Nursing

Students must demonstrate successful completion and satisfactory standing of all courses in semesters 1 and 2 before afvancing to subsequequnt semesters.

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

• Obtain a CREDIT (CR) in the nursing practice courses. In these courses, students are not assigned a letter grade, but are evaluated against College and Association of Registered Nurses Entry to Practice Standards explained by the instructors. If students meet those standards they will obtain CR and if students do not, they will receive NO CREDIT (NC), WITHDRAWAL (W), or a FAIL (F) for that course. A NC, W, or a F must be cleared (i.e. must successfully repeat the course) to advance to the next clinical course. Students are usually permitted to repeat any required course only once while in the nursing program.
• Students must attain a minimum grade of ‘C+’ in all nursing theory courses to maintain a satisfactory standing in the Nursing Program.
• Students who do not achieve a minimum grade of C+ grade in a nursing theory course will be required to repeat it, along with all corequisite nursing theory and practice courses and must meet with the Nursing Program Coordinator or designate to determine a progression plan.
• Students who receive a grade of “F” in a nursing practice course will be required to repeat it and the corequisite nursing theory courses. Students will be required to withdraw from the corequisite theory courses at the time of failure of the nursing practice course and meet with the Nursing Program Coordinator or designate to determine a progression plan. • Complete all courses in one term before continuing to the next term.
• 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 non-nursing courses (Semester 1 and Semester 2) require a minimum grade of C-.
• All nursing practice experiences are mandatory. Students who miss one or more lab/practice days may be at risk of not successfully completing the course. Students may be asked to withdraw from the course and complete the course requirements at a later date or they may be granted a deferral of term work pending availability of resources. Students will be required to meet with the Nursing Program Coordinator or designate to determine a progression plan.

Students that do not meet the above requirements, will be given an academic warning within the nursing program. If they do not meet the requirements a second time, they will be dismissed from the nursing program and not be able to reapply to the Nursing Program. (Please note that an “academic warning” within the nursing program is different than being put on “academic probation” by the College or by the University. Consult the Medicine Hat College calendar and the University of Calgary calendar for circumstances indicating academic probation.) Students dismissed from the nursing program, are not necessarily dismissed from the college and 140 MHC CALENDAR 2017/2018 could possibly continue in other college programs. Students dismissed from the nursing program once, can return to the nursing program but must wait until the next offering of the term from which the student was dismissed. Students must complete the nursing program in their second admission within seven years. Students can re-apply to the program only once.

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

Students clinical experiences may be at sites outside of Medicine Hat and may be scheduled at various hours, including evenings, nights, and weekends. Students 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 their standing in the program. Evaluations by instructors are largely based on the students day-to-day performance. Should the performance compromise patient safety and/or fall below acceptable professional standards of the program, the student will be asked to leave the clinical site and will receive Fail (F) 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 clinical courses 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. 

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

Faculty Regulations
In your 1st and 2nd year, you will follow the program regulations found in the MHC calendar.  In your 3rd and 4th year, you will follow the faculty regulations found in the U of C calendar.

Student Appeals
For student appeals in the 1st and 2nd year, follow the process outline in the MHC calendar and for appeals in the 3rd and 4th year, follow the process outline in the U of C calendar.

Dates and Deadlines
You will follow the MHC academic schedule for all four years of the program.  See the University of Calgary calendar for deadline information specific to U of C. (e.g. convocation).

You can explore short-term education abroad opportunities in countries such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Ecuador. Visit the International Mobility Program section to find out more.