What You Need To Know About an LVN

An LVN or Licensed Vocational Nurse is defined as a person who provide care to patients with the direction of nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals. This job title is only specific to Texas and California. In other states, these care providers are known as Licensed Practical Nurses. The basic duties of an LVN is to attend to patient’s needs. When the LVN cannot meet these needs, a physician or other professional will then be contacted. For instance, an LVN takes a patient’s vital signs: temperature, pulse rate, and blood pressure. If the results show that the patient is out of the normal, then the LVN will report to the doctor. Since LVNs act as a middle man between the patient and doctor, they should accurately deliver information.

How to Become an LVN?
Educational requirements differ from state to state. Generally, you will need to graduate from a vocational nursing program offered by community colleges or vocational schools. These programs both have classroom and clinical training and subjects that include physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, first aid, pediatrics, and patient care.

In some states, those who have completed nursing training programs need to take the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) in practical nursing to get a license.

Other Career Options for LVNs
A licensed vocational nursing provides a career in occupational therapy. As an occupational therapy assistant, they help disabled and ill patients with their everyday tasks and help accomplish them. In order to have a permanent occupation on this field, an associate degree is needed plus state licensing. Reports have projected that there will be a growing need for occupation therapy assistants in the next ten years.

Another career path to take is becoming a Registered nurse. It requires a nursing diploma, various nursing degrees, and passage of the NCLEX. The same research above shows that there will be an increase in job opportunities for Registered nurses until 2020.

LVN to RN Career Switch

For many people starting out in the medical care field, becoming an LVN provides a great probability to easily get into the medical field and discover an entry-level position at a local medical care service. However, because the LVN program provides only a newbie’s level of education in the area of nursing, LVNs sometimes end up having problems discovering possibilities to relocate their profession due to their deficiency of know-how. LVNs that are enthusiastic about improving their wage and LVNs that want more profession possibilities will do best going back to school and making their degree in authorized nursing.

LVNLuckily, there are choices available to an LVN that will make shifting into their medical program fast and fluid. The LVN to RN programs which may be provided at certain institutions gives certified professional nursing staff to be able to take extra medical programs and get their nursing certificate in less time than it would normally take a college student to become a nurse. The two most common LVN to RN programs schools provide learners consist of the ASN and BSN degrees. Depending on the school or college that provides the conversion program, LVNs may be able to apply as much as 1 year worth of credits towards the LVN to RN program. Those who decide to get into the program may have to take a 1 credit conversion course, so that they can make the conversion as smooth as possible. LVNs may also be needed to take a number of requirement programs before being given access into the LVN to RN program.

Did you know that there are some benefits that you might want to consider that will make you think about shifting from an LVN to RN? First, an LVN cannot work without supervision by a physician or nurse. There is something to be said about having independence and power in your work. Also, while you can do a lot of the same techniques, you cannot do all the same things that an RN can. There are many factors that you will get when you make the change from LVN to RN. You will get a certain amount of professional independence, and, let us not ignore, professional courtesy. The income is better as well. This will require a little more compromise, but the benefits are well worth the effort.

LVN Schools

If you are thinking about being a licensed vocational nurse, you are most likely wondering which of the LVN schools to select. But that won’t function as the problem you face if this involves nursing schools. Your challenge might be getting recognized. Now, if you are inside a province or small town, and you won’t want to move, your options on which LVN school to go to might be quite limited, since there may be one that is close enough to where you reside. However in most medium or large metropolitan areas in the U.S., prospective nursing school students will often have several schools to select from. In a few of the greatest metropolitan areas they’ve got several.

If this involves LVN schools, the more you will find in your town, the better. Nursing education is strictly controlled in every state, much more than other majors, since it is a medical area. Finding qualified nursing teachers can be challenging, and may limit the size of the classes offered. Most LVN schools have always had more candidates than places on their behalf, and the issue is just getting worse. That’s due mainly towards the economy becoming a lot more centered on healthcare, along with other industries less prosperous as they lately were.

Meaning, increasing numbers of people are applying to LVN schools nowadays, which make it much harder than it was once to gain entrance right into a program. Will new LVN schools start opening? Yes, you are able to bank on it. When they don’t, America’s already critical nursing shortage can get much worse, and also the government can’t allow that to happen. It is in your best interest to wisely select the LVN school that you wish to enroll it. After all, this is an investment to your career as a future LVN.