Tools to Succeed Without the Guarantee

Death and taxes - that's it. Those are the only two things that are guaranteed in life. All other guarantees are worthless.

Your vacuum that's guaranteed for life, will most definitely pack it in. Your rain gear that's supposed to last through a dozen hurricanes will start to feel the effects of time in a year or so. People say Taylor Swift is guaranteed to die a spinster, but even the shaky one could find love…eventually.

The moral: Nothing is guaranteed. So when an NCLEX prep program guarantees you will pass the National Nursing Exam, they're not being completely honest. That's why PRIMED Education never makes that empty promise.

PRIMED offers one of the best NCLEX prep courses in the country, preparing nurses for the exam that will allow them to enter their chosen field. The course material covers all of the fundamental concepts, with an intensive review session. Students are exposed to a sampling of NCLEX-RN style questions so there are no surprise exam elements. The course also reinforces the core competencies that define the nursing profession.

It is the ideal package of resource material, review questions and computer adaptive assessment.

But does it guarantee a pass on the NCLEX? No.

The PRIMED course is the last instrument in a work belt laden with tools. Those tools were acquired over four years of nursing school. They cannot be retrieved from a 2-day course, no matter the intensity.

Students who have not put in the work and effort will fall short. This is a fact. But, students who are looking to refine their existing skills, while practicing NCLEX assessment-like questions, will improve their chances of securing a pass on the exam. And every advantage helps…

If you are considering enrolling in a prep course that guarantees a pass, think twice about what they are offering. How could an educator ever guarantee that their student had retained the necessary information to succeed? They can provide the information, explain the techniques and demonstrate the skills, but if the student does not prepare properly for their assessment, they will never succeed.

Don’t fall behind the curve. Improve your odds. Get PRIMED.

UBC Nursing Director Honoured with National Title

Ethel Johns, one of the founding directors of the University of British Columbia's nursing program, has been declared a Person of National Historic Significance. Close to fifty years after her passing, Johns is finally being given the recognition she deserves. Her award will put her amongst a distinguished group of Canadians that have been honoured with the title. Past recipients include Terry Fox, Marshall McLuhan, Emily Murphy and Emily Carr.

Johns’ push for a nursing program at UBC occurred eleven years after the higher education facility was opened. Her request for increased education for nurses at the University came at the perfect time. Canada had recently seen the value of nurses during their military engagements in Europe and the global pandemic of the Spanish Flu had brought the vulnerability of the human body major attention. Nurses were needed everywhere and schools were needed to train them.

At the time, there were only four faculties at UBC: Arts, Science, Agriculture and Applied Science. Nursing was placed within the Applied Science faculty and Johns was named official coordinator in 1919. During this period, she was also the Director of Nursing Services and Education at Vancouver General Hospital.

Before the program was established, nurses learned on the job or at limited training centres in hospitals. In fact, Johns flagship program was the first degree-granting program for nurses in the British Empire; quite an accomplishment for a nurse who learned her trade at a hospital in Winnipeg.

Now, close to a hundred years later, UBC is one of the many educational establishments offering degrees in nursing across Canada. Nursingstudents leave with an education that has its roots in the stubborn wishes of a feisty no-nonsense professional who worked tirelessly to promote the need for educated nurses.

Johns would go on to develop nursing programs across Europe and at the Ivy League American University, Cornell.

Famous Nurses in History: Calamity Jane

Martha Jane Cannary, better known to the public as Calamity Jane, was a woman with many hats. She was resourceful, intelligent, self-assured, rude, generous, caring, loud, obnoxious and a legend in her own time. A virtual paradox of character, she could entertain men as a dance-hall girl and drive a team of oxen over 500 kms. She was a crossdresser, a miner, a laundress, a sharp shooter, a prostitute, a storyteller, a scout for the army and for a short time, a nurse.

Calamity was a product of her upbringing. She was forced to start working at the age of twelve to support her younger siblings after both her parents died. Her desire for adventure and her free spirit kept her moving and she went on to explore half of North America, working in a variety of professions. Her skills at riflery and scouting made her a valuable commodity on the frontier.

One of the most famous towns that Calamity passed through was Deadwood. Immortalized in the HBO series of the same name, Deadwood was a lawless town that grew up around a gold claim. It was the scene of 'Wild' Bill Hickok's death and for a short period in 1878, the site of a minor small pox epidemic. It was during this outbreak that Calamity found herself entering the world of nursing.

Calamity took it upon herself to care for eight men that came down with the disease. The men were quarantined and Calamity offered her assistance. She used epsom salts and cream of tartar to care for the men. As a result of her work, five of her patients lived.

While her generosity and natural empathy could have easily lead her to a meaningful and rewarding career in healthcare, her preference for liquor, bawdy behaviour and cursing kept her from making nursing a serious career choice. She probably would have never given up her chaps for nursing scrubs.

-If you’re wondering about her name, rumour has it that fellow frontier drifters often used the term ‘courting calamity’ when referring to men that approached her.