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Practical Nursing

Available as a two-year, five-semester program

Practical nurses are integral members of a health care team, providing care to patients of all ages. They combine nursing skill, knowledge and judgment to provide a full range of nursing care within their scope of practice. NOTE: This program is available to domestic students only.
  • Credential
    • Two-year Ontario College Diploma

  • Start Date

    September entry (traditional academic year) and January entry (five continuous semesters)

  • Location
    • Belleville campus

Find your career

  • Provide care to clients in hospital settings, including medical-surgical, maternal child and mental health departments.
  • Community nursing settings such as: doctors’ offices, nurse practitioner clinics, home-care nursing agencies, ambulatory clinics and public health units.
  • Promote community health and disease prevention.
  • Work in leadership positions in retirement homes and long-term care facilities.
  • Loyalist grads have historically scored above the provincial and national averages on the REx-PN (regulatory exam). 

Our grads get great jobs

  • Registered Practical Nurse, Quinte Healthcare Corporation
  • Registered Practical Nurse, Hastings Manor Long Term Care Facility
  • Registered Practical Nurse, Lennox and Addington County General Hospital
  • Registered Practical Nurse, Kingston General Hospital
  • Registered Practical Nurse, Victorian Order of Nurses 

Is it for you?

A career as an RPN is both challenging and rewarding. People of all ages can thrive in this program. They must be:

  • Passionate about helping others
  • Caring and compassionate
  • Inquisitive and eager to learn
  • Driven to make a difference in people’s quality of care

Experiential learning

Learn to assess clients’ health throughout the lifespan, and to plan, implement and evaluate appropriate nursing care, in the classroom and beyond:

  • Small clinical and lab groups with intensive personal instruction.
  • Participation in virtual simulation with realistic, interactive practice scenarios in our cutting-edge Human Simulation Lab.
  • Develop skills during a community based blood pressure clinic.
  • Engage with dynamic guest speakers from the health care field.
  • Participate in clinical placements taught by expert nursing professors in hospitals and long-term care facilities.
  • Gain a variety of clinical nursing skills in: medicine, surgery, paediatrics/obstetrics, continuing complex care and mental health.
  • Work one-on-one with a Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) during an intensive eight-week clinical placement.

Please read the College of Nurses of Ontario Program Approval Review Summary for Loyalist College's Practical Nursing program here

Outstanding faculty make the difference

  • Faculty members are experienced registered nurses with varied backgrounds in mental health, maternal childcare, palliative care, acute medicine, long-term care and community nursing.
  • Clinical professors continue to work in their field, bringing current knowledge and skills to their students.
  • Respected faculty continually integrate best practices in nursing education and have presented provincially, nationally and internationally at practical nurse educator and simulation conferences.

  • Loyalist's Practical Nursing program has been reviewed and approved by the College of Nurses of Ontario Council and meets all mandatory requirements. Graduates are eligible to register with CNO.

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