Transition to Nurse Practitioner

Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses who have undertaken graduate education and training in advanced clinical practice. They can:

• Conduct comprehensive health assessments
• Diagnose health/illness conditions
• Treat and manage acute and chronic illness within a holistic model of care
• Order and interpret screening and diagnostic tests
• Perform procedures
• Prescribe medications and therapeutic interventions

Who Can Apply Using This Application?  

Before proceeding, you should: 

• Be an existing registered nurse (RN) in Alberta
• Want to practice as an NP in Alberta
• Be completing your program within six weeks or have completed an approved entry-level NP program
• Provide the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA) with a confirmation of the program completion
• Have reported at least 4,500 RN hours of practice satisfactory to the registrar. If you were previously an NP in another Canadian jurisdiction, then this does not apply.
• Receive confirmation that you may start your application from the CRNA  

What Will I Need to Complete the Application? 

• Meet the currency of practice requirement
• Meet the English language proficiency requirement
• Meet the post-secondary education requirement
• Answer questions about character and your fitness to practise eligibility
• Confirm drugs and controlled substances (CDS) education
• Take or provide evidence of a passed registration exam
• Purchase professional liability protection as an NP
• Make payment through convenient options provided

To begin this process, please contact the CRNA at registration@nurses.ab.ca. Please include your current Registrant ID and reference that you are looking to change your nursing status with us to become an NP.