April 19, 2021

Medicine Hat College’s (MHC) School of Health and Community Services is planning to offer a practical nurse (PN) refresher certificate in the Fall of 2021.

This one-year certificate program will help nurses re-enter the field with the competencies required to meet the evolving demands of the health care system.

According to Sandy Fritz, chair of health, students will gain the knowledge, skills and practical abilities required by the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (CLPNA).

“The licensed practical nurse (LPN) scope of practice has broadened significantly within the decade, increasing the demand for nurses to acquire a wider range of knowledge and skills,” says Fritz.

The framework for the certificate is entitled the “Concept of Caring.”

“It’s a more evolved practice,” explains Fritz. "It is taking the knowledge that they already have and centralizing the concept of caring, which means using health assessments that consider the physical, social, emotional, culture and spiritual needs of clients.

The program will have a combination of theory, hands-on experiential learning in labs and a clinical practicum at a site within Alberta. Graduates of this program are eligible for re-licensing through CLPNA.

“This certificate program is in response to a need identified by the health care profession. Whether a nurse is looking to re-enter or evolve their current skills sets, our curriculum will help them gain those skills and make them more employable and adaptable to the field,” says Fritz.

Dr. Harrison Applin, dean for the School of Health and Community Services, says that he is excited for this new addition and confident that students will gain a high-quality education at MHC.

“Our school allows students to gain experience by providing them access to a variety of technologies including our simulation spaces. It’s important to us that our programming is meeting the needs of our region and we are positioning our students to be competitive in the health care field,” says Applin.

“We have amazing instructors, who care about our students and through theory, labs, practicums and work with new technology we strive to give our learners the best education possible.”

For more information on the PN refresher certificate visit, www.mhc.ab.ca.