Requirements to Become A Licensed Practical Nurse

Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) are nurses that assist patients and medical professionals with medical care. They often provide emotional support for patients and their families and help keep records.

Certain states allow LPNs to work independently, while others require them to work either under direct supervision or in a collaborative agreement with a doctor. Aspiring LPNs should consider this and several other factors regarding their education options.

FAQs

What Degree Do You Need to Become aN Lpn?

LPNs must complete an accredited practical nursing program. LPN programs prepare them to pass the National Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN).

How Long Does it Take to Become a Licensed Practical Nurse?

Timelines differ based on the candidate’s educational and professional experience levels. A typical LPN program takes a year to complete.

Can You Earn a Licensed Practical Nurse Degree Online?

Many colleges offer affordable online nursing degrees to meet prospective students’ diverse career goals and specialization interests. In addition to standard master’s and doctoral programs, distance learners can also choose from the bridge, dual-degree, and accelerated tracks.

Online Options

A lot of people now seek to study online. This allows them to study on their own time, while they continue to work and bring home a paycheck.

Program advisors place students with local hospitals to complete practical training and post-baccalaureate practice hours. Very often this is done at the nurse’s existing place of employment.

Hybrid programs will require you to attend class on campus once every semester or so, while fully online programs will help you to arrange practical experience rotations in your geographical area without ever having to attend class in person.

LPN Job Outlook 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), licensed practical nurses earned a median salary of $48, 820. On top of excellent pay, LPN’s can also look forward to solid job prospects. The BLS projects that employment for licensed practical nurses will grow 9% by 2030, adding approximately 60,700 new positions during that period.

However, the competition for these jobs may be high, as many students have elected to enter the field of nursing in recent years. A bachelor’s degree in nursing can help you stand out from other candidates. This page provides an overview of what to expect in these programs, including admission requirements, courses of study, and possible career paths. It also offers advice about how to help pay for your education.

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov)

Nurse Healthcare Workers – Thank you!

Inspired by the strength of nurses around the world and driven by the desire to offer support, the inaugural cohort of the Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship came together to pen a letter to their colleagues on the frontlines of COVID-19.

To Our Fellow Nurse Healthcare Heroes,

At this very moment, the world is watching in awe as nurses are in the spotlight on the frontlines of an epidemic that poses more questions than there are answers. As we did during Ebola, Zika, AIDS and countless other outbreaks, nurses are answering the call to care for COVID-19 positive patients, often in spite of a dangerous scarcity of essential personal protective equipment. Today, nurses are battling many unknowns, seeing an unprecedented volume of patients, and risking exposure for ourselves and our families. Tomorrow, nurses will face new challenges, at times pushing ourselves beyond our areas of clinical expertise, while contending with increased pressures and dwindling protective inventory and supplies.

Despite the risks and unknowns, one thing is for certain: Nurses always show up to help provide safe, timely, effective and equitable healthcare. That is our legacy, our privilege, our honor. Now with the eyes of the world upon us, we have the opportunity for a defining moment, where we demonstrate the power and impact we have – at the bedside and beyond.

Now is the time to raise our voice. Working in close proximity with patients, we see what others don’t and that perspective is valuable and vital. We must all work to be included in the conversations around solutions and responses to COVID-19. Many of our colleagues are currently MacGyvering solutions – like retrofitting goggles, facemasks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) – and at the same time, keeping up with quickly-moving guidance. While not all heroes wear capes, nurses should wear PPE, such as masks, gowns, gloves, and goggles. Together we can use our voices to advocate for the profession to provide the best care for patients.

Show the world how we lead, innovate and support each other. Nurses and other frontline heroes have been rallying together by calling for donations of PPE and blood. Grassroots movements such as Strengthen Healthcare Ability to Respond to Emergencies or SHARE, spearheaded by the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, & Leaders (SONSIEL), are bringing more attention to the fact that healthcare workers cannot do this alone. This is a global fight, and our moment to show the world how we can come together to help support the greater good is now.

Even though many of the world’s daily operations are on pause, our work and ideas are not. We can leverage this moment to boldly pursue ideas that can improve patient care and care delivery. The systems that may have prevented us from being innovative are now dependent on it. We can amplify our ideas, expand our areas of expertise, and showcase our talents and innovation without pause.

We must take time to take care of ourselves. The challenges in the coming weeks are likely to intensify, and the uncertainty of this reality is sure to bring on added stresses. Many of us are exhausted and overwhelmed, and you may be as well. Be kind to yourself and generous with getting the rest you and your teams need. Continue to have grace with others and infect the world with a positive spirit.

We are twelve nurses who have come together as the inaugural cohort of the Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship with professionally diverse backgrounds spanning the ICU, ambulatory care, correctional facilities, mental health, entrepreneurship, academia and more. We know first-hand the impact you’re having on health, because we are working alongside you.

We believe that future generations of nurses will learn about how our profession led in this moment, sparking ideas born from necessity and impacting entire health systems and communities. This is already a defining moment for nurses. Let it also be one that helps the world see the profession the way we all do.

Thank you!

10 Reasons Why RN’s Should Pursue their BSN Degree

To pursue a career as a registered nurse, there are two direct primary levels of educational preparation; an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) and a Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree (BSN). After finishing their degree, students of both programs take the same test called the NCLEX in order to become a registered nurse. However, there are some distinct differences in the educational preparation of both groups.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), cites that educational preparation of BSN nurses includes the following components of:

• Community Education
• Nurse Management and Leadership
• Patient Education
• Clinical, Scientific, Decision Making, and Humanistic Skills

The Difference between an ADN and a BSN Education

Besides the liberal education that a four year degree provides, most associate degree programs lack many of the separate nursing courses that a BSN program includes. For example, some of the separate nursing courses that may not be included in an ADN program are:

• Community Nursing
• Nursing Research
• Pediatrics
• Nursing Theory
• Psychosocial Nursing
• Health Assessment
• Nurse Management and Leadership
• Nursing Ethics
• Senior Seminar/ Special Topics/ Capstone

All programs vary slightly in how nursing courses are labeled and which courses they include in their curriculum. However, in general, ADN programs are constructed to compress basic nursing content into a few nursing courses. The focus of most ADN programs is nursing skill acquisition and NCLEX preparation.

Additionally, BSN programs teach their students nursing skills and NCLEX preparation strategies but they strive to deliver a broader educational perspective. Ultimately, one focus of a BSN program is on preparing their students to pursue advanced nursing degrees. As a result, BSN programs often focus on interdisciplinary course work, and strengthening their student’s writing and research knowledge so that students have the skills to succeed in graduate school.

Reasons to Pursue a BSN

Visit website for the rest of the article. 

 

Learn more:

• RN vs. BSN Degree: What’s the Difference?
  • Become A Registered Nurse
  • RN vs. BSN Degree: What’s the Difference?
  • Nursing Skills
  • Certified Nurse Midwife Career
  • BSN Job Opportunities
  • BSNs are Important
  • Registered Nursing Occupational Outlook

Sumner College Donates Supplies to Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 Crisis

PORTLAND, ORE – Sumner College is supporting those who support nursing education. Last week, they donated more than 1800 gloves, gowns, face-masks, and sterile equipment to nursing partners, Gresham Post-Acute and Rehabilitation, Vancouver Specialty and Gresham Rehab & Specialty to help support healthcare workers in this time of crisis.

Sumner College has been providing career focused education in the Portland area for over 45 years, and has graduated over 1,000 nursing students since 2010. Sumner College is institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Council for Health Education Schools (ABHES), is authorized by the Office of Degree Authorization (ODA), and is approved by the Department of Education. Offering the only Associate Degree Nursing program in Oregon and Washington that does not require prerequisite coursework, Sumner College is privately owned with two campuses in the Portland area.

www.sumnercollege.edu

# # #