FNP Students

Family Nurse Practitioner Student Practicum

For NP Students enrolled in the Family/All Ages MN:NP program of Athabasca University:

To complete your practicum at Cranston Ridge Medical Clinic (CRMC), in addition to your survey on Typhon for Athabasca University, you are also required to fill out the application form for admission to CRMC. We strongly suggest that you apply with us as soon as you start your first semester at AU. Do not wait until you complete all the theory before you contact us as you may not be able to find a spot available for when you need it.

When applying for admission to CRMC for your practicums, you will be asked to fill out a form and upload some documents, including your WHMIS certification, a signed Confidentiality Contract, and the Immunization Record that your MD or NP completed for you. After your application is received, the front desk will call you to confirm the information with you. If a space is available for the term you requested, you will be asked to pay for a FAMA-enhanced Background Check. After receiving the results of your background check, we will email you to confirm your acceptance. The Clinical Placement Coordinator at AU will also be CC'd to the confirmation email. If a place is not available, instead, you will be offered a later alternative term. Please note that we reserve the right to admit applicants at our sole discretion. To apply for admission, click here.

Before commencing your practicum placement at CRMC, please make sure to watch the MedAccess EMR tutorial videos by following this link!

For FNP students of any other university in Canada, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand:

We are currently in talks with Maryville University, in the USA regarding their BSN-to-DNP and MSN-to-DNP students completing their practicums at CRMC. If you are an NP student at Maryville University, please check again soon to see if CRMC has been accepted as an authorized practicum placement partner. If you are enrolled in any other university in Canada, USA, Australia, or New Zealand, and would like to complete a practicum at CRMC, you must do the following:

Obtain full and unrestricted license with the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (we do not consider applicants who are not already on the CRNA register at the time of their application)
Ask your practicum placement coordinator to contact the clinical manager via email by clicking on this link and request to start the procedures to create a practicum partnership with CRMC (we only accept enduring partnerships, we do not consider one-off requests)

Please note that we do not accept students from any other country apart from Canada, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand!

I am an FNP with Master's level education and would like to top it up to a DNP from the USA but I cannot leave my job to move to the USA. Instead, I would like to train in Canada. How do I go about it?

There are a number of US universities that offer MSN-to-DNP top-up programs. Some are open to applicants from Canada who meet their entry requirements (Master's in Nursing with 3.25 GPA, and US RN license). One, instead, is open only to Canadian citizens who reside and work in Canada. Here are the options:

Maryville University (MO) MSN-to-DNP NP as well as BSN-to-DNP - 3.25 GPA required or 3.0 with good reference
Chamberlain University (IL) MSN-to-DNP NP as well as MS (non-Nursing)-to-DNP - 3.0 GPA required
Bradley University (IL) MSN-to-DNP - 3.0 GPA required
- Only option available is DNP in Leadership
D'Youville University (NY) MSN-to-DNP NP - 3.25 GPA required
- Available only to Canadian citizens who have been practicing full-time at least 2 years as an FNP
- This top-up pathway requires visits to Buffalo, NY. However the college can issue I-20 forms and facilitate F1 visas to Canadian citizens (not Canadian PRs) because the institution is based within 50 miles from the Canadian border as per rules from USCIS.

NPs from Canada who obtained their RN license on or after 2015 will be able to apply for US licensure "by examination" without having to sit the NCLEX-RN as this was already a requirement to obtain RN licensure in Canada by the time of their first registration. All other RNs must pass the NCLEX-RN in order to register in the USA as a nurse. For more information, please contact Trumerit.

PLEASE NOTE:

If you are training to become a Nurse Practitioner in your country and wish to apply to our clinic for an elective placement, you may want to familiarize yourself with the Scope of Practice for Nurse Practitioners and relative legislation in Alberta as this may be significantly different from the jurisdiction of your University. In Canada, Nurse Practitioners enjoy one of the widest scopes of practice in the world that is unmatched in other jurisdictions, including the United States, with the exception of New Zealand. The scope of practice of a Nurse Practitioner in Canada and New Zealand is de facto comparable to that of a physician.