jl2002

Thanks everyone! I do know that Athabasca requires 1 year of full time hours, so this job would give me 6 months. I took the job, and will be starting next week! I'm excited, joined this forum since the start of my nursing school and now I'm onto my first job!!

I'm a recent graduate, and passed the PN exam in October. Initially I had planned out that if I find a job, I would do RN through Athabasca or Nipissing if the agency is affiliated with them. If I don't find a job, then I would just go back to school, where I was accepted for the bridging program to RN in January 2015. Then I realize this semester after doing a few online courses that I'm not the person that takes the initiative everyday to participate in online activities. I ended up failing a course because of that, and it's an easy course. Imagine a person who have the marks going into bridging to RN but failing an easy online course. I was offered a RPN position through New Grad Initiative program, and now I just don't know if I should go for it or not. I just turned 30, and felt that I should not waste any more time as I have wasted most of my earlier days. I have another job that pays a little bit more than the PN job that is being offered, so I'm taking the position based on wanting the experience and not for money. I'm actually leaning towards on taking the position, since experience are valued more than plain education. I guess I'm just putting this out there to see what you all would do in a situation like this.

Are you talking about hanging a bag or actually inserting an IV angiocath?

I passed!!! I was counting on getting the results closer to 5-6 weeks, but CNO did it at 4 weeks exactly. Wish you all good luck!

I wanted to ask, the Nipissing blended learning program, do you need to be employed by the partner agency first before starting? Or I can do the program without being employed? For the longest time, I had the impression of being employed first before applying for program. Thanks

Used to be in flex program, now full time, I can try to answer a few questions.

If your heart is set on the PN program now, you should just focus and do the best you can before thinking of other options. There is other options that you could take if you do not qualify or accepted in a bridging program. Athabasca has to online LPN to RN program that only requires 1 full year of PN work hours before starting. As for work, I wouldn't say it's difficult if you're in flex, but at times, I do want to just stay home and study, and I could've done way better than what the title of this thread is suggesting. I'm not too sure of your background, I work as a Pharmacy Technician for couple of years now, and although I did not find some of the stuff as difficult as other people (Patho and Theory in particular), it is still quite intense compared to other college programs. You should aim for (at least) an A in: Psychology, PPG1, PPG2; B in Anatomy, English, Patho, Health Assessment; C+ in Theory. This is a realistic mark you should aim for if you're planning to bridge IMO. I do have peers who's an international student, who would read every chance they get, and still ends up failing or barely passing patho and/or theory. Young adult who think they could breeze through it who failed, and people who studies way more than I do, but still find themselves around the pass/fail territory still. I guess I threw in a little bit more than you're expecting, but what I'm trying to say is if you're planning to bridge, depending on your study habits, depending on your knowledge base, you should really weigh how much 'work' you can fit into your schedule without sacrificing marks here and there that could jeopardize your chance.

Not sure where it's from, but i've never used it yet. I'm going into semester 3.

You probably don't need: Writing for Canadian Health Professional Test Success: Test taking techniques for beginning nursing students Medical Dictionary Only because I've never had to use these books before, but as the name of the book suggests, it could be beneficial for you to have it. Medical Dictionary for sure you don't need it though, as you can google most of the content. Fundamental of Nursing is recommended to be bought new with the online access code, since the code alone, if i remember correctly, is around $70. This is also the bible for the next 2 years in the program. Interpersonal Communication, Becoming a Master Student you would need for Field class, but as I have mentioned before, my teacher allowed us to photocopy and hand in assignments out of the Master Student book. Otherwise, he/she would expect you to rip out pages in the book and hand them in. Understanding Human Anatomy and Physiology is another reference book you should keep after you're done with the Anatomy class the coming term. It helps with Patho class as well.

What's on the list? Off the top of my head, fundamental of nursing, anatomy is a must. The calculation software, you can 'borrow' your friends since you can just input your name in the end. Master student, most of my peers just photocopies the exercise needed and hands them in since our teacher allows it.

Ohh, I've never read about the last year of Pre-grad. Always thought its just a pass/fail semester and no mark will be given. I guess not.

Can you explain why it would pull down my GPA? And, anyone took Centennial College's 3rd semester RPN that have the course outline for theory 2 and patho 2? I want to prepare myself.

I'm trying to bridge right after, but after first 2 terms, I'm only getting a 3.0 cumulative GPA. I have basically 1 term left since last terms is just full time clinical. I'm really worried that I won't have a high enough GPA to bridge. Anyone had similar experience or know if 3rd term is harder than 2nd? A lot of people was failing Theory 2 heading into the final exam, and sometimes I think I should just feel lucky that I passed it.

Not exactly sure about UBC, but here in Ontario, marks are way more important than volunteer or related experiences. Some school even needs 85+ average.

Depends what you want to do. Either route will get you there, but if you want to do RN, I would suggest you doing the Pre-health then collab. I'm in centennial college's RPN program right now, the requirement to do bridging is a B average, with no fail course. My 2nd semester, a lot of people just wants to pass Theory 2 right now, let alone thinking about bridging anymore. They still would evaluate applicant for both the bridging part and the last 2 years collab with Ryerson part. And both are pretty competitive I've heard.

I'm actually in the program, the good thing is that you only take around 3-4 courses per semester, the downside however is that you pay the full semester amount every semester. If I add up my first year tuition, it's around 3 semester x ~$2000=$6000! More expensive than University RN program if you look at it that way. Also, you take the same amount of courses in the end compared to the full-time students in which I'm guessing the pay around $3800-4000. Is it worth it? I guess it depends on you. I work full-time and go to school at the same time, so I needed the days off during the week. A lot of students failed Patho with a 3 course-load semester, so they might do a lot worse in a 5-6 course-load semester setting. Prof-wise, I would say most of them are really good at what they teach. My anatomy teacher was pretty awesome, but then apparently a lot of students failed in the other anatomy class because the teacher was pretty bad. Hope this give you some idea.

If you want to take a look at the Centennial College Practical Nursing Program, according to the ontariocollege.ca application form, it's still open for application both fulltime and flexible. It will take an extra year if you go RPN-RN (2 years diploma, 1 year bridging, 2 years @ Ryerson) route but then if you don't get accepted to a RN program, might as well use that extra year and try for a RPN as well. But call Centennial College to make sure it's still accepting students before you apply though. Hope you make it!

I got into Georgian College BScn Collab program for January 2012! :)

Got accepted to Centennial Practical Nursing in September, 2011. Psyched! but waiting for UOIT Nursing for a reply.

I'm going to be attending a program @ Centennial College for Practical Nursing Flex program. It's a 2 years/6 semester program where you have classes 3 day/week instead of the traditional 2years/4semester and 5 days/week. That might be an option for you to shorten the time frame and yet have the ability to have 4 days off a week. Remember though, after the 2 years, you'll be able to work as a RPN, assuming you pass the necessary exam. And usually, pay-wise is pretty good compared to what the general gets paid, and should give you a cushion to work towards your RN.