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   Last modified: March 7, 2005

The Educational Difference

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As of this year, the entry-to-practice requirement for RN registration is a four-year baccalaureate degree in nursing (or its equivalent). For RPNs, the requirement is a two-year diploma in practical nursing from an Ontario college (or its equivalent). The changes recognize the need to enable both nursing categories to meet the challenges of today’s increasingly complex health care system.

The change does not mean that the new diploma RPNs are similar to RNs who graduated with a diploma.

Although RNs and RPNs study from the same body of knowledge, the different program lengths are significant, says Kathie Conlin-Saindon, RN, the College’s Education Consultant. RNs simply have time to go more in-depth, from the science of nursing to the concept of health assessments.

“It stands to reason that if you study something longer, you come out with more tools in your toolbox,” says Conlin-Saindon.

Here’s how RN Sandra Hughes sees it. “Can we handle the same tasks in many instances. Yes. But nursing is more than that. Do we all have the same breadth and depth of knowledge? No,” says Hughes, who works in high risk obstetrics and gynecology at Hamilton Health Sciences. “There has to be a baseline of where we all start. We are each accountable for the nursing care we provide.”

The two categories are unquestionably distinct. Even the most experienced RPN isn’t an RN, just as the most experienced RN isn’t a clinical nurse specialist. That said, the abilities of RNs and RPNs aren’t defined solely by their initial education. As in any job, the more you upgrade your skills and gain experience, the more capable you become. That means more than the initials beside your name, says Monique Mohlmann of the Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. She was an RPN for 11 years before she became an RN in 2003.

Ultimately, the two roles complement and overlap each other, says Conlin-Saindon, which really means one thing. “That’s why we have to have collaboration.”

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