Licensed Practical Nurse

Chamberlain College of Nursing has a specific program to address the desire of an LPN to work toward a program that gives them the education requirements to become an RN or Registered Nurse.  Not only does this provide a better understanding of heath care and treatment related items, but also provides better wages where an RN Salary can be significantly more than an LPN Salary.  This education also pertains to an LVN as it’s known in certain parts of the country.  Chamberlain provides both online and on campus programs.

You can learn much more and exactly what to expect by reading the information below and visiting their site.

Chamberlain’s accredited online and on-site LPN to RN bridge program is a degree completion program designed for qualified Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) who wish to pursue an Associate Degree in Nursing and become Registered Nurses (RNs). This program can be completed online or on-site at Chamberlain’s Columbus, Ohio campus and is currently available to Ohio residents only.

LPN to RN Bridge students are awarded up to 10 credit hours (3 in general education and 7 in nursing) toward the Associate Degree in Nursing. These hours are awarded through the Chamberlain College Articulation Plan (CCAP) and represent credit for knowledge gained in previous practical nurse education programs. Content for awarded credit includes theory and experience in basic maternal/newborn nursing, nursing of children, nursing of adults and geriatric clients, and mental health nursing as well as developmental psychology. To receive this transfer credit the LPN student must successfully pass a validation test of adult health content. This test is administered as part of the course requirement for NR 225 – Transitions in Professional Nursing.

There are obviously admission requirements equal to prerequisites for nursing and other professions alike.  These can be found here:

Prospective students must complete an application and interview with a Chamberlain admission representative. When all admission requirements are fulfilled, applicants are notified in writing of their admission status to a specific Chamberlain program and location. Registration and orientation schedules are arranged by each location or online program.

LPN to RN Admission Requirements:

• A minimum high school cumulative GPA (CGPA) of 2.75 or a minimum college CGPA of 2.75. The college CPGA must include 24 or more credit hours, excluding developmental courses, from an accredited institution. CGPA achieved in the last five years may take precedence over a prior CGPA. Failure to disclose attendance at other colleges is grounds for denial of admission or for dismissal.
• A minimum ACT composite score of 21, minimum SAT critical reading and mathematics reasoning (CR-M) score of 990, or a minimum A2 Admission Assessment score of 75.
• All applicants for pre-licensure programs are required to complete the A2 Admissions Assessment test prior to admission. A student may retake the A2 Admission Assessment test only once after a three-day waiting period and within 30 days of submitting the Application for Admission at no charge. (A retesting fee will be charged, or will apply, after 30 days from application.)

In addition to the general admission requirements listed above, the applicant to the LPN to RN Bridge option must provide evidence of:

Current, active LPN or LVN license from the U.S. or from a jurisdiction that is an associate member of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

Much more information can be found by spending some quality time throughout their website which can be found by clicking the following link here:

Public health education continues to change with the times.  Various colleges and universities are implementing programs to train health care professionals for specialties as well as prerequisites for nursing programs.

Nursing students have a wide variety of options that keep getting better and better with time and experience.  Check out the latest from the University of Miami school and nursing  and health studies.

Recently accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the major will help students understand disease prevention and the general wellness of world populations. They will also study biological, environmental, psychological and other factors that affect human health.

SONHS Dean Nilda Peragallo worked with Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas LeBlanc to develop the program in time for the fall 2012 semester.

“The new degree will open a world of new possibilities for our students to get hands-on experience to explore issues affecting public health in not only the United States, but also globally,” Peragallo said in a press release. “There is a skyrocketing demand for a well-trained public health workforce to tackle the 21st century’s most pressing health concerns, such as HIV/AIDS, obesity, terrorism and reemerging infectious diseases.”

The degree is normally completed at the graduate level, and allows aspiring nurses to enhance their clinical and research skills to face global health concerns.

The opportunities the degree provides will also lead to a variety of career options and goals.

“The Public Health degree will provide these individuals the opportunity to obtain careers in health education, prevention, health promotion and global health,” said Rosemary Hall, an associate professor at the SONHS.

Complementing a standard nursing track, the new major includes specific courses in epidemiology, communicable disease and health promotion and prevention.

One particular course, however, offers a unique perspective on public health. The class  on field experience in community health will allow students to learn about servicing local and global communities, and foster UM’s mission of service.

With these benefits, students like sophomore Susana Guerrero find the BSPH to be an important asset for any nursing student.

The benefits of getting quality education from some of our best institutions is endless.  Our nurses, LPN’s, and Nurse Practitioners deserve the best available education possible.

The following article displays how and why nurses are vital to many communities health for its residents.  The baby boomer residents and others alike are in need of constant quality health care at increasing levels.  They need highly trained nursing staff to include LPN’s, RN’s and other specialists who have the proper prerequisites for nursing and can achieve a high level of patient care for the benefit of their respective communities.  Please take a moment to read the following example below:

As baby boomers age and their healthcare needs grow, so does the need for qualified nurses here in the Coachella Valley.

Studies have shown that higher nurse staffing levels are associated with fewer deaths, lower failure-to-rescue incidents, lower rates of infection, and shorter hospital stays.

As the healthcare needs of our Valley community are increasing daily, having a trained, dedicated, and loyal workforce of nurses is essential for us to meet those needs in a timely and effective manner.

These are just a few of the reasons why ongoing support for the College of the Desert (COD) Nursing Program is critical.

An average of 200 nursing students attend our school each year, and seven out of ten students who graduate with a nursing degree decide to stay here in the valley and care for our local residents.

Thirty-seven local medical facilities and all three Valley hospitals (Desert Regional Medical Center, Eisenhower Medical Center, and JFK Hospital) partner with COD to provide nursing students with the clinical requirements to graduate.

These facilities have been instrumental in their support of the Nursing Program, but they can’t do it alone. Beyond tuition fees, the annual budget of the Nursing Program is $3 million dollars, and these monies are crucial to the Program’s success.

Funds raised by the Foundation provide educational income to support scholarships, textbooks, classroom technology upgrades, faculty positions, equipment, and other programs.

The need is great, now more than ever. Currently, the Nursing Program is facing potential faculty deficits as a result of ongoing budget cuts and unfunded program requirements. New and replacement equipment is sorely needed to enhance the clinical teaching lab, and updated curriculum is needed for the Registered Nurse, Vocational Nurse, and Home Health Aide Programs.

Lending support to the COD Nursing Program is a wise investment, as our students have a proven track record of excellence.

The passing rate for COD students with an RN license is 92 percent, compared to California’s state average of 76 percent. COD’s Certified Nursing Assistant student pass rate is 100 percent. These numbers are impressive, and are hard proof of the high educational standards our students are setting for themselves as they create a road map for the future of our Valley’s healthcare system.

This critical program truly promotes student success and healthcare workforce excellence, and has been recognized by acclaimed comic Rita Rudner, who has been gracious enough to lend us her talents for a December 16th performance at the McCallum Theatre to benefit our wonderful nurses.

To see and read the full article, click here

Our communities need more Licensed Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses and other health care professionals to take care of those in need.

More and more working class folks are getting involved in the occupy walls street movement in support of the millions of people who are now affected by the ongoing wall street disconnect with main street.  Most of the country is feeling some pain in regards the ongoing economic conditions including the real estate market, job market and overall mood of the country.  The health care sector is no exception.  LPN’s, RN’s, Nurse Practitioners and other professional health care employees are feeling the need to show their support for the grass roots movement.

Licensed Practical Nurses and all other nursing professionals will show their support by participating in a march in California. You can read more about this event below, see who’s involved and why they are participating.

Nurses from around the world will rally in four cities today, November 3, with one demand: A financial transaction tax to discourage speculation and fund economic recovery.

In San Francisco, they’ll march from a Federal Reserve Bank to Wells Fargo headquarters. In Los Angeles, they’ll march from Occupy LA to U.S. Bank. In Washington D.C., they’ll march on the Treasury Department, then lobby Congress. And in Cannes, France, nurses from four continents will rally at the G-20 Summit, which is hosting the leaders of major world economies — including transaction tax holdout Barack Obama.

Today’s actions are spearheaded by National Nurses United, the largest American nurses’ union, with backing from the AFL-CIO, Oxfam, the World Wildlife Fund, and two international union federations: Public Services International and the International Trade Union Confederation. The FTT is expected to be a major topic of discussion at the G-20 summit, having gained the support of German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy — both influential conservative heads of state. In the United States, the 170,000-member NNU has been pushing for the tax for months; its campaign has included June demonstrations outside the Chamber of Commerce and the New York Stock exchange and a national “Tax Wall Street” day of action September 1.

NNU co-president and 37-year nursing veteran Karen Higgins says she and her co-workers “see the fallout” of a broken economy on a daily basis at work. “We’ve been watching patients coming in sicker because they can’t afford health insurance, or they have health insurance but they can’t they can’t afford the co-pays, or they can’t afford the test…So what happens is they get sicker, and we see things that could have been preventable that now are not.”

Higgins has also seen an increase in stress-induced afflictions among young people in the current economy. Rather than asking further sacrifice from the unemployed and working poor, NNU wants to make Wall Street pay to repair what it broke.

The logic of the transaction tax is two-fold: First, it’s an austerity alternative – it raises revenue from those wealthy enough to have large sums of money to move around the stock market. NNU estimates that a modest tax could raise $350 billion a year. Second, it discourages gambling by the 1 percent that messes up the economy for the rest of us. “High-frequency trading would no longer be lucrative for a lot of firms, and that would definitely be a positive impact,” says AFL-CIO spokesperson Heather Slavkin. “It could have a regulatory as well as fiscal impact by deterring unhelpful bad activity by Wall Street banks.”

The more people who become involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement, the larger the voice becomes and the more power they will command in terms of a voice to be heard.

Both in the US and Canada, more and more Nurse Practitioners are filling in the role as primary care providers responsible for most of the infant care and taking over the role as pediatric nurse.

As a result of the physicians time becoming more and more stretched, and the advanced degrees and experience level of the Nurse Practitioners including their specialties, they are finding themselves in the primary care role within many heath care systems and facilities.

Parents are typically very comfortable with the Nurse Practitioners due to their wonderful bedside manner and attentive care for their children, therefore, when all parties involved are happy with the situation, you find more and more hospitals going this direction.

This doesn’t exclude the Registered Nurses (RN), or LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) but certainly expands the role of practitioners.

For more information contained within this specific article, read below:

“We have noticed experience and that experience is valuable,” Toledo says. “We don’t notice the positions.”

Molesky’s role as a nurse practitioner, while not new, may become more common as Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health and Wellness look for innovative ways to increase access to primary care and allow health-care teams – rather than just doctors – to treat and help patients.

Nurse practitioners have been around for decades and have been shown to provide top-quality service and high patient satisfaction at a lower cost than physicians. They typically spend more time with patients and educate them on selfmanagement of health and disease. Practitioners are entrenched in the United States and in Ontario, but while the roles have been slower to blossom in Alberta – in part because of funding challenges – the province’s new direction to boost primary and interdisciplinary care is expected to advance the profession.

In 1989, after she had trained in Ontario, Molesky was the first nurse practitioner hired at the University Hospital. She now splits her year between the Stollery Children’s and the Royal Alexandra hospitals, where she manages the care for five to six newborns every day. Unlike registered nurses, who do most of the hands-on care – switching medication bags, feeding the babies and monitoring oxygen saturation levels – Molesky guides the registered nurses, makes some of the treatment choices and suggests new drugs to offset complications, though narcotics are off-limits.

She can order and interpret blood or urine tests and X-rays, and has advanced skills to insert catheters into arteries, or tubes into throats and chests.

Molesky works alongside residents and fellows – physicians in training to become pediatricians and neonatologists – and does work that parallels theirs. But she doesn’t suggest she replaces doctors, with whom she regularly consults. Instead, she says she and other nurse practitioners bring “a flavour of being a nurse” to the job of patient care. Residents and fellows, who can be scarce, typically leave the hospital after finishing their training. Nurse practitioners provide continuity and a special appreciation for patients after working first in the trenches as registered nurses, Molesky says.

Initially, the role of nurse practitioners was to serve isolated, rural areas in northern Alberta and Canada where there were no or few doctors. The University of Alberta was one of two Canadian universities to offer certification programs in the 1970s, training nurses in advanced skills so they could do routine checkups, diagnose and treat common diseases and help in emergency situations if no doctors were available.

But they had no legal status that defined their jobs under legislation, and the program was shut down in the 1980s with the recognition that more training was needed.

In the 1990s, a 2-1/2-year master’s program was created at the U of A. Still, nurse practitioners continued to largely work in rural, remote and underserviced areas, such as the Boyle McCauley Health Centre in Edmonton’s inner city.

New legislation in 1996 made Alberta the first province to recognize “registered nurses providing extensive services” and enabled nurse practitioners to work in urban settings such as hospitals and community clinics. Today, about 10 nurse practitioners graduate from the U of A every year. Others are trained at the University of Calgary and Athabasca University.

“I don’t want to use the language of ‘physician replacements,’ ” says Kathleen Hunter, a nurse practitioner who is also a U of A professor. “Nurse practitioners tend to bring that nursing view, where we really like to spend more time with patients. We do a lot of health promotion and teaching as well as managing common concerns. I think we do (fill) a unique niche in health care.”

If you would like to read the entire article, click the link here.

One of the most well regarded online universities has just announced a new program to benefit those Registered Nurses (RN’s) and Nurse Practitioners who wish to continue learning and gaining more advanced degrees and benefiting from Accelerated Nursing Programs.

Capella University has recognized the demand for higher education in the nursing field and has decided to make a formal addition to their masters program in nursing.  This spells out great things for all involved in the health care field from an LPN who has the desire to continue through higher education all the way to Nurse Practitioners who are intent on achieving the highest level education and knowledge possible.

Read more about this wonderful program below:

The new MSN specializations include Nursing Leadership and Administration, Diabetes Nursing, and Gerontology Nursing. All three specializations within Capella’s online master’s in nursing incorporate the Essentials of Master’s Education for Advanced Practice Nursing established by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. As of September 30, 2011, more than 35,000 students are pursuing an online degree at Capella University ( http://www.capella.edu ), with nearly 80 percent enrolled in Capella’s doctoral degree programs and master’s degree programs. The learning and career outcomes of Capella’s students and alumni can be found at www.capellaresults.org .

“There continues to be a strong need for highly educated health care professionals and we developed Capella’s new MSN specializations to help fill that need,” said Mary Bemker, DSN, director of Capella’s Nursing Department. “More than 650,000 health care jobs have been added since the recession began and nearly 30 percent require a master’s degree. Within the health care industry, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has identified nursing as the largest and fastest growing profession.

“Capella’s multidisciplinary approach to our MSN program not only prepares RNs to be leaders within health care organizations, it also provides them with the knowledge and skills to be key contributors in the larger public service environment,” she said. “To effectively address health care issues, today’s nurse leaders must be able to collaborate with leaders from across the fields of health care, public administration, and public safety.”

Capella’s MSN includes online coursework covering advanced theories and evidence-based practices focused on the areas of leadership and administration, diabetes, and gerontology, depending on which specialization is chosen. The MSN program also includes five field experiences, each connected to a specific course within the chosen specialization, offering students opportunities to put their courseroom learning into action. The courses are taught by faculty who combine top academic credentials, leadership experience, and backgrounds in frontline nursing. They include Barbara Schreiner, PhD, RN, CDE, BC-ADM, who is an incoming member of the national board of directors for the American Association of Diabetes Educators, co-investigator of an NIH-funded study on managing type-2 diabetes in children, and author of the “Diabetes Self-Management Education” chapter in the American Diabetes Association’s book, Intensive Diabetes Management; Rachel Gonzales, DM, RN, RODP, who has had a long career in nursing administration and currently serves as interim administrator/CEO at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Idaho; and JoAnna Fairley, PhD, RN, who has extensive experience working with the elderly in many practice settings, including long-term care, acute care, and heart failure clinics.

You can read the full article here:

This is confirmation that the demand exists for higher education from those LPN’s, RN’s, Nurse Practitioners and other specializations within the nursing field.  As the need for quality care increases, so does the need for more educational outlets.

Due to the need for additional fees, Clovis Unified School Board decided to increase the cost of their LVN program to be more consistent with other programs.  Beginning January First, they are raising their fees on nursing students studying to become an LVN.  This increase comes both in the face of an increasing need for LVN’s and LPN’s nationwide, and also a struggling low to middle class sector of people who are finding is harder and harder to pay the bills.  While going to school for further education and certification for these programs, students find the workload heavy and difficult to work while attending classes and studying.  You can read the entire article below for more information.

Administrators found current costs are lower than certificate programs at state schools and drastically down compared to private colleges and universities.

The move could save the district hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some students say it could be a struggle to graduate.

Ashley Hudson is a full-time student in the clinical medical assistant program at Clovis Adult School.

“This class is Monday through Thursday, 8-4, and studying is outrageous so I don’t have time to get a job.”

Instead, she relies on financial aid, but says the last time she received a check, it had been drastically reduced.

“I was worried because I still have bills to pay, live-in expenses and even have stuff for school. I talked with my mom the other night and was trying to figure out how to pay for my uniforms for CNA, so it’s hard.”

In September, Hudson plans to start the licensed vocational nurse program. Right now, it costs $4,500.00 to complete, but under the proposed hikes slated for January, that number could climb to $6,000.00. An increase Principal Kevin Cookinham says is a necessary shot in the arm to keep the programs going.

“All we’re trying to do is have less of a burden on the main budget. Throughout California, I get emails almost every week, from districts that have had to shut down their Adult School. They’re saying this is flux money, it’s not going to Adult School, so we’re just gonna shut it down, focus on K-12.”

Right now, the Adult School receives $2.8 million from Clovis Unified to put towards certificate programs like computer literacy, medical front office and floral design. With budget cuts occurring almost every year, Cookingham says Adult Schools need to look at running campuses more like a businesses. He also says, many of his students attend class almost for free.

The state and the rest of the country certainly needs as many LVN’s and LPN candidates as possible, but the rising costs for those that do not qualify for grants and aid will be a strain.

“For instance, in our LVN program, 9 out of 10 are on Pell Grants. Pell pays 100%. If you look at our other programs, anywhere from 60-100% are either Cal Works or Pell, that means they pay nothing.”

If approved, the fee increases would take effect January third and would be evaluated each year to determine whether they’re in line with other schools providing the same services.

Instant feedback, education and training are the name of the game.  An ingenious new device developed by the engineering and nursing departments at the University of New Hampshire will provide a higher level of training and educational productivity for those studying for their prerequisites for nursing.  LPN’s, RN’s and other specialized nursing candidates will have the opportunity to gain instant feedback whether or not they are administering medicine into the muscle correctly or not.

Read the full article and specifics below:

UNH nursing and electrical engineering faculty have crossed departmental lines to create a “smart” training syringe that will help nurses and other health care professionals learn how to give the most effective intramuscular injections by providing real-time feedback. It’s the first device of its type ever created.

“We want to be sure people are getting the medicine in the muscle where it’s going to work. This would be a way to ensure that people are getting immunized,” says Paula McWilliam, assistant professor of nursing, who is collaborating with professor John LaCourse, chair of the department of electrical and computer engineering. Tyler Rideout, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, and undergraduates Amanda Makowiecki ’14 (electrical engineering) and Holly Parker ‘13 (nursing) are assisting, as did Dana Daukssa ’11 (biochemistry).

The project, which has produced a prototype training syringe, has its origins when McWilliam realized the dearth of both standardized procedures for giving intramuscular (IM) injections and of teaching tools for helping new nurses learn to give injections. Although injections are common – 16 billion are given per year – and considered a basic skill, if they’re not given properly, McWilliam says, their effectiveness at delivering medicine could be compromised.

“I can watch a student nurse practice an injection and say ‘that looks right,’ but I have no way to tell for certain,” she says. “This will measure the outcome more accurately.”

“If nurses could practice with this training tool, they can learn to give a better shot,” LaCourse adds. “I would imagine it’s nerve-wracking to stick a needle in somebody for the first time.”

The prototype “smart” syringe is a simple plastic syringe equipped with force and acceleration sensors. “How you grab it, how you move it through space, how deeply you push it in all gets measured,” says LaCourse, and is then transmitted to a computer. “For example, the syringe’s readout could advise a student to modify technique by adjusting their injection angle.”

Rideout developed a graphical user interface (GUI) that plots users’ force, trajectory, angle and pressure data on a computer screen within a range of best-practice data. He recently published his work in the publication of the 2011 Northeast Bioengineering Conference, at which he also presented the project.  Read the full article here

 

It’s hard to imagine, but up until now, there hasn’t really been a best practice manual for the administration of medicine through injections.  It seems that all that is about to change.  Our nursing community continues to become better prepared through education and now technology which exists in all aspects of our lives.

An LVN or Licensed Vocational Nurse provides basic care and daily assistance to patients within the hospital or clinic setting.  They usually work under the direct supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN) or physician.  An LVN has the ability to take a patients vitals, give normal injections and perform normal testing procedures.

To become an LVN, you must earn a certificate where programs are offered at local community colleges, vocational schools and various health organizations.

The average LVN Salary, similar to an LPN Salary ranges from $33,000 to $47,000 per year depending on where you are located and what type of facility you work.

The article below outlines additional information about Educations Requirements, Salary Information and other career related details.

The most common educational preparation for the licensed vocational nursing career is a certificate program. One-year certificate programs are offered by community colleges, vocational schools, and allied health organizations. In these programs, future LVNs learn their clinical competencies through rounds in a healthcare facility; they also spend time in the classroom, studying pharmacology, medical science, and nursing strategies for different patient populations. The title “licensed vocational nurse” is often used interchangeably with the title “licensed practical nurse”; while both types of nurses carry out similar duties and pass a licensing exam, LPNs are nurses who have specifically taken the NCLEX-PN exam.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the job market for licensed vocational nurses will be solid in the coming years as the Baby Boom population ages. This large elderly population will increase the demand for trained LVNs in nursing care facilities and with home healthcare agencies. The middle half of licensed vocational nurses earn $33,000-47,000 a year, with average wage of $39,000.

Licensed Vocational Nurse

Licensed vocational nurses provide a mixture of basic clinical care and day-to-day assistance to patients in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and residences. They work under the direction of registered nurses and physicians to carry out patients’ care plans. On the clinical side, LVNs may take a patient’s vital signs, give injections, and help doctors perform particular tests. For daily care, licensed vocational nurses may prepare meals for patients or instruct patients on good health strategies. Depending on where they are employed, some LVNs also perform administrative duties, such as answering the phone or scheduling appointments.

The most common educational preparation for the licensed vocational nursing career is a certificate program. One-year certificate programs are offered by community colleges, vocational schools, and allied health organizations. In these programs, future LVNs learn their clinical competencies through rounds in a healthcare facility; they also spend time in the classroom, studying pharmacology, medical science, and nursing strategies for different patient populations. The title “licensed vocational nurse” is often used interchangeably with the title “licensed practical nurse”; while both types of nurses carry out similar duties and pass a licensing exam, LPNs are nurses who have specifically taken the NCLEX-PN exam.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the job market for licensed vocational nurses will be solid in the coming years as the Baby Boom population ages. This large elderly population will increase the demand for trained LVNs in nursing care facilities and with home healthcare agencies. The middle half of licensed vocational nurses earn $33,000-47,000 a year, with average wage of $39,000.

Career Specializations

Although most licensed vocational nurses work in general settings providing a number of different healthcare services, some who work in particular types of clinics have more focused responsibilities.

• Nursing Care Facilities: These LVNs help develop care plans for residents of long-term care facilities and check over the work done by nursing aides.
• Physician Offices: LVNs in these healthcare clinics are usually responsible for more administrative and clerical tasks, such as answering phones and scheduling appointments.
• Home Healthcare: Licensed vocational nurses who work in patients’ homes may help prepare nutritious meals for the patient or educate the family on basic home healthcare principles.

Education & Certification Requirements

A state-recognized certificate program is the most common way to enter a career as a licensed vocational nurse. During these programs, students spend time in the classroom learning about medical terminology, pharmacology, anatomy, and basic medical science. Students must also complete a clinical component, in which they spend time under a registered nurse or experienced licensed vocational nurse, learning the hands-on aspect of this career. This clinical study usually occurs in a local hospital. Less common is an associate program, which combines the career-oriented training of the certificate with liberal arts courses in areas like humanities, math, English, and social science. Certificate and associate programs are commonly offered by junior colleges and vocational-technical schools.

As their name implies, licensed practical nurses need a state license, in order to legally practice patient care. The standard exam for receiving this licensure is the NCLEX-PN exam, the National Council Licensure Examination in Practical Nursing. State boards of nursing determine an applicant’s eligibility to sit for the exam, based on their completion of a recognized practical nursing training program. The exam has four parts: health promotion and maintenance, psychosocial integrity, physiological integrity, and safe and effective care environment. Along with this mandatory credential, LVNs can also seek out voluntary certifications in specific care areas, such as pharmacology and long-term care. (BLS)

Click Here for the rest of the information including which programs may be best suited for your needs: http://www.guidetohealthcareschools.com/degrees/nursing/licensed-vocational-nurse?source=google_gths_lvn&kw=vocational%20nursing%20program&content=&gclid=CPL4z9SV_asCFQPj7Qod1BCmng

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is indicating that the need for more Licensed Practical Nurses is growing and will continue into the foreseeable future.  They indicate that the projection for jobs in the field will grow at an accelerated pace and the most needed areas will occur in nursing care and home healthcare facilities.  Specifically they expect the LPN population to grow by 21% over the next 6 years which is in direct response to the needs of our aging population and oncoming baby boomers.

The BLS outlines requirements and specific job functions which can be a great resource for anyone looking to enter the field.

Licensed practical nurses (LPNs), or licensed vocational nurses (LVNs), care for people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled under the direction of physicians and registered nurses. (The work of physicians and surgeons and of registered nurses is described elsewhere in the Handbook.) The nature of the direction and supervision required varies by State and job setting.

LPNs care for patients in many ways. Often, they provide basic bedside care. Many LPNs measure and record patients’ vital signs such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration. They also prepare and give injections and enemas, monitor catheters, dress wounds, and give alcohol rubs and massages. To help keep patients comfortable, they assist with bathing, dressing, and personal hygiene, moving in bed, standing, and walking. They might also feed patients who need help eating. Experienced LPNs may supervise nursing assistants and aides.

As part of their work, LPNs collect samples for testing, perform routine laboratory tests, and record food and fluid intake and output. They clean and monitor medical equipment. Sometimes, they help physicians and registered nurses perform tests and procedures. Some LPNs help to deliver, care for, and feed infants.

LPNs also monitor their patients and report adverse reactions to medications or treatments. LPNs gather information from patients, including their health history and how they are currently feeling. They may use this information to complete insurance forms, pre-authorizations, and referrals, and they share information with registered nurses and doctors to help determine the best course of care for a patient. LPNs often teach family members how to care for a relative or teach patients about good health habits.

Most LPNs are generalists and will work in any area of healthcare. However, some work in a specialized setting, such as a nursing home, a doctor’s office, or in home healthcare. LPNs in nursing care facilities help to evaluate residents’ needs, develop care plans, and supervise the care provided by nursing aides. In doctors’ offices and clinics, they may be responsible for making appointments, keeping records, and performing other clerical duties. LPNs who work in home healthcare may prepare meals and teach family members simple nursing tasks.

In some States, LPNs are permitted to administer prescribed medicines, start intravenous fluids, and provide care to ventilator-dependent patients.

Work environment. Most licensed practical nurses work a 40-hour week. In some work settings where patients need round-the-clock care, LPNs may have to work nights, weekends, and holidays. About 18 percent of LPNs and LVN’s worked part-time in 2008. They often stand for long periods and help patients move in bed, stand, or walk.

LPNs may face hazards from caustic chemicals, radiation, and infectious diseases. They are subject to back injuries when moving patients. They often must deal with the stress of heavy workloads. In addition, the patients they care for may be confused, agitated, or uncooperative.

You can read more specifics directly from their website right here at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm

You can also find education requirements and all the prerequisites for nursing directly from our website.