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 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 (i.e. you must successfully repeat the course) for you to advance to the next clinical course.  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 Transfer Credit). Grades that are less than the minimum must be successfully repeated.
• 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 (semester 1 and 2) courses require a minimum grade of C-.
• 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 requirements at a later date or they may be granted a deferral of term work pending availability of resources.

If you do not meet the above requirements, you will be given an academic warning within the nursing program. If you do not 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 or by the university. Consult the Medicine Hat College calendar  and the University of Calgary calendar for circumstances indicating academic probation.) 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 nursing 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 complete the nursing program in your second admission within seven years of taking your first course ever with a BNUR  prefix. You can only re-apply to the program 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 program 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 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 sutdent 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 schedul for all fours years of the program.  See the U of Calgary calendar for deadline information specific to U of C. (e.g. convocation).