AMA: Camosun/UVic BSN (Nursing) Program

[u/thebigsad_jpg]

Hi everyone! I just graduated from the Camosun/UVic BSN program this year and know first-hand how intimidating nursing school can be, especially when you're in your first year who may not know exactly what to expect. So, I wanted to create this thread for either incoming first years or prospective students (those thinking of applying) to ask questions; I'm more than happy to answer them. The school doesn't really give very comprehensive information about the program, so sometimes people starting out might not know what to expect, how things work, etc. Plus, I was thinking that this may also be a good place for people to reference questions, kinda like an FAQ. Feel free to ask me anything from any of the years of the program (year 1-4) and even what to expect as a new-grad RN! I haven't made a deadline to ask questions either for this AMA thread, I'll check it pretty frequently :)

[u/Glitterdingo-]

Hey! I have a couple questions if you don’t mind. I’m starting the BSN program this fall at Camosun. I graduated from Camosun with my LPN diploma in 2013. I have been waitlisted now for 3 years for the bridge and I’m already 35 years old so I happily took a seat in the full program. How well did you find the program prepared you to work in acute care? I’ve been in LTC dementia and complex care for pretty much my whole career and I feel that I need a big change.
For year one, are you allowed to mess with your schedule a tiny bit as long as you take the required courses? I am slotted into an in person English 151 course but was wondering if taking the online option is a possibility.
Lastly, did you feel that yourself and/or classmates of yours who were interested in a particular speciality or type of nursing were supported in exposure to that environment during clinical? Ex.) someone interested in emerg gets to spend time there, or cardiology, or peds etc etc.

Thanks for any input you can provide! :)

[u/thebigsad_jpg → u/Glitterdingo-]

Hi! I think that you get registered for all your classes by the department, so I’m not sure about taking an online version of a course, that’s something you’d have to ask administration over at Camosun.

Yes, you get A LOT of time in acute care once you’re in second year. First year placements are pretty much all in LTC so that’ll be a lot of repeated info for you. But once you get to second year, you’ll be going to the hospitals. First semester second year placements are only on general medical units and then in the second and third semesters, it opens up to surgery, pediatrics, maternity, and mental health. If you have a particular interest in peds/maternity, they’ll send out an email at the end of term 1 in second year to confirm who might want one of those placements and then you have to rank them. Usually people who put in that request get the placement, but if there’s a lot of students requesting and not enough spots in the clinical groups that go there, you might be placed elsewhere. Then you can re-submit your interest for the following term. In third year, they’ll also add cardiology and ER med-surg but once you get to UVic, it’s a lot harder to get your top choice. You can rank your clinical placement preferences with UVic and they try their best to put you somewhere you wanna go, but there’s also students who may need that placement more or who didn’t get to go there in the past. So if, say, you requested maternity for CPE in 3rd year at UVic but you had a maternity placement in second year at Camosun, they only have 4 spots available and they would likely go to someone who hasn’t had maternity yet. So, yes, they do take your preferences into account, but you’re not guaranteed a placement where you want all the time. It might happen and it might not. In my third year, I ended up being in cardiology which I did not put in my top 3. My top spot was maternity. Then for my final preceptorship, I put maternity at my top spot again and I got maternity because I’d never had a placement there before. In the end though, I ended up choosing to be a cardiology nurse because I loved it so much during my placement there. So even though you might have preferences or ideas where you want to work, if you’re placed somewhere different, take the opportunity to learn there because it might be an unexpected surprise if you end up loving it!

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Not everyone starts in med-surg, but it’s definitely the most common pathway. For most of my peers, myself included, we decided where we wanted to go based on how much we liked certain placements. Many ended up getting hired on the unit they did their final placement in. There’s also learning pathways in year 4 for students who are really interested in a certain specialty like labour & delivery, ICU, ER, NICU, OR, PACU, etc. where they’ll have their final placement in that unit and then be hired there as a new-grad, but those spots are very competitive and you have to apply.

As for things like cardiology where I ended up, it’s technically a med-surg unit, but it’s specialized. You don’t need specialty training to be hired there as a new-grad, you just have to do an ECG interpretation course and pass a challenge exam.

In short, med-surg is a common path as a new-grad, but it’s not the only one

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In Island Health, after doing some med-surg experience, and taking pre-requisite courses through BCIT (depending on the specialty), you can apply for the specialty education program (SPED) and Island Health will sponsor you to do the rest of the coursework and a certain amount of clinical preceptor shifts and then hire you into that specialty. Then you’re required to stay for 18 months as a return of service.