Internationally and domestically educated nurses play an essential role in supporting health care across Canada. The Advancing IENs Care Pathways program is designed to help you strengthen your skills, build confidence in specialized areas, and advance your practice through focused, employer-informed micro-credentials. With flexible online learning and competency-based assessments, you can choose the pathway that best supports your goals - whether in rural acute care or continuing care - and earn digital recognition of your expertise.
Critical Care in Rural Settings: This course equips healthcare professionals to deliver critical care in rural and remote settings. You'll learn to assess and stabilize critically ill patients, make sound clinical decisions, and work effectively with limited resources and staffing. With a focus on virtual health, teamwork, and culturally safe care, especially for Indigenous communities, you’ll gain practical skills and confidence through scenario-based learning to improve emergency outcomes in rural environments.
Mental Health in Rural Settings: In rural acute care, nurses are often the first responders to mental health crises. This course trains nursing students to recognize signs of distress, use trauma-informed care, and apply sound clinical judgment. You'll learn how to create safe environments and connect patients with local, or telehealth supports to ensure timely, culturally appropriate care.
Maternity Care in Rural Settings: Maternal health in rural settings comes with unique challenges. This course prepares nursing students to assess and manage maternal conditions where resources and specialist access are limited. You'll learn to identify risks, apply evidence-based care, and adapt strategies to support safe, equitable outcomes for mothers in rural communities.
Dementia, Delirium, and Depression: This course helps you confidently identify and differentiate between dementia, delirium, and depression. You’ll learn how to assess patients thoroughly, create personalized care plans, and work closely with families to provide compassionate, holistic care. Gain the skills to make a real difference in patients’ lives and improve the quality of care they receive.
Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment: Older adults in continuing care often have complex needs that require a holistic, person-centered approach. This course teaches you how to use Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) to identify health concerns and support collaborative care planning. Through interactive modules and real-life scenarios, you’ll build practical skills to assess multiple areas of an older adult’s life and contribute effectively to interdisciplinary care teams.
Leadership and Case Management: Effective leadership in continuing care means coordinating patient care and supporting teamwork across disciplines. Registered Nurses play a key role, balancing direct care with clinical coordination, advocating for patients while guiding teams, and helping bridge the gap between hands-on care and administration.
All students are expected to follow Bow Valley College’s Academic Integrity Policy (500-1-7). Academic misconduct, including plagiarism, cheating, collusion, contract cheating, or misuse of sources, is taken seriously and may result in disciplinary action, up to and including removal from the course without refund.
Disclaimer: These courses are for educational purposes only and do not replace formal licensure, certification, or professional medical/legal advice.
A micro-credential validates that you have the desired skills needed for today’s workforce and your competence through a secure digital badge - visual, digital representation of an individual’s achievement in a specific skill or area of knowledge. This can be shared on social media such as LinkedIn.
Assessment First
Take an initial competency assessment to determine the areas that you are already competent in and gain a customized learning pathway. You do not need to spend time re-learning material you already know.
Competency-based
This program is delivered using a Competency-Based Education(CBE) model, offering flexible learning pathways aligned with workforceexpectations. Students progress by demonstrating competence through performancedemonstrations, advancing when they are ready.
What is competency based education?
Employer-driven
Pivot-Ed micro-credentials are designed with employers and focus on job-specific skills. This enables success in an increasingly competitive job market.
Program availability and start dates are subject to change. Admission is based on first applied, first qualified.
If English is not your first language, please review the English language proficiency requirements.
Missing a required admission criteria? Complete academic upgrading before applying.
If you studied outside of Alberta, you can see which of your courses is equivalent to an admission requirement.
Through the School of Health and Wellness, it’s possible.
In just two years, you could become a Licensed Practical Nurse, Pharmacy Technician, Health Care Aide, and more.
Together, we can make it happen.
Bow Valley College
345 - 6 Avenue SE,
Calgary, AB T2G 4V1
Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday
6:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday
+1 403-410-1400
1-866-428-2669 (toll free)
