LOCATION/DELIVERY MODES & START DATES
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Delivery Legend:
On Campus
On Campus: All courses in this program will be delivered onsite at a CNA campus or at an approved location. Some courses may have online elements.
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Blended
Blended: Some courses, or parts of courses, in this program will be delivered onsite at a CNA campus or at an approved location, while other courses, or parts of courses, will be delivered online or virtually to students at another location.
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Online - Asynchronous
Online - Asynchronous: Delivered fully online with no scheduled classes, and allows students to learn on their own schedule, in a flexible environment, within a certain time frame.
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Online - Synchronous
Online Synchronous: Delivered fully online with live, scheduled videoconference classes. The instructor and the students in the course engage with the course content and each other at the same time, from different locations.
Online - Asynchronous delivery - September 2026
Critical care when every second counts.
Critical care transport nurses are highly trained healthcare professionals who provide advanced emergency care and life support to critically ill or injured patients during road or air transport to hospital. These professionals have expertise in intensive care and emergency settings. They are equipped to provide clinical aid enroute to hospital. They provide advanced critical care during transport, ensuring continuous monitoring, stabilization, and life-saving interventions for patients as they are transferred from emergency situations to hospital care.
CNA’s Critical Care Transport Nurse program builds on the existing skills and experience of registered nurses. They work as part of a highly coordinated transport and emergency team, collaborating with other healthcare professionals to ensure seamless, life-saving care during critical situations. With this specialized training, these professionals have a lasting, positive impact on healthcare services, providing essential support for families, communities and society.
As healthcare systems evolve to meet the needs of diverse and geographically dispersed populations, there is a growing emphasis on a modern, integrated air and road ambulance system that utilizes dynamic deployment and staffing, linked with virtual emergency care and advanced care paramedicine.
[1] This program reflects that shift, preparing registered nurses to work within dynamic, team-based systems that prioritize timely, high-quality care, especially in rural and remote regions where rapid transport and critical interventions can make a life-saving difference.
In the field, you will work with hospital staff, emergency services and specialized teams to provide seamless, high-level care during inter-facility and air and ground medical transfers of patients. At times you and the team will provide care to specialized patients, such as during a pediatric transport.
Now is the time to advance your nursing education with this specialized, intensive training. The Critical Care Transport Nurse post-diploma program is competency-based, focusing on critical care theory and best practices. You will learn to administer complex medications, manage ventilators, perform advanced procedures, and manage critically ill patients in pre-hospital and transport settings.
This career is exciting and rewarding. If you are an experienced registered nurse looking to expand into air transport and manage critically ill patients in high-acuity situations, then this is your next move.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
- Blended delivery (online classes with in-person labs)
- Two, 7-week clinical practicums in flight transport and related clinical areas
- Become eligible to sit for the Certified Flight Registered Nurse and/or Certified Transport RN for the US
- The Canadian Nurses Association may allow graduates to write CNCC(C), ENC(C), or CNCCP(C), depending on one’s experience[2]
- Two streams of entrance one for critical care nurses and one for ACP - Critical Care Paramedicine-College of the North Atlantic
DID YOU KNOW?
- Critical care transport nurses bridge the gap between emergency response and hospital care, essentially turning ambulances and aircraft into mobile intensive care units.
- Critical care transport nurses work on ambulances, ships and aircraft.
- Listings show dozens of openings across Canada, with salaries ranging from CAD $98,000–$123,500 annually for flight nurses.[3]
OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of the Critical Care Transport Nursing program, graduates will be able to:
- Meet the requirements to sit for US certifications, including the Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN) and Certified Transport Registered Nurse (CTRN), and qualify to pursue Canadian Nurses Association specialty certifications such as Adult Critical Care (CNCC(C)), Emergency Nursing (ENC(C)), or Pediatric Critical Care (CNCCP(C)), depending on prior experience.
- Administer complex medications, perform advanced procedures, and manage critically ill patients in pre-hospital and transport settings.
- Provide continuous critical care during inter-facility and scene response, utilizing multiple modes of transportation including air, ground and ship, ensuring safe and effective management of unstable patients.
- Assess and treat patients from specialized populations, applying advanced clinical judgment and decision-making in high-acuity scenarios.
- Use critical thinking and clinical judgment to make autonomous decisions that optimize patient outcomes within their scope of practice.
- Collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams to ensure seamless, integrated care for critically ill patients across healthcare systems.
CERTIFICATIONS
During the program students will complete the following certificate(s)/ Certifications:
- Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
CLINICAL PLACEMENT
Clinical placements are a required element of this program, and students will be assigned placements at approved training sites. There is no guarantee that students will receive a placement at their preferred clinical site. All expenses associated with the completion of clinical placement will be the responsibility of the student.
Students require a clear Certificate of Conduct (Criminal Record Check and Vulnerability Sector Check) to be permitted into a clinical placement. Students with an unclear Certificate of Conduct are advised to contact student.placements@cna.nl.ca prior to beginning the program.
For programs with competitive admissions, clinical placements are not affected by ranking in the competitive admissions process and will be determined under institutional guidelines.
REFERENCES
1 Health Accord NL. (2022). Our Province. Our Health. Our Future. A 10-Year Health Transformation: The Report.
https://healthaccordnl.ca/final-reports/
2 Canadian Nurses Association, 2025;
Certification Nursing Practice Specialties - Canadian Nurses Association
3 Indeed.com, Travel Nurse, 2025; Discover 100 Critical Care Transport Nurse Jobs and Work Opportunities | Indeed