Vcc Nursing current students any help?

fleetfoxRN · May 25, 2011

Hello! I plan on going to VCC (Vancouver community college) this Fall 2011. I just wanted to know if any current students would have any helpful information about what to expect?

I'm not from that area but I went to a collaborative nursing program in Ontario and just graduated. I started at the community college first then to the University.. I found the college was better since it had smaller classes and Uni students were usually in pharm classes with other science students so their pharmacology wasn't nursing based.

How large are the classes? There are sections usually in community colleges. There are usually 40 students per section.. my community college usually had 200 students to begin with.

How is everyone grouped? Do you stay in class formation or do you get put into groups? See above. we had small groups when we had health assessment (usually 8 students per group) because it's too much to have large groups and learn cath care or IM injections..

How much studying is necessary per week or day etc? I never studied every week, not until I knew an exam was coming up. I usually started a week ahead when I knew an exam was coming up and I would study a solid 3 hours a day. I wasn't one to cram at the last minute.

Is a car necessary in your first year? Is it helpful to have a car? I needed a car since there is no bus route near my house. My school was on the otherside of town.. and you'll need one when you have placement. My placements were at hospitals, community access centres, elementary schools.. some aren't on bus routes.

Any additional expenses on top of tuition, books, uniforms etc? I'm not sure about over there but after I graduated, it's now mandatory students buy Univresity uniforms. Books are bloody expensive. If you can get a used one, great. Some books I bought and I never needed. Wait till you go to classes first to find out if you NEED the books. Don't buy books before classes start. You'll need to buy your stethescope (over 100 bucks) and there's other equipment you'll need to buy that will have cath kits, IV kits, dressing change kits.. those are helpful.

How many papers are required per a term approx? (I can write but it's not my favorite)

Which term was/is the hardest so far? We had to write journals (using the LEARN format) after each clinical day and ..1st year, I had 2 papers. One each semester. 2nd year, i had 2 papers. 3rd year... I had a couple of papers for my stats class and for electives in university and 4th year my semester consisted of my directed study, which was being graded on my paper, only. So, learn your APA and clean up on your grammar, spelling and punctuation. You'll have to start liking to write because those papers are worth a good 30% of your grade. My final paper was worth 60% of my grade

I thought 2nd year was the toughest.. I had an exam every single week. No lie. Every tuesday I had an exam. OB, Peads, Pharmacology.. god, it was a nightmare. 3rd year was hard because you had the electives (you have to take electives) on TOP of my nursing studies. So... I was taking like, womens studies plus some climate and atmosphere course while i had to study nutrition, theory, go to clinical.. etc. It was rough. I lost a lot of weight from the stress of it all. TIME MANAGEMENT IS KEY.

Overall how is your experience in the program so far? I enjoyed it. I took graphic design before and I just graduated last month and I'll be writing my CRNE exam in exactly one week and have been studying for a 4 weeks. It's a lot of work, takes a lot of time and dedication and if you don't put proper time aside to focus on your school work and manage your time.. you will drown. Trust me.

I am not totally sure how the program works, class time then clinical/practicums etc? We had one clinical day a week.. 8 hours. 72 hours in total. My 4th year I had to have 192 hours each semester, plus I had classes.

I will ask the program staff soon but I would like a students perspective first! Any other information would be great!!

Thanks

Finally, make a good solid group of friends in the course. There were people there who were like.. "i'm not here to make friends" sort of attitude, but getting jobs is part of who you know. Get to know your teachers. Make a good support group where you help each other out when you're stuck on something or just need to motivation to keep going. Sometimes it gets really hard.. and sometimes you find you make friends with people who are just there to ride your coat tails. I made that mistake. Make sure you're not out partying all the time because your school work will end up suffering.. I don't think I could have went to school at 19, because I wasn't mature enough. I'm 27 and graduating... but the average age of people in my course was like 30. Ah well.. anyone reading this who has the CRNE next Wednesday, good luck!

Fiona59 · May 26, 2011

VCC has produced some great nurses over the decades. Are you talking Langara or the downtown vocational campus?

Clinical placements used to be anywhere in the lower mainland, so it depends on start time for the institution and transit if you need a car.

Back in the day, nursing students were envied at Langara. They got an allowance to help pay for their busfare!

It seems with nursing school that every class has a different experience from the class/intake before them.

Just learn to go with the flow. Life is easier that way.

CapStudent · May 26, 2011

Well thank you!

I am attending Vancouver community college in September. I feel like I have looked at how to get IN the programs but forgot to ask what the actual program will be like. I know that it is an intense program. I am really excited to begin this journey. I am just worried about course loads, I am an older student as well and I am not sure if I can keep my job during school.

Fiona59 · May 26, 2011

Working and nursing school depends on you and your employer. Some people worked weekends and had no trouble. Others worked at restaurants for four hours a couple of times a week. Others worked at aides in LTC's. Just don't plan on working full time.

fleetfoxRN · May 26, 2011

yeah.. well, my work was pretty good with working around my schedule. I had to work at least a minimum of 4 hours a week, but on average I worked about 16. I had no life though to be honest with you and that was because I worked only minimally and it only covered my car insurance payments, cell phone payments and to buy an odd shirt or cardigan and if I "really" saved... I got my hair done. I couldn't afford to go out. (that's what my boyfriend is for ) I have worked at my current part time job throughout nursing school and had a great rapport with my manager so they didn't bug me about not being able to work as much...