UBC nursing school vs. college nursing

Hey MV!

i've been doing some research over the last week about what my future plan is. I currently attend SFU general sciences but my career goal is to be a nurse. I would want to be in obstetrical nursing, neonatal nursing, or labour and delivery nursing. All of these are sorta in the same field (delivery babies, newborn baby care) but SFU does not offer anything with nursing.

i've been hearing different suggestions, to transfer to college for nursing (eg: douglas or langara, kwantlen) but i don't really want to just because i love sfu right now and i dont want to waste my hard work in my first semester. Or i've been hearing to go into UBC nursing school. Im not quite sure right now what i want to do but i wanted to ask MVers for opinions/suggestions! has anyone gone through the same thing? or is going through it atm? need info!

ALSO! some info about nursing, do you think there's a lot of job opportunities? salary wise? benefits? pros/cons?

ps: im planning to meet with a UBC nursing advisor to ask more questions, but for now just want to use MV for some info!

there will be more old people, need more nurses!

Have you thought about becoming a midwife? There's a midwifery program at UBC that pretty much guarantees you'll have a job when you graduated in 4 years. (It's a BSc. in Midwifery)

There is a need for nurses and it's quite apparent but the government is very finicky and you can find yourself without a nursing job for at least a year. (Same thing with anything in healthcare right now). I'm biased and would say UBC LOL... but really based on what you're saying I think you might wanna check out midwifery? Being a midwife kinda gives you more independence, you can pretty much help a woman give birth at home and not be under the control of a doctor etc. The con is that it's difficult to get in so you really need a lot of experience in the hospital or related fields.

**Job shadowing is not allowed in BC by law, the only way to get around it is if you know a doctor or nurse, etc. already who's fine with you tagging along.

thanks ELLE! i was hoping you would reply since i've read many posts on ubc and your comments are the most informative :$
i would want to check out midwifery but im more interested in working for a hospital, at first i wanted to be an obstetrician/gynecologist but wayy too many years of school and med school (ekk!) haha, yeah if i CAN, i wouldnt want to leave sfu, but if i have to, i would try to transfer to UBC which sounds hella difficult.. but right now i want to see if theres a loophole where i can finish my degree at sfu, and maybe do nursing at ubc afterwards

You can definitely do that but it'll take longer. Just look at UBC Nursing as "grad school" hahaha so after you finish your Bachelors, go to UBC for another Bachelors?

I have a ton of friends that did nursing at Langara and some did it at UBC. From what they've told me, the concensus seems to be that college Nursing is significantly more hands on. At Langara, they start working with patients in the second semester and the entire program has been shortened to 10 semesters (a little over 3 years).

As for job prospects, it really depends. Most of the people I know in nursing have found jobs right after they graduated (most graduated last year) However, I've heard others graduating this year complaining that nursing is oversaturated now and there's a job shortage. I think getting a job depends more on WHEN you graduate rather than WHERE you graduate.

Whatever your decision is, apply for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Douglas, Langara, Kwantlen, etc ASAP. I was accepted into Kwantlen's BSN program right after high school but for Langara, I just got accepted for this Fall (I applied to Langara at the same time as Kwantlen and Langara was serious about a 2 year waiting list). If you get accepted, take the opportunity. 1st semester wasted is nothing!

There are a lot of job opportunities (especially in the interior and other provinces such as Alberta).

i had a friend that was in the exact same situation you are in (sfu science, but want to do nursing). she ended up going to langara since she felt the program their suited her the best. i think you should doing some research on each institutions nursing program and see which one fits your career goal better. at the same time dont be narrow minded (not saying you are), just keep your options opens (e.g. look into midwifery ... which is a really weird word lol).

For your BSc, it matters little where you get it; it's all about the experience and how you present yourself (ie, in a CV) when you're looking for a job. Wherever you go, you have to really apply yourself and "learn to be a nurse" so-to-say. The main differences would be access to certain facities/hospitals/clinics (which you'll have to look up if you want to compare schools), but honestly, if you put in that extra mileage to get that extra volunteer experience or internship or award or whatever (insert impressive looking thing), you'll get places.

PS, Midwifery is also a very good program if you want to focus on obstetrical , neonatal, or delivery. Just know that staying local is not your only option. I recently met two students in third year? of McMaster's Midwifery program (in Hamilton, ON), and they told me they considered going across the country for the same program, but UBC has very limited spots available in Midwifery per year (10 vs 20 respectively).

I wanted to go into Nursing before, although I was in UBC, I would have gone to college had I gone into Nursing. Both student nurses and other Nursing instructors I met recommended a nursing program in college over UBC. That's because UBC's Nursing program is only 2 years long whereas colleges are 4 years. So UBC students are behind 2 years in terms of practicum experience. And in Nursing, this is going to be really important. You could also be missing out on networking opportunities if you do a 2 year program over 4.

I would say talk to the department advisors of the different schools and ask them about the Nursing programs and make your decisions from there because you will find each schools have different policies in place (i.e. Langara has a very strict grade and attendance policy, you're going to be working really far away when you do Community Nursing in BCIT). For obstetrician and neonatal nursing, you can take it as a specialty in BCIT after you've finished your BSN.

To add to what Delster said about Langara's nursing program:

You can only miss a max. of 3 classes. The instructors talk to you and if you miss more you're likely to be kicked out.
If you get lower than a C+ in any one class, you'll be kicked out of your term and you'll have to reapply for a later term.

my friend is in UBC okanagan doing nursing, she was already having practical experiences in a nursing home in 1st year. It's a B Sc in Nursing there (4 years)

Whoops sorry, UBC Okanagan is a four year Nursing program; UBC Vancouver is a 2 year Nursing program, you transfer in on your 3rd year.