Sheridan College RPN program

[Maxg1983]

I am still trying to decide on which route to go for my nursing career. I will be sending out applications in the next few weeks and deciding on the PRN or RN route.

I am thinking of going to Sheridan College and wondering if anyone has taken the PRN prgram there and/or the pre req's university level?

I am interested in how you found the program etc.. Any help / advise would be appreciated.

[sd.persaud]

I went to Sheridan college for the only reason it was close to my house. My only major problem there was at the particular time I was at the school, their placements were horrible. There were too many community placements (Long-term facilities) vs hospitals. I had 3 semesters of long-term placements, where one was outrageously far. I lived in Mississauga and it was in some small town near vaughan. And trust me it's a waste of your time as there is barely anything to learn or do in nursing homes. Numerous students and I petitioned and only then did they start to take some action on the issue. By 4th semester I finally ended up at Trillium but that was only a 2 month placement and my pre-grad I went to Baycrest but even there, their hospital section was for geriatrics. By then I was sick of being around seniors.

I am not sure if things have changed much, but other colleges especially Humber has a history of connections with many hospitals allowing you to be place there even as early as 2nd semester. If you want to work in a hospital then the best choice is Humber.

[Kittythestudentnurse]

If you want to learn a lot of practical skills fast, and work in 2 years, go the RPN route. If you have 4 years to learn theory and skills, and you don't need to work asap, consider going the RN route. a lot of hospitals are switching to hiring RPNs now (because it costs less), and the scope of practice has expanded to include a lot of skills that were previously reserved for RNs. If you do RPN first, but want to be an RN eventually, consider that you will have to do an extra year of school to bridge from RPN to RN.

If you do go the RPN route, GBC offers placements at hospitals. It all depends on the facilities that the placement coordinator is trying to get into, and which ones accept placements from that particular college. If you are hoping to get into one of the big hospitals downtown Toronto, don't hold your breath. They don't take RPN students (I'm talking about Sick Kids, PMH, St. Mike's, etc), only RN students.

Check out the pdf at this website: Nursing Registration Exams Report 2012 - CNO

It will give you an idea about how well students are prepared by each school, based on how they did on the licensing exams...

Best of luck to you!