Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) currently take 20 months of education to earn their diploma. Bachelor of Nursing (RN-BScN) students go to school for approximately 30 months to earn their BScN degree at Red River College (RRC) or University of Manitoba (UofM). When a LPN wants to upgrade to RN-BScN, they are only credited for 10 months of education at the schools in Manitoba. Essentially, LPN's need to repeat education they have already taken, and are placed with students who have only completed 1 year of nursing school both at RRC and UofM.  Additionally, these BScN school positions are only available to LPNs if students in RRC/UofM BScN program have failed 1st year. Since RRC is moving to a competitive entry BScN program, only the best academic students will be accepted.  This will create less entry positions for the LPN due to a reduced BScN 1st year failure rate (at RRC).  Currently, LPNs rely on the 1st year failure rate in the BScN programs in order to be able to gain entry and upgrade.   No failure of BScN students = no availability of LPN positions for upgrade.   If accepted, LPNs then end up repeating education and practicums already performed within their own program.  They also already hold a license to perform the activities they must re-learn. Occasionally LPNs are preceptors to BScN's.

When a Power Engineer wants to upgrade to the next level, they are not forced to take education they have already taken? Do they rely on failure rates in order for a position to be available? ............Dozens of examples could be named like this......so why can't nurses (which is a very high demand occupation) upgrade their education with the efficiency of most other college or university programs?

Licensed Practical Nurses are far more advanced than students of the Bachelor Nursing Program who have only completed their 1st year. LPNs are able to provide full scope nursing care with a nursing license which even Bachelor of Nursing students cannot perform after their 2nd year of nursing at Red River, or even after 3 years of attending U of M.  Advanced competency LPNs such as dialysis nurses and foot care nurses are also placed with RRC and UofM nurses who have only completed 1st year nursing school.

 In the province of Manitoba, LPNs currently perform to an extremely similar, and sometimes identical scope as a RN-BScN in most facilities. Yet, the LPN must take 1 more year of school (40 months) than the RN-BScN to upgrade in title, and perform a job they are most likely already performing as a LPN. In the end, this also ends up being 2 MORE school years (20 months) as compared to the MANY, MANY practicing Registered Nurses who ONLY HOLD A 2 YEAR DIPLOMA.  This is is equivalent to double the education in years.

This has become a timely, and costly process to the LPN, the taxpayer, and the Government of Manitoba in college costs alone. The LPN takes 40 months of nursing school to qualify for the RN-BScN. The direct entry RN-BScN program takes 30 months of school to qualify. Therefore, it is to the benefit of all parties to honour the education LPN's already have, create a 1 year LPN to BScN program, and allow the LPN to upgrade in a fair, timely, yet safe manner.