College Diploma in Practical Nursing

Northern College

Thanks to Northern’s two-year Practical Nursing diploma, you’ll be ready to start the healthcare career you’ve always dreamed of. You’ll learn about the diagnostic process and the role of education in promoting health and wellness. You’ll hone your communication and leadership skills. And – from minor scrapes to complex health challenges, and even palliative care – you’ll gradually develop a holistic approach to nursing, and the capacity to provide care and comfort to patients with varying conditions at all stages of life.

At every step along the way, you’ll practice new skills within our state-of-the-art training facility. And you’ll top it all off with an eight-week placement that marks the official start to your career as a caring and competent practitioner. Practical Nursing is a is a 2-year (4 semester) program leading to an Ontario college diploma in Practical Nursing. Northern College’s Practical Nursing program has received a Category 1 Program Approval from the College of Nurses of Ontario. Northern College delivers the current diploma program standards that meet the national Entry to Practice Competencies to prepare graduates for the Regulatory Exam – Practical Nurse (REx-PN). Northern’s Practical Nursing program holds as its philosophy a set of beliefs and values based on five key concepts: the client, health, caring, nursing, and the role that teaching and learning play in enabling individuals and their families and groups to achieve health outcomes. These concepts are interrelated, interdependent and integrated throughout the curriculum. Registered Practical Nurses work with individuals, families and groups (autonomously or in consultation with nursing and other team members) to plan, implement, and evaluate outcomes-based nursing care, services and programs that promote health and rehabilitation, prevent injury and disease, maintain and restore health, and provide palliation.

Career Opportunities Graduates may find employment opportunities in acute/long term care centres (hospitals – may include critical/intensive care, dialysis, emergency, maternity, medical, mental health, oncology, operating room, recovery, rehabilitation/restore, surgical), clinics/ doctors’ offices, community agencies (home care, long-term care agencies), correctional health care, hospice/palliative care, industry, mental health services, occupational health, public health, street nursing, travel nursing, and more.