RPN/LPN/RNA all the same???

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I've been looking for information on nursing and the different levels of nursing. I'm getting a little confused. Are RPN/LPN/RNA all the same??? Also, I heard from a friend that Practical Nursing is going to be phased out in Canada and everyone's going to have to be trained as an RN as of 2010. Is this true??? Any info will be great!

Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I work in a small hospital that is merged with the larger one in the next town.

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I am an RPN in Ontario(registered practical nurse) and my scope of practice is definitely not "completely different" from the RNs I work with.Our days and responsiblities are very much the same unless someone needs a blood transfusion or a PICC line flushed our days are pretty much the same.

Thanks, Lori.

My hospital out here has told us that by the end of the year PICCs will be within my scope of practice. Right now, it's only the piercing of the TPN or blood bag, insertion of an NG (trained to but hospital policy prevents), and central line care that separates the PN from the RN at work. In post partum its mgso4 ivs. In dialysis its the iv push of one med on return (the PN dialysis nurse can sc inject the med) and it's fewer than 1 in 6 patients that need it. Wound vacs have long been ours as well.

The full scope of practice of a PN is constantly expanding, the in house education never ending. We have in essence become the hospital trained RN of old out here.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Yeah it's pretty much like that here too. The hospital that I work for is very supportive of PNs and as you say in house training expands our scope to the max.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

I think there will always be some hospitals that are RN only but usually they are those that handle patients with very acute problems that require more advanced skills. I have noticed somewhat of a change in RPN utilization even in the past few years with many more rehab type hospitals using RPN's to their full scope. In Ontario, budgets often rule the day for better or worse.

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Specializes in LTC, Community.

I just finished school this year in ontario and my scope of practice is broader than what my fellow coworkers were when they finished (i worked as a ward clerk)

RPNs can start iv's, do major wound care, etc as long as they have been trained... St Joes, McMaster etc in hamilton have started now hiring RPNs... there are less and less RN students every year and increasing in RPN students... and until they shorten the bridge programs they won't have very many more RPN's bridging to RN...

nursing will have to change... but i do not see the RPN's being phased out...

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This question is aimed at Canadians to answer. The employment and education of nurses up here is very different to that of the US.

The CNA is looking at having the PN become the entry level of nursing up here, with nursing education being laddered from PN-RN-MSN-PhD.

Our basic course for a PN is a miniumum of four college semesters and includes the first year arts completed by BScN students.

While your input is welcome, I really doubt that most American posters have the knowledge to comment on nursing in Canada.

To put it bluntly, if my province did "phase" out LPNs, they would be short roughly 4,500 acute care NURSES.

Canada seems to have a lot of different titles etc. Very confusing. I do not see why all the requirements for RN and PN, when to finish the schools you only need a 63% average. At this moment I have Certificate in Practical Nursing plus a 2 yr AA degree. So, from what i'm understanding...I should be more than eligible to get an RPN license in Ontario. Since, the RPN is four semesters. meaning only one year of nursing classes really and the other year is General classes. This is really the same thing in USA to get on Certificate in Practical Nursing from a College, you have to have General classes, plus your sciences and an above average GPA to be even consider for the Nursing School. Then after that you spend a year doing only Nursing classes.

Any information will be appreciated, because i'm looking to relocate to Canada soon.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Canada seems to have a lot of different titles etc. Very confusing. I do not see why all the requirements for RN and PN, when to finish the schools you only need a 63% average. At this moment I have Certificate in Practical Nursing plus a 2 yr AA degree. So, from what i'm understanding...I should be more than eligible to get an RPN license in Ontario. Since, the RPN is four semesters. meaning only one year of nursing classes really and the other year is General classes. This is really the same thing in USA to get on Certificate in Practical Nursing from a College, you have to have General classes, plus your sciences and an above average GPA to be even consider for the Nursing School. Then after that you spend a year doing only Nursing classes.

Any information will be appreciated, because i'm looking to relocate to Canada soon.

The only way really would be apply to the province and let them assess your transcripts. You will need to sit the PN exam for Canada

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Hello. I am a Registered Psychiatric Nurse in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. I am also a nurse-educator on faculty in a BSN program. Additionally, I was one of the designers of a Bachelor in Psychiatric Nursing 4 year degree in BC. I would like to jump in to this conversation.

RPNs are recognized in the 4 Western Provinces of Canada as well as the 3 Territories. Our history stems from the old British system of training nurses to work with psychiatric patients. We have always accessed a separate, viable stream of psychiatric nursing education. RPNs started out just as the RNs did with diplomas, then by the 1980's we had our first Bachelor of Heatlh Sciences degree in Psychiatric Nursing, in Canada. Since then, we have degrees in each of the 4 provinces that recognize us. We have been identified by the Canadian Institute of Health Information as the best suited, best prepared nurses to work with individuals, families, groups and communities who are marginalized by their mental health and/or mental illness challenges. We no longer simply work with solely with the chronic or acutely mentally ill. Our careers are diverse and dynamic. We have our own provincial regulatory bodies and a national one. We are recognized by the Canadian Nurses Association and the Government of Canada. There are many job opportunities for RPNs here in Canada as well as in many other countries (especially those previously in the British Commonwealth).

If you would like more information about us, try the College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of British Columbia, http://www.crpnbc.ca . You will find a number of us speaking at the European Psychiatric Nurses Conference in Malta this November, 2008. We host a World Congress of Psychiatric Nursing in Canada every 2 years. This year it was held in Regina, Saskatchewan in May.

I hope you have found this information helpful.

Very truly,

Melodie Hull, RPN, MSC, MED

Canada

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

We may be confusing the issue somewhat by using the term RPN. In Ontario they are registered practical nurses.

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I have a question regarding this as well. If you are a US LPN, are you able to find work as a RNA in Quebec? Is there a need for them? Would you have to register with the Order of Nurses etc..

I am currenty a pre-nursing student in the US and going for my RN. However, I really want to immigrate to Canada so one option is getting my LPN here (cheaper and faster) finding work in Quebec and then studying to be an RN there. (cheaper)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

I am not sure that studying here in Canada is going to be cheaper as tuition fees are 3-4x higher for non-Canadians and even for those who are not residents of the province you are attending college in. You need to contact the Board or Nursing for the area you wish to work in to see what you need to do.

Also be sure to check out the job situation carefully as some Canadian provinces are doing more hiring than others right now. In fact some hospitals in Ontario are even laying off until their budgets are known next spring.

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Specializes in education.

Practical nursing programs vary in length in Canada and yet they all write the same entry level exam.

BC has the shortest LPN education of only one year. I believe Ontario has the longest.

It is highly unlikely that LPN's will be phase out now that entry to practice for an RN is a baccalaureate degree. Rather it is more likely that the LPN role will be redefined.

I haven't checked the scope of practice for every province but I think I am pretty safe in saying that the scope of practice for an LPN says they must work under the supervision of an RN or physician and they cannot work independently that is they work as part of a team.

Scope of practice for an RN says that the RN can work independently, without supervision and can work with clients independently as a nurse. It is not a requirement that a medial care plan be in place for nurse to work with a client.

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