Licensed Practical Nurses are a vital part of today's health care team - in acute hospital care, long-term care and in the community. They provide compassionate, professional nursing care to individuals throughout the human lifespan, infants to seniors. If this sounds interesting to you, explore Saskatchewan Polytechnic's Practical Nursing program. In just two years, we’ll help you develop into a competent, confident nurse capable of making a positive difference in the health and well-being of individuals, their families and our communities.

Practical Nursing is a two-year diploma program offered at Sask Polytech Saskatoon Campus, Regina Campus, and Prince Albert Campus, with online distance learning options. Onsite labs and community-based clinical practice education experiences let you apply nursing knowledge, theory and skills in a variety of environments.

The program is a sequential 6-semester program allowing the concepts from one semester to be built on in subsequent semesters. The 6 semesters run over 76 weeks, over a 2-year period. Classes are designed to meet diverse learning styles.

Our experienced faculty help you grow into a competent, confident nurse capable of bringing a holistic, humanistic approach to patient care. You'll study:

Anatomy and physiology
Foundations of health
Pharmacology
Health assessment through the lifespan
Long-term and rehabilitative care
Medical and surgical care
Obstetrics and pediatrics
Mental health and addictions
Community
Sociology
Courses are delivered in a blended model which comprise of onsite face-to-face and online course delivery. Our instructors engage with students through a variety of instructional methods such as seminars, observational experiences, pre- and post-clinical conferences, small group presentations, lectures, demonstrations, role-playing, storytelling, discussion, reflective thinking and writing and simulation lab experiences.

Opportunities for critical reflection about caring-based practice, development of employability skills and understanding the role and scope of practice of the licensed practical nurse (LPN) are blended into the program's learning activities.

The clinical practice education courses are integrative in nature, and, as such, the evaluation of your performance in the clinical setting involves evaluating the application of the theoretical concepts learned in all other courses. This is what ultimately determines your progress toward achieving the competencies of the beginning practical nurse.

The focus of each semester is as follows:

Semester 1 - Health Promotion/Illness Prevention
Semester 2 - Rehabilitative and Supportive Care
Semester 3 - Restorative and Curative Care
Semester 4 - Acute Medical and Surgical Care
Semester 5 - Acute Medical Surgical Care/Maternal-Child Health/Community
Semester 6 - Transition from Student to Graduate
Note: Students who have previously completed the following courses may be eligible to receive transfer credit upon acceptance into the program: BIO 102, BIO 103, SOC 160, SOC 201.

For more information about the program, including the admission process and program requirements, refer to the Admission Requirements and Selection Criteria sections below, and to our program Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

If you have questions about this program, please email askaquestion@saskpolytech.ca.

Why Saskatchewan Polytechnic?
Sask Polytech is one of the most respected providers of nursing education in Canada. Our small class sizes mean more opportunities to interact with faculty. High-tech simulation centres use near-life scenarios to give you hands-on practice. Clinical practice education lets you transfer your nursing knowledge and skills into the real world.

Extensive Hands-on Learning
Apply what you learn in class and gain real-world experience in actual health-care settings.

Lab and Simulation – Application of your nursing knowledge and skills will occur in Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s state-of-the-art lab and high-fidelity simulation centres.
Clinical Practice Education – Each semester contains a clinical experience that gives you the opportunity to put theory into practice. Clinical is completed in a variety of practice settings: long-term care, rehabilitation, acute care, community, and more.
Experience with Preceptors - In the final experience of the program, you will be preceptored with a practicing LPN who is licensed with the SALPN. This time will assist in your transition from student nurse to practicing nurse.
Study Close to Home
You can enrol in Sask Polytech’s Practical Nursing diploma program while staying close to home by enrolling in the full-time online program. The online program allows students to study class theory at home and join mandatory scheduled labs/seminars and clinical experiences in either Regina or Saskatoon, with eight designated clinical spots for each site. Scheduled labs/seminars and clinical experiences typically occur a few days a week over the course of each semester.

Furthermore, we offer the program in partnership with regional colleges and Dumont Technical institutes around the province.

Earn Your Professional Credentials
The Practical Nursing program meets the approval of the Saskatchewan Association of Licensed Practical Nurses (SALPN). Graduates are eligible to write the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Exam (CPNRE), which is necessary to become licensed as a practical nurse.

Employment opportunities for licensed practical nurses are excellent. Most LPNs work in acute care hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, medical centres and long-term care facilities. Choose an area that interests you - gerontology, maternal-child, medical, mental health, palliative, pediatric, rehabilitation or surgical nursing.

You also can pursue a career in a community setting: a nursing clinic, home care agency, private nursing agency, community health centre or physician's office.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic Practical Nursing graduates enjoy national reciprocity, which means you can work in any province in Canada or the Northwest Territories. Our graduates have also found jobs in the United States and overseas.

Further investigate this program choice as a career:

Conduct informational interviews with people working in this field.
Explore the possibility of job shadowing.
Read more about NOC 3233 Licensed Practical Nurses.
Arrange an INSIGHT experience or attend an Open House event at Sask Polytech.
Read more about Licensed Practical Nursing practice and regulation by visiting the SALPN website.