Three Different Types of Nursing in Canada

There are three types of nursing in Canada. Registered nursing, psychiatric nursing, and the licensed practical nurse make up the three recognized nursing titles.

All nurses are regulated by nursing laws set by governments in the public interest.

Midwifery is not one of the types of nursing in Canada.

Midwifery is now legal in many provinces in Canada, and a midwife can practice legally (where regulated) without being a nurse, but a nurse who is licensed to practice nursing cannot practice midwifery without also being licensed in that profession.

All nursing professions are regulated in the public interest and you must pass a licensing exam to become registered in order to practice nursing as a career.

Nursing education for each of these types of nursing has common curricular components and some speciality components. However, the length of nursing education varies and each category has a defined nursing scope of practice.

All nurses must practice according to the standards of professional nursing practice set by the provincial regulatory nursing organization.

Licensed Practical Nurse

The Licensed Practical Nurse has 1-2 years of education in a community college or private post-secondary training institute. They have a limited nursing scope of practice that is completely contained within the scope of practice of a registered nurse and cannot work with clients who are complex or require multiple interventions.

In Ontario and some other provinces they are called a Registered Practical Nurse and this is abbreviated as RPN. This can be confusing because a registered psychiatric nurse is also abbreviated as RPN in the western provinces.

In many provinces LPN's were not fully utilized for many years and the numbers of nurses practicing as a licensed practical nurse declined dramatically. Because of the pressures exerted by fiscal restraint and by nursing shortages the licensed practical nurse is now in demand again in provinces where they can legally practice.

Registered Psychiatric Nursing

Schools that prepare nurses to enter psychiatric nursing are limited to the four western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

There are over 5,000 Registered Psychiatric Nurses registered with the 4 regulatory authorities in these provinces.

Registered Psychiatric Nursing is not recognized as one of the types of nursing in the eastern provinces so that might be why they call practical nurses RPN's (Registered Practical Nurses). This term cannot be used in the western provinces because it already used for psychiatric nurses.

The association of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Canada recommends that the minimum requirement for initial registrants for entry to practice into the profession of psychiatric nursing should be a baccalaureate degree by the year 2012.

On the Registered Psychiatric Nurses Association of Canada website there are 7 education programs listed for psychiatric nursing in all of Canada.

There is no legally recognized classification of Psychiatric Technician in Canada. You may see this as a one of the different types of nursing in other countries such as the United States but it is not a recognized nursing title in Canada.

Registered Nursing

Of the three types of nursing, registered nursing (the RN) is the most common type. It is typically the bedside registered nurse that people think of when they think of the nursing profession.

Registered nursing has the broadest nursing scope of practice.

How to Get Your Nursing Job in Canada

A description of nursing careers in Canada

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