Master's Degree in Nursing
When you think “nurse,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably “RN,” or Registered Nurse. There is an entire group of nurses, however, who function at nearly the same level as RNs, though the specific scopes of their practice vary from state to state. Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) or Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) are most often found as the primary caregivers in nursing homes and other facilities offering less acute care. As healthcare moves toward shorter hospital stays for everyone, the availability of practical or vocational nurses on sub-acute units and rehab floors is become more and more crucial.
LPNs or LVNs typically attend a one-year program after completing the prerequisites required for nursing school. Online LPN nursing classes are quite popular these days. The prerequisites, such as nutrition, chemistry, psychology and anatomy/physiology are the same for practical/vocational nurses as they are for RNs. Within the year of training LPN/LVNs receive, they learn the basics of assessing a patient and performing all manner of tasks related to patient care. Technically, LPNs are only under-qualified to perform a few tasks which must be passed to RNs. These generally include giving certain types of intravenous drugs, hanging blood transfusions and developing overall, inter-disciplinary plans of care for each individual patient. LPN/LVNs are not to be confused with nurse’s aids, who perform primarily physical care related directly to the comfort of the patient. Nurse’s aides are an extremely important part of the healthcare team, as they often have the most interaction with the patients, but their skills and qualifications are relatively limited.
Practical or vocational nurses are mostly found in long-term or skilled units in nursing homes. In these settings, LPNs or LVNs function as charge nurses and are considered primary caregivers and supervisors. If an LVN and RN both work directly with patients in a nursing home or psychiatric facility, chances are good that both nurses do the exact same job unless a specific task comes up that is outside the LVN’s scope of practice.
Many online nursing degree programs work so that someone is qualified to take the state boards for an LPN or LVN license after the first year of nursing school. Nurses who choose to do this, are able to actually work as nurses while they finish their RN degrees – if they have time. Experience like this during school makes a person even more marketable as a potential employee after graduation from RN school. To learn more about training as any type of nurse, visit careerdegreesource.com.
