planetoi

I know, but if there's any possible way to make it happen, I have to give it a shot.

Good to know, thank you :)

Hi friends. I am currently a pre nursing student, just working on some pre requisites before I apply. Currently I'm trying to get into Mo/Mac nursing, simply because it's closest to me, but if need be I am willing to go to other schools. My question is directed at current nursing students and anyone who was educated in Ontario. I was wondering if your school (or if you know of any schools) had any study abroad opportunities for nursing students? Doing a semester or year abroad has been a dream of mine for many years. I have been planning for it since I started high school, before I even wanted to be a nurse. I was a little disappointed to learn that nursing students are quite limited in that way. I understand why of course, what with clinicals and licensing and all that. But I was hoping there were at least some schools out there that had options. It doesn't even have to be a semester. A summer maybe? A few weeks? Anything? Lol Thank you so much for your time. Cheers

Aha I think about that too, whether or not I did my applications properly. It's so irrational, I know, but I always think "what if they didn't get my transcript? What if I forgot to fill something in? What if I'm missing a requirement I didn't know about???"

I completely understand where you're coming from. I'm going through something similar. I just applied to a one year pre nursing program, because I don't have the science credits from high school to go directly into nursing school. Once I take this course, if I don't get the grades, that's it for me. Once I've done any post secondary education, I can't even do adult hs if I blow it because they'll only look at my college grades. I'm terrified because this is my one shot to be a nurse, and if I miss it, I'll have to figure out a completely different direction for my life. It's scary, for sure. But at the moment, it's out of my hands, and your hands, so try not to worry about it. All you can do now is send in your application and hope for good news, and deal with things as they come. If you don't get in, it's not the end of the world. You'll figure something out. For now, be confident in your abilities and hope for the best :)

I can certainly understand the principle of it, and I do agree that it's a little unfair. But I definitely understand why some professors feel the need to do this. I think it's something you just have to deal with when you have that particular professor and work hard to show up on time. In your case, however, I think they were being entirely unreasonable. Giving the students a ten minute break and locking the doors before the ten minutes is up is pretty cheap, especially without any warning. I had a teacher in high school who locked her door when class started, but if the class was at 1:35, she'd lock up at 1:36. Her philosophy was that if someone shows up at 1:35, they're still technically on time. I always thought that was a very reasonable way of looking at it. It's a shame that your professor doesn't feel the same way.

Yay! I'm so happy for you :) Go out there and kill it

Don't get me wrong, I know my mom loves me a lot and she just wants the best for me, and honestly I could do a LOT worse for parents. But she is very stubborn and stuck in her ways, and if she doesn't get her way, she's very vocal about it. Next time she starts in on the whole "so you're going to wipe someone's butt for a living?" spiel, I think I probably will take your advice. I don't belittle her career even though I disapprove of it and she needs to know that she can't belittle mine. Maybe she'll never respect nursing (although I hope her attitude on that will change in the next few years) but as her daughter, I hope she can at least bite her tongue and respect me.

Haha I guess there's always something to learn from every experience, right?

That's exactly it, my mom and I want different things. I know at the end of the day she just wants what's best for me and for me to be happy, but I wish she would let me figure it out for myself, you know? She always wanted me to be a writer or an artist.

I know, it's really very surprising in this day and age. I suppose it stems from the old view that nursing is a "woman's" job, back in a time where women weren't respected. We're getting better though. I'm glad you're getting to live your dream though!

I get the same thing from her as well, about the introversion. But in my opinion, I think good nurses come in all types. Not every patient wants to be chatty when they're in a lot of pain or they're embarrassed, you know? I'm sure I'll find my niche as an introvert in the nursing world.

Yeah, I think that sort old fashioned way of looking at nurses is a big part of the problem. I get the impression that my mother thinks that all nurses do are bathe patients and take orders from doctors, which I understand is a big part of the career, but certainly not the ONLY part. The medical shows where all the nurses are addicts, riddled with STIs and having affairs with everyone don't really help matters either haha

Maybe my opinion isn't worth much in this respect because I'm not a nurse yet, but I don't think you're too old at all! I'll be starting nursing school at age 20, graduating with my BSN at 24, best case scenario. Maybe 25 if I end up having to bridge from practical nursing to an RN program if I don't get in right away. Don't worry about. Legions of people choose nursing as their second career and come out of school in their late 20s, 30s, 40s, or even 50s. If you're able bodied and still sharp of mind, there's no reason why you'd be "too old." Go for it and good luck :)

You know, it's kind of funny. I thought my family would be thrilled with my decision. They always wanted me to do something artistic or involving writing (which they think I'm good at). They would want me to be a novelist or a journalist or an editor. Usually it's the opposite, with the parents wanting their child to do something practical but the child being set on their art, haha. Anyway, I think you're probably right. In a lot of ways I think she's caught up on an old fashioned way of looking at nursing, wherein nurses are people who aren't talented enough to make it as doctors and where a white cap and poofy sleeves. I've slowly been trying to change this view that she has, hopefully I'll succeed. I totally agree about the therapeutic communication. I should clarify that my mother thinks I'm above nursing, not me. I wouldn't have gone into this if I didn't want to help people and make them feel as comfortable as possible.

Yeah, that's true. And like I said, I'm definitely not going to let it stop me from trying. But no one wants their parents to be disappointed in them, right?

For the most part, my family is decently supportive of my decision to become a nurse. A bit surprise maybe, but not disrespectful. Except for my mother. She acts like she's happy about it, and says she thinks it's a "very nice career" and that she's proud of me and think's I'm being selfless. But she always manages to get in little jabs here and there that makes me think that SHE thinks I'm above nursing. For example, the very first time I brought up nursing as a possibility, all she said was "ew that's disgusting." No lie. Also, a few days ago my brother asked me if I wanted to be an OR nurse and my mother interjected with "no she's gonna be the type of nurse that wipes people's asses and gets vomited on." Or sometimes she'll say things to try to discourage me and make me change my mind. Things like "being around sick people all day is just going to depress you" or "you don't know anything about math or science, how are you going to be able to do nursing?" It's just little things like that, you know? It bothers me a bit, but it's also not going to stop me from going for it. I respect her right to an opinion, but hers seems to stem from the fact that SHE would never want to be a nurse, so she can't understand why I want to be one. I just wish she could respect my decision and have a little faith that I didn't just choose this career on a whim without any idea of what it's going to take. Do any of you get things like that from your family? How do you deal with it?

You're very welcome :) ILC is a great option for people in Ontario because its so cheap to take it and it gives you sooo much freedom. I hope it works well for you!

The nice thing about nursing is that since it's such a popular profession, there are so many different ways to get in if you don't succeed the first time around. So try not to panic! There's lots you can do to get in. First of all, I think you should still apply. There's no harm in trying, right? You never know. Also, have you considered taking a pre-health course at one of the colleges? A lot of colleges that have collab nursing programs with nearby universities have a course called pre health, which is a one year certificate that can help get you into a collaborative nursing program. I know for sure that Mohawk and Fanshawe have them, and I think Seneca might too. They're nice because you get all the pre-reqs for nursing, and many programs will give you special consideration for taking these courses, since they overlap with quite a few courses in first year nursing. If you'd rather save the money, or if you can't be going to college full time right now, you could always get a credit through ILC too. Is it just chem you need? Because you can take all kinds of classes through ILC. You could even upgrade your bio mark if you wanted. It is online, so you'd have to be prepared to teach yourself. You have access to a teacher if you need to ask questions though. You did say that you were doing well with chemistry even though your teacher sucked, so I suspect you'll do just fine if you do decide to take it online. It's only 40 dollars which is hundreds of dollars cheaper than most online courses. Another good thing about ILC is that you can work through the course as fast or slow as you want. It's probably a little faster than night school or adult education, since you said you wanted speedy. Another thing you could do is apply to the RPN program and bridge to BScN. It's not ideal and it takes a little longer, but usually those programs are slightly easier to get into than RN programs. Also, apply for a January start as well as a September start. A lot of people are hung up on the ideal September start and don't apply for January, so sometimes that makes it a little easier to get in. That's about all I can think of right now. I hope you find a path that works well for you! Good luck :)

I'm not certain, but I think you can apply for college at any point during the year, you just need to make sure you select the right dates for when you want to attend. You'd have to check when the equal consideration date is though. I know if you want to start in September (for the RPN program or Pre-health) you should apply by February 1st. I believe if you want to start next January, you need to apply before the end of August, but again, I'm not entirely sure. You can check this on the ontario colleges website (ontariocolleges.ca) or you can go to the program page on the college's website, they should have that information there. If you're in the pre-health program starting in January (I'm assuming you mean next January, as I believe acceptances have already gone out for this January coming up), I'm not too sure when you'd have to apply to your RPN program, but if you're in the program, that's something your college will definitely provide you with information about, considering about 80% of people in pre-health want to be nurses. If not, there are always guidance counsellors on campus that you could ask. As for your second question, it depends. You'll have to check the admission requirements on the program page on that college's website. If the admission requirements say something along the lines of "Minimum 75%, grade 11 mixed math/university math, grade 11 chem, and grade 12 university english" then no, they probably aren't going to look at your averages in any particular classes, but rather your average as a whole. However, some colleges will list in their admission requirements for pre-health something like "Grade 11 mixed math/university math, grade 11 chem, and grade 12 university english with a minimum of 75% in each of those classes" and in that case, then yes they will be looking those averages. Don't let that discourage you if those grades are not up to par though, as it all depends on how many people are applying to the program and what their averages are. Just the other day my mum was telling me that she spoke to a lady whose daughter got accepted into an RPN program with like a 65 in grade 11 uni math. The best thing you can do right now is get the best grades you can in school (i'm assuming you're in grade 12?) and make adjustments to your plan along the way, if need be. If you don't get into pre health or the RPN program, and I have confidence that you'll get into pre health at the very least, you can always upgrade your marks through summer school, night school, or even online with ILC.

Oops I didn't notice this was posted in 2013, not 2014 lol. Oh well, maybe it will help someone who stumbles across it. Hope everything worked out for you.

Hello. I know this is a bit late, but I noticed no one answered so I hope I can still be helpful. I was at Fanshawe a few weeks back because I too want to do pre health (in 2015 though). From what I understand, if you're starting in January, you go right through to September (I'm assuming there will be a week or two in between) and begin your nursing classes straight away, without the four month break in between. It sucks but at least after that you'll be on track and have regular summers starting in April like everyone else.

I guess that makes sense, seeing as so many people choose nursing as a second career. Thanks for the help :)

Wow, it's great to hear from someone who actually did the pre health route. Thanks for the advice :) Did you find pre health very challenging? In high school I got good grades in science (other than in grade 11) and my math marks were...okay at best, but I had to put in a good amount of extra work. I'm hoping I'll be able to get good grades in pre health

I have considered that actually. I actually started doing grade 12 functions online. I guess my only reservation is that it's not like it's one class, it's three. If I were to go down that route, I'd probably have to take another year off to finish up and I would really rather not do that if I can avoid. I want to get my foot in the door as soon as possible. Thanks for the encouragement, it means a lot :)