that Canadians want everyone to have equal access to health care and for no one to go bankrupt over an illness. It's not a perfect system to be sure but I'm glad to have it.

U of C for sure. Way cheaper, and the job market for RN's seems a bit better here.

I'm not going to lie...it is usually very very hard. There have been a couple of times that I just couldn't do it...I ended up regretting it that night though when I couln't fall asleep until 2 or 3 am. If my wife is home on Saturday she has a nice big starbucks coffee waiting for me when I get up. That helps. Also it's helpful to plan some family activity for Saturday afternoon like taking the kids to the wave pool or something, that way I have to get up.