jumper44

probably going to get a lot of flack for this but bare in mind this is my own opinion. my program is fairly good but there are some courses that beat the dead horse so to speak. i think nursing in general foolishly distances itself from medicine and biology and tries to align itself with sociology/psychology when the core of what nurses do regardless of what is taught in school is to treat the biological process of disease in the sick, hurt and dying persons. while courses in the social sciences are an asset i think more focus needs to be given to core science courses. i would much rather have a nurse that knows their pharm inside and out and prevents a doctor from killing me than one that focuses on "validating my feelings". Nursing focuses too much on the qualitative experience and much less on quantitative and tangible evidence which in my opinion is a detriment to our profession as it takes away from our credibility. when we take one semester of basic sciences we can't fully comprehend the reasons for our actions. i know this is anecdotal a prime example is a nurse who i met that was certain tylenol affected blood cultures, really? in conclusion i know that this will never happen but nursing needs a paradigm shift towards a medical model in line with more scientific rooted education.

Have you guys considered Grant Macewan in edmonton psych nursing? The gpa needed is 2.7/3.0 for guaranteed admission and it's no interviews strictly GPA. Just thought id put that out there

you mean 24 hours straight or on call? isnt that illegal?

Have you considered becoming an Advanced practice nurse? Less stress, better hours and more autonomy. Considering that you're more book smart you should check out this avenue you'd be able to do all the things you like. To be honest though I think you just hated the rehab hospital. My first clinical was at a rehab hospital and all I felt like I was doing was answering call bells and wiping butts. I think you need to give it a little more time I was under the same opinion but I'm now exposed to so many other areas. My eventual goal is to be a NICU nurse. Just give it sometime you'll find your niche :)

is the uofa really as bad as people say it is? can anyone from the 4 year degree speak for it?

I don't think people are really aware of how tough the market is....when I tell people I'm in nursing they exclaim how easy it's going to be to find a job. In class our teacher's constantly tell us nursing is in demand. Really? :/

I went through the same thing when I was deciding where to go. I'm in the first year at Gmac and I absolutely love it so far, the staff are very supportive and overall I have nothing bad to say (accept maybe the admissions process). I have a friend who goes to UofA who has a few gripes, one being the fact that classes are spread out all over campus and making your way from one class to another is a struggle. Also, they do CBL which is different than what we do at Gmac I think it's more focused on group work rather than lectures - more of a self directed type of learning. I've also heard my friend say her classes are less hands on and more theoretical. At the end of all of it we all get the same degree and write the same exam and for what it's worth I've heard working nurses actually prefer Gmac students - not to put down the program at UofA. I would go to both open houses and ask as many questions as possible.

Okay. This wasn't the response I was looking for. Why does it matter what I wear? Half of girls in my class show up with their pajamas some days. How does what I wear effect my learning or the learning of others? I'm actually paying to be there it's not the other way around and furthermore there's no dress code at school. I already had a chat with my classmates I'm going to talk to her directly and see what her reasoning is, assuming she admits to discrimination.

I feel like my Nursing profs judge me based on what I wear (loose fitting urban clothing). The reason I bring this up is a few days ago a prof in one of my nursing classes who I don't know on a personal basis made a really snide remark about my choice of clothing (she basically said I dress like a thug). I didn't think much of it until today. I've also always been an A student and I'm doing fine in my electives but in my Nursing class I'm sitting at C which is really unusual for me. I don't know if I'm over thinking this too much but I'm not about to change my entire wardrobe on a whim. Someone just tell me I'm over thinking this...

equestriRN, could you PM as I'm not able to use the system yet

Hi Fiona, I'm at Macewan. What exactly do food services personnel do? I threw out portering because I'd heard a few people have done that before and they said it was extremely physically demanding but I don't mind that at all. I suppose if I want a summer job I should apply to positions in around January then? If I did apply to an LTC center what work would I be doing? I've applied to every business in the area in the past month and most of them are only looking for fulltime staff but I'm still hunting in that aspect. I though being a nursing student would give me some edge in applying to a hospital but boy was I wrong...

I'm a first year student in a BscN program in edmonton I really love the program so far and I'm doing very well in my classes but I cant concentrate on school properly when all I'm thinking about is how I'm going to pay next months rent and eat. I've already applied for loans and I was rejected due to something I have no control over so I spent all my savings from high school on my first years tuition and living expenses. I would ask my parents for help but my family situation is so complicated as I left home when I was 16. I'm taking a lighter course load compared to my other classmate so I tried to find something related to Nursing I could do for extra money and I was told I had to wait until the end of second year to apply for Nursing attendant position. I have enough money for one more semesters tution and a few months rent but I need to find something soon. So my question is what job could I apply for in the hospital as a student in first year? I don't mind if it's even being a porter (not sure what that entails even). The adviser at my school didnt help so I was told to ask here. Thank you