To The RN's Who Worked With LPN's In The Hospital..

Nurses Relations

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Do you miss them being on the floor with you? Were they a help? A 'nuisance' ? Or a little bit of both?

I'm about to graduate from an LPN program. When I used to work as a secretary at a hospital back in '07 and '08 LPN's were on the floor then. Around '08 they started making them clinical secretaries. Some RN's didn't mind. Others were ok with it because a lot of times they had to take some dr's orders and some IV meds.

Some of my classmates are upset that LPN's don't really work in the hospitals anymore. Just had me thinking if LPN's are missed. :)

Specializes in Med/surg, Tele, educator, FNP.

I absolutely loved working with them. We traded work I hung there piggy backs and they did my accuchecks. We watched each other's back, even more so then with the RNs

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

I worked with two when I was fresh out of school. Completely green. They had been nurses for 30+ years, and they taught me a lot! Now this unit gave the LPNs their own assignments, and honestly it's a good thing nothing happened as a result. I'm sure they were practicing outside their scopes (assessments, push meds etc.). :no: More recently I worked with some at an LTACH; the main WOCN was an LPN. She was brilliant. Obviously had done a lot of continuing ed post-LPN school, and she had also been a nurse for a long time, but honestly I was surprised to see "LPN" after her name the first time I saw her signature.

On the floor of the LTACH, the RN and LPN would work together on a group of 8 pts. There were pros and cons. Pros--we worked as a team, which benefits pt's. Cons--ultimately the RN is responsible for 8 very sick people. We worked our tails off on the best days in that place, but it was impossible to really get to know 8 pt's or become familiar w/ their history & course. I work in an ICU now and we don't have LPNs...in this type of setting I don't see it working because of the amount of continuously assessing every pt needs. But again I do consider it a privilege to have worked with some of the LPNs I have!

Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

The LPNs I worked with were excellent at IV starts and had a wealth of knowledge. I don't necessarily miss them for being LPNs but because of who they were.

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I still work with two LPNs on my floor and they are fantastic. I believe they are the last two left in our hospital. We definitely don't hire LPNs anymore, but these two are a real asset and I love them.

Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

we no longer hire LVN's and do not allow the LVN nursing school to do clinical rotations here, but that is because we do not have the space and had to make a choice. LVN's cannot do assessments in TX in acute care setting, or work with central lines and other duties. This meant the RN had to manage more than their own set of patients. As patients became more acutley ill, and the length of service shorter, it became apparent that LVN's were just not as versatile as RN's. In the past I have worked with fabulous LVN nurses and appreciate what they taught me as a new nurse. Times just change.

I'm an LPN who works in acute care. Under my province's scope of practise, I admit, educate, and discharge my own patients. All care, meds, etc are my responsibility. Some patients are never cared for by an RN.

So,we do exist. Just not in your area.

Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

yes, I know LVN's exist. I just think we should consider ways to use all our resources. When Obamacare (oxymoron in my opinion) cuts hospital reimbursement we may find that all RN's are just too expensive. Will be interesting to gauge the progress.

Some hospitals still use lpn staff on the floor. Mine does

Some hospitals still use lpn staff on the floor. Mine does

Taking patients? Or as pct's?

I enjoyed working with our LPNs. They were phased out late last year. Just like the above poster, it becomes difficult to assign LPNs since their scope of practice is limited in the hospital setting. With the amount of patients each person had, it was difficult to get another RN to cosign an order, cosign an assessment and take care of any PICC lines or IV pushes. I do miss the people though. One went on to get her BSN, one went to our affiliate long term care unit and the last one got a job at the drs. office. Any LPNs still left at the hospital are doing 1:1's.

Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.

My facility does team nursing. 8-10 patients are assigned to an RN/LVN team so that staffing is still compliant with the 1:5 nurse to patient ratios in California. The RNs do assessments, IV meds... all the things that are out of an LVN's scope, and the LVNs do all the other tasks.

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