CLPNA

marie1985, Your question was answered in my post above dated Aug 24, '09. Start at the paragraph that begins: If you have further questions, please contact the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (www.clpna.com).

Hi Chaika,LPN, Contact the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (CLPNA) at 1-780-484-8886 about registering as an Out of Province Applicant. More information is also available on CLPNA's website, www.clpna.com, under "Applicants", "Licensed in Another Province or USA".

Have you read the article in CLPNA's CARE Magazine about Orthopedic Specialist LPNs (Ortho LPNs)? It gives a good description of the role and the education required for the specialty. It's on page 24 of the Fall 2009 issue. Read more CARE magazines here.

hi jasmine29, you don't specify if you're question concerns rns or lpns, but if you're interested in alberta lpns you can find your answer here on the clpna's temporary registration practice statement. for your convenience, this is what it states:

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.

Hi again from the College of LPNs of Alberta. NorQuest College in Edmonton, Alberta DOES have a very popular distance Practical Nurse program. If you're interested, the story of the student who took her PN education while in Japan is from the Fall 2006 issue of our member's magazine, page 12-13. It was a very unique situation, so you'd have to inquire with NorQuest directly if they still have the ability to facilitate that type of special accommodations. However, you may find it easiest to take your distance education from a PN college in BC, if available, if that's where you're going to live and get registered as an LPN.

Hi! I'm the Communications person at the College of LPNs in Alberta (CLPNA). :) Since you're going to be moving back to BC, I'm wondering if you've asked the College of LPNs in British Columbia (CLPNBC) this question?

Thank you, CuriousStudent1108, for pointing out the Northern Lakes College program in Grande Prairie. My apologies for not mentioning that location. Considering alabatiuk44 has not yet begun her practical nurse education, the answer was intended to share some information regarding Out of Province registration and some options regarding education. My apologies if it wasn't clear, but this is a CLPNA staff member login.

Hi alabatiuk44, I'm with the College of LPNs in Alberta (www.CLPNA.com), which is the regulatory and licensing board for LPNs in Alberta, and can give you exactly the answer you need. The first thing you need to understand is that since health care in Canada is provincially regulated, each province has their own regulatory and licensing has it's own standards and "scope of practice" (what an LPN can do) for Licensed Practical Nurses. So, BC's standards and scope of practice are different from Alberta's, therefore the educational programs are also different. For example, BC's practical nurse programs take one-year to complete, while Alberta's are two-year diplomas. If you choose to take the LPN program in BC, you must complete the practical nurse program, pass the CPNRE (Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination; the national exam for all LPNs in Canada), and obtain full registration with the College of LPNs of BC (www.CLPNBC.org) before you are eligible to apply for registration in Alberta. (Check http://www.clpnbc.org/index.php?dbq=9#809 for CLPNBC's registration fees, and http://www.clpna.com/Applicants/FeeSchedule/tabid/76/Default.aspx for CLPNA's registration fees.) Then you need to request an "Out Of Province Package" from us, the CLPNA. Once you're submitted all the required documents in the Out of Province Package, your file is individually assessed to see if you meet Alberta LPN standards. If you meet Alberta LPN standards, you are approved for Active registration; if you are missing any educational components, we may offer you the opportunity to obtain a Limited registration. In both cases, you can start working as an LPN. If you have Limited registration, you are given a certain amount of time to complete the missing educational components. CLPNA will let you know what educational components you are missing and where they are available. Nearly all newly graduated applicants from BC are approved for Active registration as most practical nurse programs cover the Alberta requirements in Adult Physical Assessment, Medication Administration, and Infusion Therapy. However, we cannot tell you what the exact outcome of your individual application until your file is assessed. Another option you might want to consider is NorQuest College (www.norquest.ca) in Edmonton, as they do offer the Practical Nursing program through distance learning. This would allow you to take the program as an Alberta student, and allow you to move to Grande Prairie immediately. For further information, you will need to contact NorQuest College directly. Hope that helps!