Thinking of starting a Nursing School..

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Hi, I am new to this site today and am hoping to find some advice. I live in Edmonton, AB., Im a single Mom of 2 Toddlers, I would Love to stay home with them, but in this day and age, unfortunately we need to work to survive. I am currently working full time at a service industry company and have been there for the past 12 years. The work is alot of heavy lifting and being quick on your feet. I am realizing it is a dead end job. I will never get part-time hours which is what I'de like, to have more time with my kids. A nearby college (CDI) is offering a 2year LPN course starting in March/2011. Tuition is $30,000. Nursing is something I've thought of doing for many years but have always been afraid to lose the security of my current job. Ideally I picture myself working in a Hospital. I have searched the job banks and its seems majority of companies hiring are nursing homes. I would prefer to work with all ages of patients and different cases, and not just be in a nursing home. Is this the reality for a new LPN grad? Starting out, should I expect to get alot of shift work, and late night hours? Im not sure if this is the wisest decision being a single Mom with 2 young Children, but I am hoping to start a Career that I will find more rewarding. I also read some nurses talking about a freeze on hiring.., is this current in Alberta and what does it mean for Nursing students. I would greatly appreciate any and all advice and thank you in advance for your time in reading and commenting :)

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

It is impossible to say what the job market will be like down the road but it would likely still be tough. Yes, shift work and late nights or night shifts would be part of the scenario. Hard to escape those in nursing.

$30 000 seems a little steep. I only paid half of that for my 2 year program in Ontario.

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yeah I thought that was steep too, norquest's tuition is half that price, but CDI said thats is all inclusive of all fees, so I figured extra's would be added on throughtout the 2 years at norquest?? not sure but I'll definately be looking into the major cost difference. How long have you been nursing and how did you start out? in a hospital, or nursing home?

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I work in one of the AHS hospitals that PN students do their time in. I've never heard of CDI having PN students.

I wouldn't risk $30K on an untried programme.

Traditionally new grad nurses rarely get hired into full time lines when there are a shortage of jobs. Part time or casual is what happens.

Acute care hires just as many new grads as Continuing Care.

It's the luck of the draw really what the job market will be like 2-3 years down the road.

Look at the AHS careers page. You'll see what is available.

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Hello, Edmonton is in Alberta, Canada isn't it? Does anybody know if a LVN from the US could work in Canada, like BC for instance?

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Hi Fiona, thank you for your input. CDI college has ran/runs this course in BC successfully and have just been approved to run their first one here starting March. I would feel better if they had been running it here for years with success, but I guess they need to start somewhere. Their tuition is almost double what norquest charges so I'll need to look more into why that is. What does AHS stand for, and what is acute care? Are most part-time and casual positions, evening and wknd shifts? I really appreciate your feedback.

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Sounds like a good fit for you. That is a lot of money, I've never heard of LPN costing that much, at least in BC.

I have a lot of friends that have finished their LPN in the Lower Mainland, BC and the general consensus was it's hard to find a job if you don't have an "in" at a facility already.

I think lots of things are changing though, I heard LPN's are being give more responsibilities, practically replacing RN's in some cases. This is for BC though...don't know how it differs in AB.

Good luck to you though! Good on your part to take some initiative!

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Hi Fiona, thank you for your input. CDI college has ran/runs this course in BC successfully and have just been approved to run their first one here starting March. I would feel better if they had been running it here for years with success, but I guess they need to start somewhere. Their tuition is almost double what norquest charges so I'll need to look more into why that is. What does AHS stand for, and what is acute care? Are most part-time and casual positions, evening and wknd shifts? I really appreciate your feedback.

My first thought after reading this is "how long have you lived in Alberta?"

AHS is Alberta Health Services. Yup, those guys always in the media with the cutbacks, hiring freezes, the Doctors rebelling in the ER against Steady Eddie and the whackjobs in the Leg.

Acute Care is the hospital area of care for patients needing treatment.

Continuing Care is long term care, care of mentally or physically disabled people.

Pretty much every nurse in any type of facility works rotating shifts with every other weekend at work. M-F day shifts are few and far between. I don't have enough seniority for one and I've been nursing over a decade.

I would wait for Norquest. $30K for an untried programme is insane. Norquest has had problems retaining instructors in the past for the PN programme, I don't know where CDI is going to find instructors that are any good. Over the last few years, we've seen instructors with less than five years working experience who are often lacking in skills. As a result much of the actual hands on training has been winding up on the shoulders of the floor nurses (who receive no payment for mentoring students).

Find out how many of the students in their programme are going to be EI funded. How long their instructors actually nursed.

Some of the for profit schools are basically there to collect as much as they can from the government and turn out poorly prepared students. Kind of like those diploma places you see advertised on US tv channels.

Norquest has a terrific reputation, high CPNRE pass rate.

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Thanks again for all the great info. I've lived in Alberta almost all my life. We on the outside of nursing do not call the/a hospital AHS so when you said you see or work with PN students at one I didnt know what it was.

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I would recommend choosing a different school. As Fiona mentioned, $30,000 for a two year program is insane. I'm paying less than that for my degree.

I live in Vancouver, and in my limited experience as a student, CDI does not have a great reputation. It is along the lines of Sprott Shaw, etc. in which you are paying at lot of $$ for poor instruction and poor equipment. Yes, there is no wait list, but I believe you really suffer from that, both in high cost and poor education.

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@JASN --- Thanks! I couldn't remember Sprott Shaw for the life of me. It was a huge of topic of discussion here a while ago. They made all sorts of promises to people who were EI funded about five years ago.

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Thanks again for all the great info. I've lived in Alberta almost all my life. We on the outside of nursing do not call the/a hospital AHS so when you said you see or work with PN students at one I didnt know what it was.

The AHS logo is on every ambulance and out front of every hospital in the province. That funny looking blue green cross thingie. It's been all over the media when hiring freezes, ER wait times, and Dr. Duckitt were being discussed.

Knowledge of the health care system is part of the education of a nurse. They need to know about the system they will be working in. The Nursing programme is intense and they aren't going to spoonfeed the basics.

Try googling AHS, Alberta Health Services and your eyes will be opened.:eek:

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