FAQ
Please note: These answers are provided by students and are based off experience. There may be some differences year to year based on administration, clinical placements, or the nursing curriculum. If there are any drastic differences within your year, please let us know so we can keep this page as relevant as possible!
First year
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Q: Is there a place where I can buy used textbooks?
A: Check out the Facebook page where upper years post all their textbooks for sale!
Lakehead Nursing Textbook & Scrub re-sell
Facebook Marketplace is also a good place to look!
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Q: When will my scrubs arrive?
A: Scrub delivery varies from year to year. Typically they arrive before the end of the fall semester. First year students, do not worry, you will receive your scrubs before your first Clinical placement in Long Term Care.
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Q: When will I find out about my Long Term Care placement?
A: Your clinical instructor will email you once groups have been made. This usually happens in early January.
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Q: Why do certain clinical groups have different due dates for assignments?
A: Due dates are assigned by clinical instructors and they can be different between groups. Just follow the dates established by your instructor even if they are different than your friends.
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Q: What is an OSCE?
A: An OSCE is an assessment of your clinical skills. You will have to perform either a neuro or abdominal assessment and either a respiratory or cardio assessment for an examiner. They only take 15 minutes and you'll have plenty of opportunities to practice in lab or at the LUNA OSCE prep nights, so don't worry!
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Q: How do I submit the required clinical documents?
A: Clinical documents are submitted to the Synergy portal where they are verified by a third party. The final verification requires payment and you must receive a "pass" by your given due date, which is typically in October. Your documents ust be reverified annually.
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Second year
Q: What is bootcamp?
A: Bootcamp traditionally happened during the first two weeks of fall term in 2nd year. You will spend 2 days a week for 2 weeks (4 days total) learning and practicing new clinical skills. It's a lot of work, but don't worry, your clinical instructor is there to teach and support you through it all! You will find out your bootcamp dates/times at the same time as you find out about your placement.
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Q: When will I find out about my fall placement?
A: Your fall placement is once per week, on either Thursday or Friday. The remaining day (out of Thursday/Friday) you attend skills labs on campus. Placements are 8 hours and can be day or evening shifts. You will find out your specific details late August/early September once groups have been made. Subject to change. ​
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Q: Do I have to re-submit clinical documents?
A: You must have your documents reverified through Synergy. This may require you to upload additional documents or updated documents for anything that has expired or will expire during the upcoming year. Clinical documents for second year must receive a pass by June 1st to qualify for clinical in September. Documents must be reverified annually.
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Q: What is research and will I have to do it?
A: You will be expected to go to your unit the day before your shift and research your assigned patient(s). You will have to prepare a worksheet, guidelines, and drug cards about your patient so you are ready to go once you arrive on the floor the next day. If your patient has been discharged before your shift, you will typically shadow your supervising nurse or research another patient the day of depending on your Clinical Instructor. It is advised to start preparing guides/drug cards during the summer leading into second year.
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Q: When will I find out about my winter placement?
A: Winter placement is 2 days a week. 4-year students typically have their placement Tuesday/Wednesday and compressed on Thursday/Friday, though this may change year to year. Again, shifts can be days or evenings. You will get an email from your clinical instructor or the LU clinical coordinator sometime over the winter break. Your clinical groups may remain the same or change throughout the year. Your clinical instructors change with every different placement.
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Q: Do I need to buy another lab kit?
A: It's up to you. The lab kits for 1st and 2nd year are the same but if you want new equipment to work with then consider buying a new one. Most people do just fine with their 1st year kit.
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Q: How many pairs of scrubs do I need?
A: For first year you where fine with one pair. When you have 2 clinical days back to back (starting in year 2), it's much easier to have 2 pairs. After that it's up to you how many pairs you want based on how often you do laundry. Note: It is mandatory that you wear student scrubs all the way through the program and that you arrive to each clinical shift wearing a clean pair of scrubs.
third year - Compressed
Q: How does 'third year' in the compressed program work?
A: Your 'third year' will be during the summer between year two and three. Your summer will be composed of two 6-week blocks each with 3 weeks of class followed by 3 weeks of clinical placement. You will have the opportunity to work in 3 different settings across the weeks. Although you cannot choose the order of your placements, you will be given the choice between maternal and peds. Your tentative end date in the summer is towards the end of July.
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Q: What about that optional placement we can do in the summer that will allow us to finish early?
A: If you choose, you are able to fast track your fourth year and get one of your placements out of the way during the month of August. By doing this, you will finish the program by the February reading week. This placement will be an acute care preceptorship and must be done in Thunder Bay or Northwestern Ontario. This is also an option for collaborative students.
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fourth year
Q: When will the clinical coordinator come talk to us about 4th year?
A: Kathleen Green is the clinical coordinator for 4th year. She will host a Zoom session at an appropriate time to meet the needs of all students across the 4-year and compressed programs. Don't worry, they will give you enough time and information so you can make all necessary plans.
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Q: Can we leave Thunder Bay for placements?
A: Yes, there are two placements that can potentially be done out of town. You must have a 75% average to be considered eligible to leave Thunder Bay. This average is usually calculated from your 3rd year classes, although 2nd year classes may also contribute to this average.
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Q: Are placement choices based on grades?
A: Sort of. For your placement selection in 4th year, your class will be placed into 3-4 "phases" with Phase 1 being those students with the highest grades. It depends on your class's overall average, but generally, Phase 1 are those with averages over 80%, although in some cases it can be as high as over 85%. This average is based off 2nd and 3rd year nursing courses. When the selection system (HSPnet) opens, all students will rank their choices and placements will be assigned starting with Phase 1, then Phase 2, and so on.
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Q: If I leave Thunder Bay, will this phase system apply to me? If not, do I get to choose where I go?
A: If you do an out of town placement, the phase system does not apply to you for those placements only. You will be able to choose the city or region you want to go to but probably not the specific unit. Generally, if placement spots are available in the city you want, you will accept it regardless of the unit. If you choose to do both placements out of town, one must still be in the region of Northwestern Ontario. To go on an out of town placement that is not international, your average across all years must be at least 70%.
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Q: What's the deal with the New Zealand placement?
A: The New Zealand placement is an option for students who want to travel while completing their nursing degree. You would travel to NZ for the Jan-Feb placement of your 4th year. If you did the optional summer placement, then you would be done the program after that placement and could spend more time travelling. If not, you would return to Ontario to finish your last placement. For this placement, you would pretty much accept any unit that is offered to you, either at Auckland City Hospital or Starship Children's Hospital. The placements have been on really good units such as the ER or the cardiology unit in the past. To do an International placement you need to have a 75% average calculated on all years combined. There is no additional tuition cost for this placement but you will be responsible to arranging your own flights and accommodations. There is a travel scholarship to help cover some of these expenses available through myAwards on your myInfo account.
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Q: Do fourth years get a reading week?
A: Yes. You are not allowed to be on clinical during reading week.
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Q: How early can fourth years finish clinical in December?
A: You are expected to take shifts throughout the entire 6 week allotted time for clinical, however you do not have exams during the winter exam period so students are usually finished clinical just before the start of December.
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Q: How do we complete our mandatory 10 hours of lab?
A: The 10 hours of lab are scheduled through the clinical coordinators. A google doc will be sent out to all students and students are expected to choose time slots that work best for them. The labs are IV/CVAD, palliative care, and code blue.
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Q: What days of the week do fourth years have clinical?
A: Fourth years work clinical shifts any day of the week at any time (days, evenings, nights, and weekends). This also depends on where you are given a placement, some places like ambulatory care, OR, or surgical day care operate on a Monday-Friday day shift schedule, however most floor nursing requires shift work. Sometimes you have some ability to chose shifts based on your preceptor’s schedule but you are required to get 27 x 8hrs or 18 x 12 hrs for a total of 216 hours.
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Q: Where can I get a serology report done?
A: You need to get a requisition from a physician for a serology report. You can get one from your family physician or from a doctor at a walk-in clinic. Once you have the requisition, you can just go to any lab (like LifeLabs) and have it done. You can also obtain a requisition from Lakehead's Student Health and Wellness - Call ahead to book an appointment!
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Q: Where can I get the required immunizations?
A: You can get them from a health care provider or from Lakehead's Student Health and Wellness - Call ahead to book an appointment!
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Q: Where can I get a criminal record check?
A: If you live within Thunder Bay, you can get your record from the Thunder Bay Police Service. If you live outside the city, use Ontario Provincial Police. When you request a record check you must submit the letter provided by the school to confirm the nature of the request in order to process the record check.
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Q: Where can I get a TB test done?
A: You must get a TB test done from a health care provider. This can be done by appointment on campus at Student Health and Wellness. Most walk-in clinics will provide a TB-skin test but call ahead to make sure. You can also get them done by your family physician or at an NP clinic. You may be required to pay about $30-$50 for this test. Note: The Thunder Bay District Health Unit DOES NOT provide TB tests for students.
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Q: What is a mask fit and where do I do that?
A: Occasionally in clinical you will need to wear an N95 mask when a patient is on airborne precautions. A mask fit is a test that is done to determine your unique mask size. Mask fit sessions are occasionally offered on campus, but any provider is accepted.
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Q: What do I need for First Aid?
A: All students must have their BLS certification. It could be listed as "Basic Life Support", "Basic Life Support (HCP)", "CPR BLS (HCP)" or "BLS Provider." As long as your certificate contains a version of "Basic Life Support" or "BLS", it will be the correct certificate. All BLS certificates have a one year expiry. Regardless of the date of expiry on the BLS certificate, the School of Nursing will extend expiry to 2 years. ON-LINE COURSES ARE NOT ACCEPTED. You must attend the course in person. Some providers will do the theory portion on-line and that is acceptable but the balance of the course (physical part) must be done in-person. More info HERE
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Q: What scrubs am I expected to wear for labs and clinical?
A: Refer to the School of Nursing uniform policy, link below. The scrubs can be purchased from Uniform Pros in the color postman blue for tops, and postman blue or black for bottoms. Tops must have the BScN Student embroidery as stated in the policy. LUNA also sells second hand scrubs for $15 per top and $15 per bottom, keep an eye on our Instagram for purchasing dates! Uniform Policy: CLICK HERE
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Q: Where can I learn more about clinical documents and the School of Nursing?
A: The School of Nursing site has lots of key information :) CLICK HERE
Can't find the answer to your question? Contact us below and we'll do our best to answer it!
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