Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) serve to heal, treat disease and help patients to deal with the effects of an illness. They advocate health and teach patient and their families as well as the community how to maintain good medical practices. LPN’s also offer patient care by working directly with the convalescent and ill, recording any symptoms, assessing progress in reactions and observing outcomes. In addition, they assist doctors and registered nurses during treatment and surgical procedures as well as examinations, medicating patients toward rehabilitation. LPN jobs range from working in hospitals to dental rooms.
The job of a nurse requires the individual to show care, sympathy, responsibility and attention to detail oriented, as well as showing an inclination toward leadership when it comes to supervision and direction of others. These individuals need a developed sense of stable emotions to be able to deal with situations at hand such as the extent of suffering and other pressures and stresses the job entails. LPN jobs can take place in private and government agencies which include the school, clinic or retirement home setting. These nurses concentrate on communities as well as individuals and families, striving to improve their circumstances of health.
Nurses in public health educate relevant groups in the case of health matters like child care, nutrition and prevention care. These nurses oversee and administer immunizations, test for blood pressure and conduct other necessary health screening tests. They work alongside the leaders in the community, other educators, doctors and parents.
LPN Jobs – An Overview
LPN nursing jobs include certain dangers particularly in the hospital clinical setting. Diseases which are infectious in nature are an example of where nurses must follow particular protocols and standards such as when dealing with needles, instruments needing sterilization, radiation and chemical exposure.
LPNs also manage and create a plan for nursing care which can assist to give instruction to both families and the patient, and assist those who may be in need to embark on a routine which can lead to improving or maintaining health. In each state, different laws are set to govern over the various tasks that LPN jobs perform, however work settings determine duties for each day. For example, occupation health nursing which is also referred to as industrial nursing who care for employees and customers who sustain illness or injury on the job site. These nurses administer emergency care, put together reports of the accident as well as follow up care and impart health counselling. They also conduct examinations as well as inoculating those who require it and assess the work environments for the identification of potential problems that may affect employee or customer health in any way.
Hospital nurses are the most common form of all LPN jobs, providing care at the bedside of patients and overseeing as well as implementing various medical regimes. These nurses work within a specific department under the supervision of an RN, such as in maternity, childcare, surgery, ICU or treating patients with cancer. Some serve in a rotational capacity.
Nurses who work in the administrative areas of the hospital doing office work oversee outpatients in doctors rooms, clinical settings, ambulance surgical centers as well as in the ER. LPN jobs in this setting require the preparation of patients to administer medicines and injections and assist with medical examinations and take care of wound dressing. Their services are also required in cases of minor surgical procedures, record maintenance and routine office or lab work.
Nurses in care facilities primarily oversee and manage the resident’s who suffer from Alzheimer’s as well as fractures and other conditions. Albeit spending time on admin and supervision, LPNs also provide oversight for the health of these residents by putting together plans for treatment when skilled enough and may learn to administer IV’s. LPN jobs can extend to serving in special-care settings such as with patients in longer term rehabilitation suffering from a stroke or injury to the head.
In the case of residential health, nurses at a certain level of expertise can also offer a service to the patient in the comfort of their own homes. Here, they assess the patient at home and assist in educating and with instruction of the patient and family. Nurses who work in patients oversee those who are stricken with disease, cancer, in labor as well as the convalescent. These LPN jobs require the nurses to work separately and may also call for the supervision of residential health assistants, requiring a designated skills level.
The Next Stage – Specialization
The three primary paths of education to an RN are; a BSN or bachelor science nursing degree; ADN nursing associate degree or diploma. Bachelor nursing programs can be taken at university or college, lasting about four years whilst community and juniors education institutions offer a two to three year associate program.
Those who receive a diploma or are educated as associates often aim for bachelor study programs to facilitate entry in a more specialized choice of field. These candidates often seek LPN jobs as staff nurse after which they utilise the reimbursing of their tuition as a benefit whilst studying for their BSN and finishing the available LPN to BSN bridge programs.
Accelerated BSN programs are also an option, lasting twelve to eighteen months, providing the quickest way to a Bachelors for those with an existing degree. Individuals considering career advancements of this nature must think strategically when considering the pros and cons or applying for a Bachelors since these advancement opportunity is more vast. LPN jobs do not cover all positions and BSN is usually a prerequisite for an admin post as well as when being admitted to research, education, clinical or consulting graduate programs of specialization.
An LPN not being on the level of qualification as that of an RN means they are restricted to certain working responsibilities. As a result many LPN’s choose to advance their careers from LPN jobs to working as an RN, which has its perks such as the many job opportunities and requirements for this level of nursing as can be seen in the graph. As an LPN is the first qualification before the RN level, LPN’s will have a limit on their duty and responsibility.
Good on the job performance and skills expertise can result in the nurse being promoted to a position of higher oversight and more responsibility. An example is managerial in nature, where a nurse can be promoted to being the head nurse’s assistant or the head nurse and then to directors assistant or the director and even vice president.
In the cases of caring for patients, LPN jobs can evolve into specialized nursing areas such as a midwife who is certified or CNS and CRN (certified registered and clinical specialist) as well as anaesthetists. Each has a prerequisite of two graduation years which will go onto a masters nursing degree.
Further areas of specialization include the possibility of studying to become a Nurse educator. These individuals’ duties include education and mentorship of the next set of young nursing candidates, as well as teaching in class and clinical settings. LPN jobs can lead to a desire to teach and in this case, they must draw up plans for the lessons and encourage the student to appreciate the professions through inspiration, and by setting an example.
Other specialists include paediatric nursing for the younger patient whose age range is from new born to early adult, nursing in peri-anaesthesia Nursing or in the rooms of recovery with a patient who is recovering from anaesthesia post-surgery as well as peri-natal nursing to assist a family and women in labor with support during as well as post-birth.
Psychiatric nursing is another specialist interest that may be sparked during LPN jobs where nursing aids in the field assist patients who are deemed mentally unstable with a complex range of psychological requirements. Nurses in public health operate in both private and government agencies as well as clinical settings. Radiology nursing speaks for itself and these workers are also known as catheterization cardiac laboratory nurses. The choices are endless, its just a matter of weighing options versus in the field passion, the rest will reveal itself as the job progresses.
Finding LPN Jobs
Discover Nursing is a comprehensive online database of information for individuals interested in this field. According to the site, LPN jobs and opportunities have a favorable projection such as the need for RN’s which is expected to accelerate more than any other job through this decade. Since the demand is growing, it is in turn projected that the job market will need more of these nurses. In addition, nurses currently working who will retire also leave ongoing spaces in the job market.
LPN jobs can be found online at various search engines such as; Simply Hired, Indeed.co, Monster.com, Wow Jobs (Canada) and the www.bls.gov as well as www.lpnjobsfinder.com.
As a result of the rise in market for a nurse certain hospitals may offer a bonus of up to fourteen thousand dollars for a nurse in the skills category they require. The National Student Nurse’s Association has many articles on becoming a nurse, from where to begin to what to do for your first job. Nursing Spectrum and NurseWeek magazines have a nationwide job search engine at their site – nurse.com.
Additional article resources for LPN jobs guidance can be found at the Resume Objective Know how career portal, the Bureau of US Statistics and Labor and Career Owl. Another source for LPN jobs is NHT, Nursing for a Healthy Tomorrow, this coalition of over forty health care and nursing organizations operate in partnership around a salary communication campaign which is designed to draw individuals to following a nursing career. The coalition aims to address a potentially dangerous nursing shortage in the nation, with the risk in short and long-term being more serious in certain geographic areas than others. As a result, NHT is now working now to heighten awareness about the looming nursing shortage and excellent opportunities awaiting those seeking a career in nursing.
LPN jobs at NHT can be found in addition to the coalition having assumed the role of communicating and bringing the message and image of the nursing profession, in line with the realities of its tremendous social importance and personal potential for career satisfaction. The site offers Career Profiles and a list of LPN jobs and Career Descriptions. Below are examples of what is available as an option for specialization;
- Nurses who work in critical care
- Nurses in emergency-situations
- Palliative or hospice-care nursing
- Material delivery and labor nursing
- Nursing in nephrology
- Anaesthesia
- Educator nurses
- Executive nursing
- Nurse practitioner
- Nursing in oncology
- Nursing in orthopeadics
- Peri-optive nursing
- Mental care or psychiatric ward nurses
- Nurses in schools
- Staffing nurse
- Nursing health practitioner for women
NHT also offer a recruiter campaign for nursing educators and careers page which can be accessed on their website. Alternately, LPN jobs on Nurse.com can be found by searching thousands of nursing jobs in any location in the U.S for nurses in every specialty, state and setting. The site allows you to post your resume and gain career advice. Other online sources include general job boards such as Monster, Career-builder, and Craigslist and nursing-specific job boards: such as Nurse Jungle Nursing Job-Source, Nurse-job-shop, Top jobs in the USA and Hire- nursing.
In addition LPN jobs can be searched for at http://www.licensedpracticalnurse.org who offer additional helpful services such as links to finding sample templates for cover letters for LPN positions.
The site also offers guidance when writing a resume using either a chronological resume, the most popular format, or a functional resume focusing on the skills and experiences and a combination resume uses both of the aforementioned formats. LPN jobs are also available by visiting local setting where this nursing designation will work and speaking to staff about opportunities or placing oneself on lists for when positions may become available.