LPN's in Infectious Disease?

[Mistify]

Can LPN's work in infectious disease? I am interested in this field and would like to find out if I need to wait to try and get in infectious disease till I bridge to RN or if I can find something when I get out of school.

[Southern_Male_Nurse]

I use to work at USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases) in the virology division at Ft. Detrick (Frederick), Maryland for several years in the late 80s as a practical nurse. Alot of people call it the biological warfare center, alot of it is incorrect. There was two teams: the Vickers Isolation team, which the members come from Ward 200 (a special ward in the facility) and the other team (I was on) the Viral Threat Response Team (made up of members from various departments (virology, bacteriolgy, pathology, and others). USAMRIID also has a medical clinic, but patients are not allowed into restricted areas.

Ward 200 has two (2) actual wards: a regular ward and isolation ward (airlock doors)

Basically, the answer to your question is yes, you can get a job an infectious research center. Most likely, you would work on the (using USAMRIID as the example) ward. It is alot of fun to work at a facility such as this. You can learn ALOT of stuff! I would highly encourage looking into it. You might never get another chance. Email me if you other questions regarding this. [email protected]

SIDE NOTE:

Just to let people know, the information above is not restricted material. Just in case you are worried about possible secuirty violations.