These Albertans are fighting for licensed practical nurses to be recognized as more than assistants

If Ginny Wong didn't have family in Alberta, she says she would leave for a province that formally recognizes and respects her as a nurse.

She's a licensed practical nurse (LPN) who works in High River, Alta. But while she does the job of a nurse, her position isn't classified as such in Alberta.

"It's frustrating," said Wong. "We are nurses and we do nurses' jobs in this province … but we're not even classified as nurses."

That's why Wong and three other LPNs, through their grassroots group they call LPNs for Change, are calling on the Alberta government to reclassify their role to direct nursing care.

The move would put LPNs alongside registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, which Wong said could help recruit and retain nurses in Alberta and create better trust with the public.

LPNs in Alberta are currently classified as auxiliary nurses — a group that helps nurses take care of patients. And that description was true when the role was created during the Second World War as a desperate measure to help with a nursing shortage. At the time, they were called certified nursing aides.

Since then, their education, scope of work and even title has changed significantly. But the classification hasn't been updated.

Some other provinces across Canada formally recognize LPNs as nurses, including B.C., Ontario and Nova Scotia.

According to Alis Alberta, a website that provides education and career-planning information to Albertans, LPNs earn approximately 35 per cent less than RNs. LPNs require a two-year diploma, compared to a four-year bachelor degree for RNs. Still, Wong said both roles do fairly similar day-to-day work.

Becca — whose real name CBC News has agreed not to use — worked as an LPN across various departments in Alberta for more than a decade.

She left Alberta for Ontario two months ago.

"The respect kept declining over the years, and that was a big reason why I left," Becca said. 

"One day I came home and was like, 'I can't do this anymore, getting treated poorly, being called a bottom feeder, a certified Band-Aid applier.'"

Becca is now settled in Ontario and has a new job lined up. She's doing LPN courses to keep up with the province's legislation for safe practice.