Can an LPN volunteer for community education programs?

Nurses Education

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I was asked recently if I would be interested in volunteering at a single mom with kids program. The last time they had a nurse come in to talk about heart health... about 80% of the women were asking about things you can't just get from pamplets...or things we would "expect" them to know. Like about breastfeeding with HIV...getting tested when your pregnant...diabetes and gestational....what milk do I give my 1 year old ( when the child is overweight) .... I'm an LPN and I didn't know if that was in my realm to be able to volunteer my knowledge or not. I didn't want to say yes and then get in trouble becuase I'm not a BSN.

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If mother and child care is within YOUR knowledge base then go for it. The organization is asking you as a person with a nursing background to help them out. I haven't worked mother and child in years and would have to research the material before doing it.

Every nurse develops an area of knowledge, me I'm your woman for colorectal issues, some gynie, and senior's issues. I could do the talk you wanted after drafting an outline.

How can a volunteer "get into trouble" if she's honest.

"Hi, I'm nursesarah and I'm an LPN" is how you would start your speech. Google is your friend (just use the government websites and co-workers with the area of expertise you need) just like it is the publics. You could restrict the parameters of your talk ie: "I'm here to discuss care and feeding of your child up to 18 months. I have a list of resources that you can access for materials we don't cover today (lactation consultants, HIV nurses, etc).

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Fiona59 gives great tips. If you will be a returning volunteer, you could give a simple questionnaire to see what topics or specific questions people have. When education and group with various needs and issues I like to use a question/ answer box. They drop off their questions and you can researcha dn answer at the next session... just be honest and dont fudge if you are not sure.

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Yes, an LPN is a wealth of volunteer info. When I was an LPN I used published references to back up my teaching.

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Specializes in Med surg, LTC, Administration.

Lpn's can teach and run workshops in the private sector, as a volunteer and for hire. Hope you enjoy it!

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