Can a RN work as an LPN (Alberta)

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Just wondering.

If there is such a shortage of RN jobs and new grads are having a hard time getting hired on, could a RN work as a LPN?

:confused:

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Specializes in Acute Spine, Neuro, Thoracic's, LTC.

I don't know... Are there a lot of LPN jobs in Alberta?

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When I look I see quite a bit of both...But when I hear people talking or check the latest in the news it seems that new grads are having a hard time finding work and that finding work as a LPN is easier.

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Specializes in Acute Spine, Neuro, Thoracic's, LTC.

Nice! I am an LPN and planning on moving there next summer. Sucks though cause the reason I am moving there is to take my BN due to the poor LPN job prospects in my current province haha

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Just wondering.

If there is such a shortage of RN jobs and new grads are having a hard time getting hired on, could a RN work as a LPN?

:confused:

I don't think you can work as an LPN in a Rotation, however that said, If you have a position already and the place is short then you may get called in if they are desparate.

Ive worked the LPN shift (cannot give out meds, someone else called in for that 15 min), and I know someone who worked the RN shift (again could not give out meds). So Im sure a RN could work as an LPN but as I stated they would need a position first as an RN as it wouldn't be something happening everyday. I could be wrong so please do not quote me :)

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NO.

As an RN you have a different scope of practice, a different practice permit, and a different union.

There is no way an RN would be hired to fill an RN line. On my unit, employed RNs and LPNs fill each other's lines for a sick call or vacation and that's it. This is because there is a very fine line between scopes.

Alberta's new grad PNs had just as hard a time as RN new grads finding employment due to last year's hiring freeze. So expect to see previous grads hired before out of province nurses. The government has committed to hiring 70% of this years Alberta crop. There are also a lot of nureses in the system looking for bigger/smaller lines and they will also be accomodated first.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

I expect this query is borne out of the off-shore recruiting fiasco of 2008 and the resulting "special case" permission for the Filipino RN recruits to write the CLPNE and work as LPNs rather than write the CRNE and work as RNs. It seems that people believe this precedent should mean that the practice has become commonplace, instead of a one-time face-saving exercise. Let's put a stake in it and call it dead, please.

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Thanks a bunch :)

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Specializes in We are Alberta's LPN regulatory org.

On behalf of the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (CLPNA), I would like to provide an answer for the process in Alberta.

No one can work as an LPN in Alberta without first having CLPNA registration and a valid CLPNA Practice Permit.

Applicants who have graduated from a health care program that is NOT a CANADIAN PRACTICAL NURSE or an AMERICAN PRACTICAL/VOCATION NURSE (i.e. Registered Nurses) must complete a Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) and Practical Nurse Preparation before becoming a LPN in Alberta.

For more information on PLAR, click here. (Though the title says "Internationally Educated Nurses", the same information applies.)

Or contact the CLPNA's Registration Department at [email protected] or 780-484-8886.

Please take note that nursing professions in each province are individually regulated, so if you have ANY registration questions, please contact the regulatory body in the province in which you would like to work.

Click here for a list of Canada's Licensed Practical Nurse regulatory organizations.

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