The Michener Institute of Education at UHN uses a unique hybrid model in partnership with hospitals, combining didactic with clinical mentorship during the 11-week program. The Critical Care Nursing Certificate Program provides learners with the advanced knowledge, specialized skills and abilities to practice competently and safely within a critical care environment. The innovative design integrates the clinical experience throughout 11 weeks of synchronous and asynchronous virtual learning, allowing learners to integrate new knowledge into their critical care practice on an ongoing basis.

The program has been built to the specifications of Critical Care Services Ontario (CCSO), so hospitals can access provincial funding to sponsor nurses. It also prepares candidates to challenge the Canadian Nurses Association national certification exam in critical care.

Please note: This program has been developed for critical care nurses working or hired into Level 3 ICUs.

This program provides Registered Nurses foundational knowledge and skills as per the program standard for Registered Nurse Critical Care Nursing programs set out by the Ministry of Colleges & Universities. This prepares nurses to be novice level 3 ICU nurses. After successful completion of the program, learners should continue with unit/hospital-specific orientation, additional education delivered by Nurse Educators and growth of their professional practice through experience.

Our program provides generalized critical care nursing education and cannot cover every specialized clinical situation that a novice ICU nurse (post program) may encounter. This program does not include training or knowledge for advanced critical care specialties.

As per CCSO-Guidance Documents

NOTE: Our Critical Care Nursing Certificate Program (CCNU120) is only available by contract to hospitals that will be sponsoring RNs either currently working in or newly hired to work in their critical care settings.

This course is not available for individual registration. Please contact ce@michener.ca for more information.

Upon successful completion of the course, learners will be able to:

• Practice within the scope of professional, legal and ethical standards, organization policies and best practices in critical care nursing
• Establish and maintain therapeutic relationships with patients, families and/or substitute decision makers to optimize patient and family-centered critical care
• Assess, analyze and monitor data for patients with complex, multi-system problems in order to anticipate early deterioration in patient’s condition, establish priorities and plan interventions
• Plan, implement, evaluate and document specialized nursing interventions to achieve optimal patient outcomes in potential or actual life-threatening illness and end-of-life situations
• Advocate for and deliver patient and family-centered care to patients/families experiencing potential or actual life-threatening illness and end-of-life situations
• Collaborate with members of the inter-professional health care team in providing care for patients experiencing potential or actual life-threatening illness and end-of-life situations to achieve continuity of care and optimal patient outcomes
• Use evidence-based research and best practice guidelines to inform and adapt critical care nursing practice
• Use strategies and available resources to respond to environmental, physical and psychosocial stressors affecting themselves and others in the critical care setting.
• Engage in reflective practice and ongoing professional development to enhance competence in critical care nursing