Difference in duties

I work for the Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA hospital) mainly in our facillity the LPN either passes meds or functions on the floor as basically a NA. I will try very hard to keep her in the office with me when we work together & if they don't pull me very short staff wise. I am most fortunate to work with an EXCELLENT LPN who is better than some of the RN's I have worked with. If I must place her on the floor to work with the NA's I will give here a status (1:1) patient to watch. Basically in our facillity the LPN's can't do assessments for admissions & they can't take off or validate orders. This makes it often times difficult for them to help me too much with the paperwork. They can & do however write notes & give meds- including prns. As I said, I am fortunate in that the LPN who works with me is very experienced & self directed. We complement each other quite well & function as a team.

The hospital that I used to work at did not even hire LPN's since they are not allowed to take telephone orders. The hospital only had one RN per ~20pts. and 1-3 MHT's (Mental Health Technician, similar to a CNA but no certification required.) depending on how many were available. Too bad, I think LPN's could give meds and help with groups some instead of having the MHT's do group.

Thanks for the info :) It seems like LPNs would be better qualified to do group as opposed to a psych tech (that's what they're called here and most of the psych techs here are required to have their CNA). Besides they could deliver a lot of the pt care and meds needed. Oh well, thanks ya'll!

-Ben