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Northern College

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Thanks to Northern’s two-year Practical Nursing diploma, you’ll be ready to start the healthcare career you’ve always dreamed of.

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Referenced from: Program Outlines Archive

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PROGRAM INFORMATION

Academic Year :

2026-2027

Credential :

Ontario College Diploma

Program Delivery :

Full-Time

Duration

:

2 Years

Length :

4 Semesters

Program Code(s)

H117 - Timmins Campus (PC)

H118 - Kirkland Lake Campus (KL)

H127 - Moosonee Campus (JB)

H129 - Haileybury Campus (HL)

DESCRIPTION

Thanks to Northern’s two-year Practical Nursing diploma, you’ll be ready to start the healthcare career you’ve always dreamed of.

You will learn about the Nursing process and the role of nursing education in promoting health and wellness. You will hone your communication and leadership skills. And - from minor scrapes to complex health challenges, mental health 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 will practice new skills within our state-of-the-art training facility. And you will top it all off with an eight-week placement that marks the official start to your career as a competent and caring 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). Success with the REx-PN will facilitate the Practical Nursing student to be a licensed Registered Practical Nurse (RPN).

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 optimal health outcomes. These concepts are interrelated, interdependent and integrated throughout the curriculum. Registered Practical Nurses work with individuals, families, groups, and communities (autonomously or in consultation with nursing and the multi-disciplinary team) to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate evidence-informed nursing care, services and programs that promote health and rehabilitation, prevent injury and disease, maintain and restore health, and provide palliation.

The Practical Nursing Program at Northern College is approved by the College of Nurses of Ontario (www.cno.org). Graduates from this program are eligible to apply for registration as a Registered Practical Nurse in Ontario.

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Practical Nursing

Program Outline 2026-2027

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.

VOCATIONAL LEARNING OUTCOMES

  1. Communicate therapeutically with clients and members of the health care team.
  2. Assess clients across the life span, in a systematic and holistic manner.
  3. Plan safe and competent nursing care, based upon a thorough analysis of available data and evidenceinformed practice guidelines.
  4. Select and perform nursing interventions using clinical judgment, in collaboration with the client and, where appropriate, the health care team, that promote health and well-being, prevent disease and injury, maintain and/or restore health, promote rehabilitation, and/or provide palliation.
  5. Evaluate the outcomes resulting from all interventions in the nurse-client interaction and modify the plan of care as required.
  6. Act equitably and justly with clients and members of the health care team.
  7. Adapt to a variety of health care settings, using different leadership skills and styles as appropriate to each setting.
  8. Contribute to creating a healthy and safe work environment in a variety of health care settings.
  9. Practice in a self-regulated, professional and ethical manner, complying with relevant legislation and with the standards of both the regulatory body and the practice setting to provide safe and competent client care.

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Practical Nursing

Program Outline 2026-2027

PROGRAM COURSES

The following reflects the planned course sequence for full-time offerings of the program. Programs at Northern College are delivered using a variety of instruction modes. Courses may be offered in the classroom or lab, entirely online, or in a hybrid mode which combines classroom sessions with virtual learning activities.

| Semester 1 | Semester 1 | Hours | |

Source: https://www.northerncollege.ca/uploads/Practical-Nursing-2026.pdf