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4 Useful Tips to Fund Your RN Bridging

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Some Internationally-Educated Nurses are asked to meet the nursing education requirement for licensure or to be eligible to sit the NCLEX-RN. The Colleges/Associations of RNs may require IENs to complete a Bridge to Canadian RN Program or RN Bridging course(s) in a College/Association-recognized school. Going through the RN Bridging is an investment. Investment requires funding.

Here are 4 helpful tips to fund your RN bridging program:

(1) Save
The most conservative yet practical way of funding your RN bridging is saving up ahead of time. Applicants who are willing to save must have information on the length and the cost of their RN Bridging Programs by contacting the accredited schools that offer it.

3 hurtful quotes on saving:
Stop buying things you don't need to impress people you don't even like! — Suze Orman
Money looks better in the bank than on your feet. — Sophia Amoruso
Beware of little expenses, a small leak sinks a great ship. — Benjamin Franklin

(2) Take a study loan or open a line of credit/credit line
Study loans can be publicly-funded that means loans are funded by the Federal and or provincial governments. Contact the respective Federal or provincial government agencies to inquire about taking a study loan. For private-funded study loans, contact the Immigrant Access Fund or your preferred bank. Lines of credit or credit lines are mostly offered by banks. Click here to understand credit line or line of credit. Maintain a good credit history.

(3) Study and work part-time/casual
If your RN Bridging program or schedule allows, you can study and work part-time/casual. This is possible for hybrid programs or those programs that are done online in combination with fix schedule on site class sessions plotted in an academic year, nursing laboratory and clinical rotation. This program allows students to plan ahead and make arrangements with their employers.  It helps make ends meet while studying and doing clinical rotation. Applicants can work as LPNs or Health Care Aides (PSWs, CCAs, etc) as these jobs pay above the minimum wage.

Here are the top 3 working student-friendly College/Association-accredited IEN training schools based on program length, intake, cost and schedule flexibility:

#1 Centre for Nursing Studies—St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador
Cost: Approximately 6,400 CAD
Hybrid online, scheduled classroom and nursing lab sessions on site. 3 months of the 16-month long full RN Bridging Program will be a clinical rotation in Newfoundland & Labrador. Association of RNs of Newfoundland & Labrador (ARNNL) or College of RNs of British Columbia (CRNBC)* referral letter(s) required. Click here for more information.

*For CRNBC applicants who are ineligible to enroll at Thompson Rivers University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia

#2 Mount Royal University—Calgary, Alberta
Cost: Approximately 7,000 CAD
Hybrid online, scheduled classroom and nursing lab sessions on site. 6 weeks of the 10-month long full RN Bridging Program will be the clinical rotation in a hospital in Calgary. College and Association of RNs of Alberta (CARNA) referral letter required. Click here for more information.

#3 Registered Nurse-Professional Development Centre—Halifax, Nova Scotia
Cost: 2,950 CAD
Hybrid online, scheduled classroom and nursing lab sessions on site, 3 months of the 12-month (maximum 13 months) long full RN Bridging Program will be the preceptor-led and instructor-led clinical rotation in a medical-surgical unit in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island. If required, 1 month online theoretical and 80-hour clinical specialty course on one of the following:  psychiatric, OB and pediatric nursing in any of the Maritime Provinces mentioned.  College of RNs of Nova Scotia (CRNNS) or Nurses Association of New Brunswick (NANB) or Association of RNs of Prince Edward Island (ARNPEI) referral letter(s) required. Maritime residence required. Click here for more information.

(4) Scholarship/study grant shopping
There are available provincial and Federal study grants and scholarship by keeping in touch with the right government agencies. The Canadian Nurses Foundation-Fondation des Infirmières et Infirmiers du Canada has scholarships and grants for Internationally-Educated Nurses.

If paying for education scorns the hell of you then the Québec RN pathway* may be the best option to choose as the 6-month long full-time study is subsidized by the Québec Government. There is a maximum of 3 intakes per year depending on the available funding. Québec residency required.

*Only 30 students are chosen per intake at John Abbott College in Montréal, the only English school recognized by the Ordre des Infirmières et Infirmiers du Québec (OIIQ). To have full. unrestricted RN license in Québec, applicants should demonstrate proficiency in French preceding or following successful sitting of the OIIQ RN exam.

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