Nursing

Tuition Levels
Fees for the nursing program reflect tuition and extra costs associated with offering a degree at the MHC site. These extra costs are averaged across the nursing courses and are reflected as surcharges.

Duration of Program
Except with special permission of the Associate Dean (Undergraduate Programs) at the U of C, the BN degree must be completed within seven calendar years from the date of initial registration in the program.

Nursing Registration Examinations and Convocation
If you successfully complete the nursing program by December of your 4th year, you are eligible to write the Canadian Nurse Registered Exam in February. You will convocate from the U of C in June.

Faculty Regulations
In your 1st year, you will follow the program regulations found in the MHC calendar. When you are a U of C student, you will follow the faculty regulations found in the U of C calendar.

Student Appeals
For student appeals in the 1st and nd year, follow the process outlined in the MHC calendar and for appeals as a U of C student, follow the process outlined in the U of C calendar.Dates and Deadlines You will follow the MHC academic schedule except for deadline information specific to U of C (eg., convocation).

To maintain satisfactory standing you must meet all of the following conditions:

• Obtain a CREDIT (CR) in the clinical courses. In these courses, you are not assigned a letter grade, but are evaluated against standards explained to you by your instructors. If you meet those standards you will obtain CR and if you do not, you will receive NO CREDIT (NC) for that course. A NC must be cleared for you to continue in clinical courses. You might be able to continue in non-clinical nursing courses. You will usually be permitted to repeat any required course only once while in the nursing program.
• Obtain a minimum of a C in all non-clinical nursing courses (including courses for Advance Credit). Grades that are less than the minimum must be successfully repeated. If you receive a NC for a clinical course or less than a C for a class room course, you may or may not be able to re-take the course the very next semester.• Complete all 1st year courses before becoming a U of C student
• Maintain a GPA of 2.0 as a MHC student in each semester and an annual GPA of 2.5 as a U of C student
• All prerequisite support courses require a minimum grade of C-.

If you do not meet the above requirements, you will be given an academic warning within the nursing program. If you fail to meet the requirements a second time, you will be dismissed from the nursing program at the end of the semester in which you received the warning. (Please note that an “academic warning” within the nursing program is different than being put on “academic probation” by the college. Consult the Medicine Hat College calendar for circumstances indicating academic probation.) You may be able to continue in other nursing and non-nursing courses if you have received an academic warning. If you are dismissed from the nursing program, you are not necessarily dismissed from the college and could possibly continue in other college programs. If you are dismissed from the BN-TP or from the BN program, you can re-apply, but must wait 12 months from the end of the semester you received your second academic probation before you can re-enter the program. You must meet with the Nursing Program Coordinator immediately after dismissal from the program if you intend to re-apply. Re-acceptance will be based on conditions that will be presented to you at the time of dismissal. If you do not meet with the Nursing Program Coordinator, you cannot re-apply. You must complete the BN program in your second admission within seven years of taking your first course ever with a NURS prefix. You can re-apply to the program only once.

While the college will endeavour to inform you of your academic status in a timely manner, you are responsible for monitoring your own academic progress and informing the program coordinator if you have been unsuccessful in a course.

Your clinical experiences may be at sites outside of Medicine Hat and may be scheduled at various hours, including evenings, nights, and weekends. You are expected to make accommodation for commitments outside the program to fit this scheduling.

Participation in all activities related to clinical is mandatory. Failure to fully participate in clinical experiences may jeopardize your standing in the program. Evaluations by instructors are largely based on your day-to-day performance. Should your performance compromise patient safety and/or fall below acceptable professional standards of the program, you will be asked to leave the clinical site and will receive NO CREDIT (NC) for that course immediately.

Information related to your academic conduct and clinical performance at MHC may be shared with faculty members at the U of C.

• You may be required to produce a medical clearance to continue after an injury, illness, or surgery.
• When budgeting for your studies, remember that you will need to buy uniforms, appropriate shoes, lab supplies in both nursing and non-nursing courses, a watch with a sweep hand, a stethoscope, pay for CPR re-certifications, and pay travel and accommodation costs during your rural nursing clinical course and your preceptorship. You may also need another recent criminal check for some experiences. Access to a personal vehicle is required for experiences in the community.