Diploma in Practical Nursing

Prepare for a career in the growing field of health care.Program OverviewApproved by the College of Nurses of OntarioSheridan's four-semester Practical Nursing diploma program is approved (Category 1) by the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO). When you graduate from this program, you'll be eligible to apply to take the new Regulatory Exam-Practical Nurse (REx-PN). When you’ve successfully completed the REx-PN, you’ll be issued a license to practice as a Registered Practical Nurse in Ontario.Prepare for a career as a practical nurseIn this program, you’ll learn to: Help clients with nutrition, elimination, medication, safety, ambulation and hygiene. Chart patients’ progress and assess their conditions. Care for wounds, change dressings and give medication. Educate clients and promote health and wellbeing. Care for patients through all stages of a disease, including palliative care. Clinical placements: Get hands-on experienceHands-on experience is essential to prepare you for a career as a practical nurse. In this program, you’ll have clinical placements in long-term care facilities, acute and chronic care hospitals and more — starting in your first semester. In your final semester, you’ll participate in a 450-hour clinical placement, gaining on-the-job experience that will boost your resume and build your confidence.Your placements will be within 150 kilometres of Sheridan College. You’ll need to provide your own transportation to your clinical placements.State-of-the-art educationOur Nursing Lab is modelled after a real hospital ward. It comes complete with high- and low-fidelity simulation mannequins that can be programmed to display various symptoms. In the lab, you’ll become better prepared to handle real-life situations. You’ll learn from highly qualified Registered Nurses and Nurse Practitioners. Our professors have extensive specialized experience in family care, maternity care, emergency response, mental health, medical intervention and long-term care.Complete your Practical Nursing diploma soonerIf you’re interested in fast-tracking your studies, you can choose to complete all four semesters back-to-back by beginning your studies in January or May. This will allow you to earn your Practical Nursing diploma in just 16 months. How this works The duration of the Practical Nursing program is different depending on when you start the program. For students that start in September, the program is two academic years from September to April for the first year (2 semesters) with a summer semester break and then continuing in September to April for the second year (2 semesters). For students that start in January or May, the program is 16 months (4 semesters) continuous, with no semester breaks.Explore your future labIn Practical Nursing at Sheridan, you'll work in classrooms and labs designed to imitate real-world workplaces. Curious to see what's inside? Take a virtual tour of our Nursing Lab and our Scenario Lab, which you'll use as a Practical Nursing student.PPNSG