[yumaRN1990]

Just curious, does anyone out there who covers LPNs do you get paid extra for doing so? At our hospital we don't and when you do you actually have double the patients.

[Justhere]

Nope no extra. We have to assess their patients at the beginning of the shift and then make a note at the end of the shift.

[caroladybelle]

No extra pay

[mamason]

Nope, same here. Didn't get any extra for covering LPN.

[jo272wv]

We do not get paid extra but the only things we have to do for the Lpns are to administer IV meds and assess any new admits (after 8pm). The only problem I have is that you do not truly know their pts history. One morning one of the LPNs asked me to get a blood draw from one of her clients central lines. After I flushed the line, I started to do the draw and noticed white slime in the sample. I looked at the LPN and asked if the pt had been on TPN, she said it was d/ced two days prior. Needless to say the sample got tossed and lab called to come stick the client. Now I know to ask history before any procedure. Makes one wonder if helping the hospital by covering the Lpns is safe and worth putting my licence on the line.

[Sandi0302]

Originally Posted by jo272wv

Makes one wonder if helping the hospital by covering the Lpns is safe and worth putting my licence on the line.

Oh geez, are you insinuating that because THIS LPN didnt know what she was doing that ALL LPNs dont? I didnt judge the RN that didnt know what to do when her pt's blood sugar was 54 , so don't judge someone just by the title.
Personally, I dont think it's worth ANYONE'S license to cover ANYONE.

[jill48]

I don't know where you all work, but not only do no RN's supervise me (except the DON), even the nursing supervisors are LPN's. As a matter of fact, I got kind of tired of training new RN's out of school who were making alot more money than me. I know that sounds mean, I don't mean that I resented them. I trained them well. What I meant was that I should be an RN if i'm pretty much running the unit already. So I went back to school for my RN and BSN; and i'm still in school. As an LPN, the ony two things that I could not do were IV pushes and blood transfusions. But lets say I have a patient who needs a blood transfustion. I am the one who looked at the H&H and found the results. I am the one who called the doctor and got the order for the type and crossmatch. I am the one who obtained permission from either the patient or his family. I am the one who starts and IV with an 18 guage needle and gets the saline going. I am the one who goes to the blood bank and gets the blood. I find an RN to check all the info with me against the orders and all that stuff. The RN comes in, starts the blood, and leaves me to do the million and a half vital signs. I'm not complaining, that is just the way it is. Which is why I am back in school, so I can just do it myself.

[ktwlpn]

Originally Posted by yumaRN1990

Just curious, does anyone out there who covers LPNs do you get paid extra for doing so? At our hospital we don't and when you do you actually have double the patients.

I've worked in acute care in several different hospitals-the rn's never got any additional pay for covering lpn's...If you feel that you "actually have double the patients" then you don't have a very good understanding of the lpn's scope of practice and you also maybe need to work on your communication skills. I have nearly always developed excellent working relationships with the rn's I have worked with-both in a team setting and primary care.There was very little the rn's ever actually had to do for my patients-even if I needed an IV push that I could not administer I always gathered the needed supplies.THe last time I worked in med -surg the rn's had to do an assessment at the beginning of the shift (no note-the flow sheet was sufficient) A few years ago an rn had to assess each patient once in 24 hours so the districts were divided up accordingly during each 24 hours.Of course every state is different as is every facility...I hope you can learn to appreciate the abilites of all of your co-workers.

[jjjoy]

In my school, we were told over and over that a nurse's license is on the line every day, for every action they take and don't take. And we were warned that anyone "working under our license" was our responsibility. Any task that we could do but delegated to another staff member without a license was our responsibility. What about LPNs? We never got any instruction on the legal ramifications of delegating to LPNs, who clearly have their own license. And we never got any instruction on the legal ramifications of team nursing with an LPN where each essentially has their own patient loads with the RN "covering" the LPN for those tasks that don't fall in their scope practice. But whenever questions of delegating or covering for another came up or signing one's initials to double check a colleague, whether RN or not, we'd hear the ominous warning... "Be careful! Don't assume anything! Check it yourself! Protect your license!"

[Darlene K.]

When I worked in an area that required an RN to "cover me", the RN's did not get extra pay. The assignments were divided so that the RN had 4-5 patients and I had 6-7 patients. This was to allow the RN more time to assist me if needed. We were not allowed to give meds I.V. push, so I almost always would hang my meds in a "mini bag". If I did need to call the RN to assist me, I would offer to help her with something. This way we developed a win/win relationship.