Practical Nurse Professional Diploma

Introduction

Practical Nurses perform nursing assessments, provide nursing care and implement prescribed medical treatments. You will participate in classroom instruction, skills development in the lab, and practicum experience in continuing care and acute care settings. Upon successful completion of the program and the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Exam (CPNRE), you are eligible for licensure with the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (CLPNA). This is a Nationally Accredited program. When you graduate from our program, you will be eligible to be licensed in any province in Canada. Columbia College’s Practical Nurse Professional Program is licensed through Alberta Government Private Vocational Training Branch and is approved by the College of Licensed Practical Nurses (CLPNA) through its Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) which is the licensing body for practical nursing in the province of Alberta. Learn more about becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse in Canada by viewing the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta’s document: Becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse in Canada – Requisite Skills and Abilities.

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Employment Success

2018-2019: 95% Employment Rate 2018-2019: 98% Graduation Rate

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Faculty

Click Here to see a list of Faculty Members for this program.

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Employers of Graduates

The following is a list of organizations that have hired graduates of this program:

• Alberta Health Services
• Foothills Medical Centre
• Alberta Children’s Hospital
• Rockyview General Hospital
• Peter Lougheed Hospital
• Carewest
• Revera
• Bayshore
• Wing Kei Centre
• Intercare
• Bethany
• Brylu Staffing
• Nurse Next Door
• The Brenda Strafford Trust
• Primary Care Network

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Program Description

Columbia’s Practical Nurse Professional Program students have consistently achieved some of the best results in Canada. Our reputation for graduating highly competent professionals is something we are very proud of. This program is one of the few in North America that follows a Mastery Learning Model.

• This is a full-time, 2 year diploma program that is completed in 80 weeks (approximately 20 months).
• Classes are normally scheduled to run between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. During the program, students should be prepared to attend classes that may be scheduled in the evenings and on weekends.
• Designed to give students Practical Nursing theory and clinical experience in continuing care and acute care
• Practicums (clinical) will be scheduled according to the co-operating health care employer’s availability of clinical practicum placements. This means that the 722 hours of practical experience may be scheduled during the day, evening, night and/or weekends.
• Clinical placements will need to be scheduled in alternative locations. The College may be required to delay the date of completion until a clinical placement can be arranged.
• In the lab, the facilitator to student ratio is 1:12. In the practicum, the facilitator to student ratio is 1:8. In the classroom, the class sizes may be up to 27 students.

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Mastery Learning in the Practical Nurse Program

Columbia’s Practical Nurse Diploma Program students have consistently achieved some of the best results in Canada. Our reputation for graduating highly competent professionals is something we are very proud of. This program is the only one we have found in Canada that follows a Mastery Learning Model. Columbia’s Mastery Learning Model provides students with up to 500 additional hours of free Mastery Learning tutorials over the course of the 20 month program. The tutorials provide learners with support from faculty, who work with them on strengthening competencies and skills and working towards mastery. Our free tutorials have proven to be an excellent resource for the students.