rn to bsn for foreign nurse online??

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 26, 2008

hi, a friend of mine wants to come to canada from the west indies...she has an rn but the requirement in canada now is bsn. she needs to find the best, least expensive online rn-bsn program online/distance (either from the states/canada) preferably that doesn't have a clinical component.
any advice would appreciate it...thank you thank you thank you!!!:redpinkhe

I think you will find there will be some element of clinical component to do. Not all provinces ask for BSN

RNGrad2006 · Mar 26, 2008

hi, a friend of mine wants to come to canada from the west indies...she has an rn but the requirement in canada now is bsn. she needs to find the best, least expensive online rn-bsn program online/distance (either from the states/canada) preferably that doesn't have a clinical component.
any advice would appreciate it...thank you thank you thank you!!!:redpinkhe

Where in Canada does she want to go? I have heard that in Manitoba they are still allowing RN graduates without the BSN. I am Canadian but went to school in the US particularly as a mature student studying nursing and not wanting to wait 3-5 years to get into a program and then spend 4 years in school. Way too long of a process. I am still working on my BSN on a part time basis while working as I speak and hope to complete sometime next year. When I graduated I applied to BC and had to submit extensive documentation of why I felt my education roughly matched a BC education in terms of the pre-requisites on top of 2+ years of nursing school and my education was accepted. In order to get registered I would have to complete a 250 hour supervised practice experience as well as write the Canadian exam. If you have any further questions I may be able to help you with just PM me. My contact at the College of Registered Nurses of BC can be reached at: 604-736-7331 local 212. Her name is Lynn Cairns.

suzanne4, RN · Mar 27, 2008

Not all provinces require the four year degree at this time, but that is slowly changing.

But be aware that any of the on-line programs are going to have some component that will be required clinically. And it is very hard to get them approved to be done out of the country. They also usually require sometime at the minimum be spent in the US, whether a week-end every so often, or a full week at a time.

Trying to get this done out of the US is quite difficult to do. Even for the Canadian programs as well.

dayshiftnurse · Mar 27, 2008

thank you for the responses.

i didn't realize that not all the provinces require bsn...i thought all of them did.

it was mentioned that most of the rn/bsn programs require a clinical component...but i have heard of some that do not...wondering if anyone knows of those. also, MANY of the programs say that you would have to arrange for the clinical component in your own community...maybe that is more possible in the states, but in canada i would imagine this would be very hard to do, if not impossible (at least in toronto--they are very rigid about student placements, who gets to do them/who doesn't, and in general that whole system is not set up very well to do that.) so those type of programs i don't think are an option.

i find that the cdn rn-bsn programs are very rigid in their requirements and seem like a lot of barriers, not very easy at all. and long.

so thats why i was hoping there would be one offered through the states that is not too expensive. im thinking maybe excelsior really is the best choice at this point for her. any other suggestions??

thank you!!!:redpinkhe:nurse:

suzanne4, RN · Mar 28, 2008

Even Excelsior has clinical components that need to be done. And any time that one goes thru a non-traditional program, there are always times that it may not be accepted all over.

And as you have mentioned, Canada is quite strict on what they will accept and not accept.

Please make sure that what ever program that she finds, make sure that the province will accept the degree from there before she does a thing.

RNGrad2006 · Mar 28, 2008

thank you for the responses.
i didn't realize that not all the provinces require bsn...i thought all of them did.
it was mentioned that most of the rn/bsn programs require a clinical component...but i have heard of some that do not...wondering if anyone knows of those. also, MANY of the programs say that you would have to arrange for the clinical component in your own community...maybe that is more possible in the states, but in canada i would imagine this would be very hard to do, if not impossible (at least in toronto--they are very rigid about student placements, who gets to do them/who doesn't, and in general that whole system is not set up very well to do that.) so those type of programs i don't think are an option.
i find that the cdn rn-bsn programs are very rigid in their requirements and seem like a lot of barriers, not very easy at all. and long.
so thats why i was hoping there would be one offered through the states that is not too expensive. im thinking maybe excelsior really is the best choice at this point for her. any other suggestions??
thank you!!!:redpinkhe:nurse:

I looked into a few programs in Canada and you are right I think it would take longer to do as compared to the US ones. I was accepted at UBC which had a great program that could be done completely on line but they no longer offer that program. Because I moved to the US I decided to continue with my education in the US as opposed to Canada mostly due to my employer helping me with the cost of tuition and if I attended a school in Canada I would not be able to take advantage of tuition reimbursement. UVIC has something comparable to UBC and they would allow you to do your clinical component in your own community. I am sure there must be something comparable in other provinces as well. Have you looked into Athabasca University? It is not a BSN program but a BN program (Bachelors in Nursing). Not sure why it is only a Bachelors and not a Bachelors in Science since you still have to take Statistics etc... The advantage of Athabasca is that they are one of the most recognized distance programs I have ever encountered. I have attended several schools in the US and my credit from Athabasca was accepted at all of them. They even have regional accreditation to the US now. I only took a few classes at Athbasca but enjoyed the flexibility. It is not paced...you can take it as fast or slow as you like. My husband also did his whole degree at Athabasca. Good luck with your search. I tried to check with the RNABC to see what programs and educational requirements they would recommend but the only response I received was take the program and then have it assessed after the fact and we will let you know if it is accepted or not. Hardly helpful. I also looked into Excelsior at one point but I decided not to proceed due to the limitation and you never know where you may want to work at some point in the future. The clinical portion of Excelsior is also required for the BSN (post ADN) which is very stressful. I have heard that many fail and have to repeat the clinical portion more than once which is very costly...I think around $1500 each time. Before proceeding with anything I would research all choices very carefully.