Practical Nursing DIPLOMA at Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Program Overview

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

Instructional methods include 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.

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 this 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.

Career and Salary Information

Your Career

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.
• 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.