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December 25th, 2011  Posted at   Careers Employment
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Most people ask the question “how to become a nurse” when they  start planning their career path in high school.

You may not be aware that there are three different  types of nursing in Canada and each one has different education requirement ranging from college diploma to university degree.   So when you try to explore how to become a nurse you must know the type of nurse you want to be.

 1. First decide what kind of nurse you want to be.

  • registered nursing.  A registered nurse can practice with clients of all age groups and with all types of health challenges of varying degrees of complexities.  A registered nurse can practice in a variety of settings including the community, mental health settings and residential settings.  Of the three types of nursing in Canada the registered nurse has the broadest scope of practice.
  • registered psychiatric nursing.  A registered psychiatric nurse has a narrower scope of practice than a registered nurse and is restricted to practicing psychiatric nursing. That is they provide mental health nursing care to a wide variety of clients and in a wide variety of settings. Psychiatric nursing is not a recognized type of nursing in all of Canada.  It is only recognized in the western provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia)
  • licensed practical nursing.  The licensed practical nurse has the narrowest scope of practice of the three types of nursing.  In some provinces a licensed practical nurse must work under the supervision of a registered nurse and in other provinces the scope of practice is restricted to working as an assistant to the registered nurse, and is some other provinces the licensed practical nurse is fully autonomous and does not require supervision although the scope of practice is narrower that for either of the registered nursing professions.

While the scope of practice and types of clients will vary for each of these types of nursing they are all legally defined as part of the nursing profession.  Which one of these descriptions appeals to you? Your choice may depend on your preference for future career paths as well as your preference for autonomous practice.  More career options are provided by the registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse designation.

2. Make sure you have the correct high school prerequisites.

 Registered Nurse Education 

A university degree is required to practice as a registered nurse in Canada in all provinces.  You will need to meet the university entrance requirements as well as the specific requirement for the nursing program.

Registered nurse education programs in Canada require basic preparation in:

  • math usually at the Grade 11 level
  • sciences – both a chemistry and a biological science will be required.  Usually the chemistry course is a preparatory course such as a grade 11 level and the biological science must be at a higher level such as a grade 12 level
  • English – admission to a nursing program will require completion of English at a grade 12 level. (more…)
December 25th, 2011  Posted at   Careers Employment
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Beginning in the late 1800s there was a growing consensus that sanitarium patients had a right to proper nursing care. Although it began simply as a movement to provide those mental health inmates with the health care due every ward of the state, it has evolved over time into a very specific branch of nursing science that places mental health nurses in a pivotal role with respect to the overall care provided to patients with mental problems. Moreover, the psychology education required for a career in psychiatric-based health nursing is now an integral part of all nursing programs.

Psychiatric health nursing professionals are employed in a variety of patient care settings. They provide services to patients in standards hospital environments, home health care settings, and various government-run departments for mental health. You can also find them working in nursing colleges, private physicians’ offices, the United States military services, and both the state and federal prison systems.

Psychiatric nursing often takes place at the most basic of levels. Working with patients and their families, these professionals help to determine a patient’s mental status and treatment needs and develop treatment plans. The goals of this specialized form of nursing obviously extend beyond simple physical care, as the overriding health concern has at its core the improvement of each patient’s ability to cope with his or her mental illness, while preventing further deterioration of the condition. Because of the unique needs of the patients they serve, nurses find themselves offering treatment that is a blend of standard health care and mental health crisis management and counseling services.

The educational requirements of mental health nursing begin with a degree as a registered nurse, but they by no means end there. To become a psychiatric nurse practitioner or clinical nursing specialist in the field of mental health, nurses must also obtain a doctoral or master’s degree. These professionals can specialize even further by focusing on a range of targeted health services for various groups ranging from small children to older individuals. (more…)

December 25th, 2011  Posted at   Careers Employment
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There are three types of nursing if you are considering nursing as a career in Canada:

  • Licensed Practical Nurse, LPN
  • Registered Nurse, RN
  • Registered Psychiatric Nurse, RPN

In Canada all nursing professions are regulated in the public interest and you must pass a licensing exam to become registered in order to practice nursing as a career.

Nursing education for each of these types of nursing has common curricular components and some specialty components. However, the length of nursing education varies and each category has a defined scope of practice.

Licensed Practical Nurse

The Licensed Practical Nurse has 1-2 years of education in a community college or private post-secondary training institute.  They have a limited nursing scope of practice that is completely contained within the scope of practice of a registered nurse and cannot work with clients who are complex or require multiple interventions.

In Ontario and some other provinces they are called a Registered Practical Nurse and this is abbreviated as RPN. This can be confusing because a registered psychiatric nurse is also abbreviated as RPN in the western provinces. In many provinces LPN’s were not fully utilized for many years and the numbers of nurses practicing as a licensed practical nurse declined dramatically. Because of the pressures exerted by fiscal restraint and by the nursing shortage which is quite acute, the licensed practical nurse is now in demand again in provinces where they can legally practice.

Registered Psychiatric Nursing

Schools that prepare nurses to enter psychiatric nursing are limited to the four western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. There are over 5,000 Registered Psychiatric Nurses registered with the 4 regulatory authorities in these provinces.

Registered Psychiatric Nursing is not recognized as a separate type of nursing in the eastern provinces so that might be why they call practical nurses RPN’s (Registered Practical Nurses). This term cannot be used in the western provinces because it already used for psychiatric nurses.

The association of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Canada recommends that the minimum requirement for initial registrants for entry to practice into the profession of psychiatric nursing should be a baccalaureate degree by the year 2012.

On the Registered Psychiatric Nurses Association of Canada website there are 7 education programs listed for psychiatric nursing in all of Canada. There is no legally recognized classification of Psychiatric Technician in Canada. You may see this as a one of the different types of nursing in other countries such as the United States but it is not a recognized type of nursing in Canada. (more…)

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