Utopia

Um what? Two things here. One, you don't know a single nurse who hates student nurses? Well, your post was completely unnecessary and oozes resentment towards nursing students Two, having a student nurse creates additional work for you? How so? Because you have to read over their documentation? How long does that take, an extra five minutes out of your day? I'll admit nursing students in their first ever clinical placement may take a bit more of your time just because everything is new to them...luckily they have instructors on the floor to guide them, they are not your sole responsibility. When I was a student some short months ago, I was placed on the floor that I work on now, a busy surgical floor. I had a full patient load and worked unsupervised while my preceptor sat around playing Angry Birds on her iPad.

You shouldn't feel like a jerk or a nuisance. Continuing competence is an integral part of nursing and no one should make you feel like you need to kiss the ground they walk on because they're sharing their knowledge with you. I'm so tired of these holier-than-thou attitudes that are displayed on these boards from some nurses; yeah, it's been said and I'll say it again - everyone was a STUDENT at one point in their life. Students should be respected and valued, they are vessels of YOUR knowledge who will be leading the nursing world once you're out of the game.

I say it so often, I think I should get it tattooed across my forehead. But you know what? I don't care because in a few years I'll be RN and it would have all been worth it. And, if these people care about you, they will understand the countless amount of times you (sincerely) had to use that excuse.

Hi Mikee, I'm actually in my first semester of the collaborative degree program at the Centennial site. I was an applicant for the Ryerson site but was given an alternate offer to Centennial because my average wasn't high enough. I know I'm only going into my third week of the program, but so far so good :) Professors are really good, they seem pretty competent from what I've gathered so far. The class sizes are small, maybe 50-55 at the most. The course load is really heavy, first semester there are seven classes (this is actually the only free moment I've had in the last two week lol). I had an 80 average when applying to Ryerson and was put on a waitlist, but was given the offer for Centennial so I took that instead. The program is literally identical at all three sites (george brown college is included in the collaborative program), and 4/7 of my profs are employeed at both Centennial and Ryerson. Its a great program insofar you keep up with your readings and don't fall behind. there are a few people already playing catch-up in my section and it's only the third week! The minimum requirement to get into the Ryerson site is something like 77-80% but because of the huge amounts of applications they got this year, the cut-off was something like 85-87% Centennial and George Brown on the other hand had a cut-off of about 75-78% and that's what they say you need to have to get in. Don't worry about math, try your hardest in all the sciences and math pre-reqs and you'll be fine. I believe you need a minimum of 65% in Bio and the rest there's a minimum of 60% Remember that the program bases admissions solely on averages. So try to take some "bird courses" in high school to boost your average. Aim for at least a 75-80% and most of the schools in the GTA will accept you. Anyway, good luck, I need to get back to my homework

Thanks, I'm so excited :) I just bought a new laptop yesterday and got the last of my requirements completed. Woo hoo!!! Thanks so much for your help. Keep me posted on how your last year is going :) I'll definitely be bugging you again with questions soon

UOIT in Oshawa has this program, offered in under three years: https://connect.uoit.ca/uoit/program.do?from=subject&programID=192

Yeah I always have wanted to get into NICU or peds as well, second choice would be OR but I'm assuming that you need specific training for that. Another question about clinicals (sorry I'm such a pest, but Centennial is so vague, lol). Do you usually get your choice of placement when you submit your preferences? Plus, I live in the east end of Scarborough, so they won't give me some ridiculous placement in Mississauga or Bolton or something, will they? traffic would be crazy =/ Thanks for all your help :)

Haha, thanks for the help. I guess going into my first year in a whole new subject is intimidating me. I was a business major up until a few months ago so you can see why I'm kind of nervous . Yeah, for some reason Centennial only offered those two electives, no idea why. I know students beginning at Ryerson have a whole page worth of electives to choose from, but oh well. Congratulations on going in your final year. Have the clinicals helped you realize what specialty you want to get into? I wonder how many of your classmates have applied at Sick Kids, I know that's a desired clinical placement for a lot of people.

Thanks for the response.. I'm scared now lol! I got my schedule, here are my profs: Anatomy/Physiology: Ethical Reasoning/Today's Society: Nursing Practise: Nursing Theory: Nursing Assessment: Nutrition: Psych: Oh and which elective did you take? Ethical Reasoning or the other one?

Wow, thanks a lot! It's good to find someone who has attended Centennial the first two years. I've talked to people who started at GB and Ryerson, but never Centennial Just curious to know: how many people flunked out the first year or two at Centennial. I hear the first year is the make or break. Thanks!

Congratulations! I'm starting at Ryerson University (in the fall as well). I have to tell you though, waiting for school to start is almost as nerve-wracking as it was waiting for my acceptance. I was so scared I wasn't going to get in, I lost sleep at night lol. I'm feeling petrified, nervous, excited, happy, and anxious all rolled into one. I bought an anatomy book to kind of prepare myself over the summer, but it's so overwhelming! I just got my police check done, but I still need to get CPR certified and get my immunizations... Ohhh I know it's only a month away but I just want it to get here now haha. We need to start a support group for new nursing students lol

That's kind of harsh, wouldn't you say? After all, the person is smart enough to have passed four years of nursing school, but because they failed a test three times, that means they aren't suited to be a nurse? I'm sure some people who don't deserve to be nurses have passed the CRNE, and some who would have made fantastic nurses have failed. In the States, there's no cap on the amount of times someone can take the NCLEX. So if a nurse in the US has failed several times, then they aren't qualified to be a nurse? I understand standards must be extremely high when it comes to working in the health care industry, but the way it's done in Canada is ridiculous. Not only must the CRNE be passed by the third attempt, but it's only offered three times a year. It costs almost $500 to write the test, on top of the thousands of dollars you've already spent on nursing school. They say there is a nursing shortage, but they make it extremely difficult to obtain registration.

Hi everyone, I'm curious to know if there are departments or staff members of the hospital that nurses usually butt heads with? I've been speaking to a Medical Technologist and she says her department does not get along with nurses at all, and compared it to how cliques in high school act towards each other. She used some choice words to describe the nurses in the hospital she works in (this included "snarky", "manipulative" and "catty") And wouldn't you know it, I came upon a group on Facebook (I know, I'm such a loser lol) where med lab techs were just bashing nurses! They were being so ignorant, I can't believe some of the things they were saying about them! Anyway, I'm just curious to know, why so much conflict between med lab techs and nurses? Or is it just a Toronto thing?

hi connie, unfortunately, there are only a handful of online forums for canadian nursing students, this being one of them. the one you mentioned before i believe is called cnsa (canadian nursing students' association). i know this sounds silly, but if you have a facebook account, search for nursing groups for your specific institution. for example, if you're starting at ryerson university, type in "ryerson nursing" in the search bar on facebook and a bunch of different groups will pop up and you'll find hundreds of users you can discuss it with. what school do you go to or are planning to attend anyway?

Yes, that does help thanks! Do they take your preferences into consideration when placing you in clinical sites? I am interested in peds and/or OB. Plus, is it hard to juggle clinicals and other course work at the same time? I know some nursing schools have clinical intercessions for 6 weeks, so I'm not sure which method is better. Lol, I know I must sound so frantic, but this has honestly been one of the most stressful decisions I have ever had to make.