[PACNWNURSING]

I first became an LPN way back in 1988. During that time if you had a license you had your choices of jobs. Today as I return back to nursing as an LPN I have noticed a dramatic change.
I am currently an LPN and have noticed a trend in my area, specifically the Pacific Northwest. Hospitals or acute care setting medical centers are not hiring LPNs. In my opinion it appears that several factors are affecting the LPN Role.
1. Nurse to Patient ratios are decreasing therefore a team of an RN, LPN and CNA are no longer needed.
2. Medical assisting has increased the competition for jobs at doctors offices and clinics.
3. RN's grads have increased dramatically.
I anticipate as more and more states adopt mandatory nurse patient ratio's the need for the role of the CNA and LPN in your typical hospital setting will decrease. As is it stands right now it appears LPN's are being channeled to work at skilled nursing facilities and LTC's.
Has anyone else noticed the same trend? Is anyone else having difficulty find employment at hospitals or acute care setting?

[DeeDee143]

Unfortunely your right. With the hospitals wanting to become Magnet Status, they only want to hire RN's.More $$$ for the Hosptial. LVNS/LPNs are being channeled to either Home health care or LTC's. Its kind of discouraging.
The way I see it, nursing is always going from one trend to another.Eventually, since CNA'a and LVN/LPN's are being booted
out acute settings the RN's are going to have to pick up the work of CNA's and LPN's/LVN's which in a long run they may not be happy about.So again, we may see LVN's coming back into the hospital settings.

[kstec]

When I started my pre-req's 6 years ago(I took one class a semester), LPN's were still in my hospital but talk of getting rid of them. I just graduated a year ago and almost all LPN's are gone. I even asked if I could work as a CNA at my hospital that I'd been employed with for 13 years (pharmacy tech) while in the LPN program to get more hands on experience and they told me they would have to terminate me after I graduated because I would be over qualified as a CNA and under qualified as a nurse. I wanted to vomit. I work prn at a family practice clinic and at a LTC facility presently. I enjoy them both but would've liked getting some med/surg under my belt after graduation, but that didn't happen and will probably never happen. Oh well, I figure I'm right where I'm supposed to be and if I was meant to be a RN, I would be. I may not be a RN, but I a darn good LPN.

[kat7ap]

I can't speak of what it was like years ago since I've only been an LPN for 1.5 years now, and in the healthcare profession for about 4 years. From my experiences of working in Dallas/Fort Worth area and now in the Seattle area, LPN jobs in hospitals are much harder to come by than a job in a clinic, dr.'s office, or nursing home.

When I first graduated I applied at a couple large acute care hospitals, and never heard a word back from any of them. However at least in Texas, I did see many LPN's employed in LTAC's and Rehab hospitals, but those jobs have limited openings. It seems as an LPN, hospitals are really only interested in you if you have previous hospital experience, if not they don't want to take the time to train you. Fortunantely, someone did give me the chance and have been working mother-baby in a hospital for the past 6 months.

[pagandeva2000]

I have seen things shift from one direction to another throughout my career in nursing. I have been an LPN for just a bit over a year, but worked in my hospital for 10 years. Once upon a time, many RNs were laid off at my city hospital, thinking that an RN can supervise LPNs and didn't need as many. Now, it is shifting in another direction due to magnet, however, my hospital actively continues to hire LPNs all over the place except labor and delivery. What I have noticed has decreased is the responsibility; meaning that most just medicate and are not doing the same things I heard they were doing before.

I really think that if more hospitals attain Magnet Status, that it will become a general thing; meaning no thrills anymore. And, there may be more responsibilities and paperwork for the RNs. I can see the pedulum shifting again sometime later on. But, for now, as long as I can grab a job somewhere, I'll be cool. There has been no major shortage of jobs in hospitals for LPNs in New York. Now, the pay may be another matter...

[PACNWNURSING]

What is troubling, they are 2 LPN programs that have opened up recently with 2 more schools opening with in the next 2 years. Yet there are no jobs for LPNs in my community... These schools are opening for one reason, to generate more money for their schools, the LPN to RN transition programs are going to be flooded because there will be enough LPN jobs to meet the demand. Instead of using this money to hire more RN instructors or expand the current RN programs so more students can be seated. I am taking my last prerequisite and I complete the course next week, I do not want to wait 2-3 years to get into an RN program.... I cant get into a transition program without actually having an LPN job, and it is very difficult to find one.

[kat7ap]

Just curious, what area of the NW do you live in?

[linzz]

These trends swing back and forth over sometimes decades, I think. In the late 1990's, in Ontario, there was no work for even RN's. I remember sitting in an information night at a college that had just reopened it's previously shut down RN program, and the people doing the presentation said, "We do hope to get enough people, all you need is a C average to get in, we think there will be more jobs in time". Funny how things change.

Right now in Ontario, the BSN is required for an RN licence. This will be an interesting trend to watch and see how this plays out.

[traumaRUs]

I became an LPN in 1992 and easily found a job in LTC. When I became an RN in 1994, jobs were impossible to find and I stayed an LPN for six additional months.

[TheCommuter]

Originally Posted by PACNWNURSING

I anticipate as more and more states adopt mandatory nurse patient ratio's the need for the role of the CNA and LPN in your typical hospital setting will decrease.

As it stands currently, California is the only state that has legally mandated nurse/patient ratios regarding employment in acute care hospitals. I personally do not know of any other states that have enacted any nurse/patient ratio laws into their legislation, though I may be incorrect.