Expanding Career Pathways

LEARNING LEADER Prince George LPN Shannon Sluggett encourages other nurses to take advantage of the opportunities available to advance their careers with the support of the Nurses' Bargaining Association nursing scope of practice fund. Photo: Giles Palmer.

Shannon Sluggett has a passion for education. The Prince George acute care LPN was a member of the BCNU bargaining committee that negotiated the current Nurses' Bargaining Association collective agreement – and she wanted to make sure education opportunities for nurses were a priority in the 2019-2022 contract.

"One of the things I fought to get in the collective agreement was more education and more specialties for licensed practical nurses," she says.

Sluggett knows first-hand how challenging it can sometimes be for nurses who want to expand their scope of practice. For the past 10 years, the LPN has worked an as orthopedic technician at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia. It's a specialty designation she loves, but the education that she needed to qualify for the job required her to travel to NorQuest College in Alberta.

For years, LPN orthopedic technicians like Sluggett had to make this journey.

"There were a few barriers, Sluggett says, "with our practicums being here in BC and also having to travel to Alberta for a one-week clinical before our practicum."

That's now about to change. Starting this year, BC LPNs will have a learning option for advanced orthopedic knowledge and skills that keeps them closer to home.

A new LPN Orthopaedic Certificate at Okanagan College launched this January is the first of its kind in BC – and Sluggett is one of three instructors in the program.

With support from BCNU and others, Sluggett was part of the team that developed the online certificate program, and she says she's proud to help increase access to advanced orthopedic education for nurses throughout the province while reducing travel requirements.

The advanced education program covers specialized learning for a range of topics, including anatomy and physiology, orthopedic pathology and casting skills. Nurses will be prepared to work in team-based environments along with physicians and nurse practitioners to assess and manage nursing care for conditions and injuries of the musculoskeletal system.

The program was first conceived in 2019, after BCNU was approached by one of the medical advisors for NorQuest College's Advanced Education in Orthopaedics for LPNs, regarding the required clinical placement for completion of this program and the difficulties faced by students outside Alberta.

BCNU was included in the discussions because of previous conversations about keeping nurse education local. Sluggett says Heather Straight, BCNU's executive nurse lead, reached out to inform her that Okanagan College was considering developing an orthopedic certificate program in BC, and asked her to join a working group involving the Ministry of Health, health authorities, BCNU and other interested parties.

The goal was to help Okanagan College develop a program that would conform to the LPN orthopedic competencies within the LPN scope of practice in BC.

Sluggett was more than excited to participate. She says she helped develop the Orthopaedic Pathophysiology and Nursing Interventions course for the program, and took additional courses herself to become one of the three Okanagan College program instructors.

"I absolutely love teaching," she says. "I like to assess students' needs and learning styles," noting the LPN Orthopaedic Certificate has room for 20 students per intake, which runs once a year.

"This program is not easy. It is very intense," Sluggett says. "You are looking at every muscle in the body, every nerve in the body, every vessel in the body and it's a lot of memory."

Only seven students applied for the first intake this year, she reports, adding that some nurses had already started with the Norquest program.

"From this point forward, we expect a much higher intake of LPNs to be coming through the course."

While the course is a huge benefit to LPNs, Sluggett notes that the price of the course ($7,620 for tuition and fees for the 2021-2022 Okanagan College year) can be a barrier without paid support from an employer. That's why she's glad to see the nursing scope of practice funding that's been negotiated in the NBA contract (see sidebar: Supporting Professional Practice).

Sluggett encourages other LPNs to consider taking advantage of the opportunities that are available to gain advanced competencies.

She says LPNs who complete the Orthopaedic Certificate program will be working in areas such as cast clinics, plastic clinics, and emergency departments, and assisting with closed reductions, assessing radiology, X-rays, traction, casting, and splints.

"I would like to see a lot more ortho LPNs, especially in the smaller communities we have in the north," she adds. "That would definitely benefit our patients."•

UPDATE (Spring 2022)