I am an LPN

[meagansmom]

I am an LPN and have been for 15 years.

The hospital I work for utilizes LPNs in much that same way they do an RN. We can perform/assist with most of the same procedures with a few limitations of course we can not be charge nurse. In Home Health we can do most all the same things except the oasis and supervisory visits, can not access port a caths, or d/c central lines. Other than that we do the same things.

Is it different in other areas? I see on here and in other places LPN's are compared to CNA's??? I worked as a CNA while I went to LPN school and an LPN job is in no way the same as a CNA. So I am not sure why there is such a stigma?

Sure I want to be an RN....When I began nursing school there was a 2 year wating period to get in RN school, I planned to go on back to school then I married, had a child and then divorced. But I will be starting a transisition program next month. YEAH !!!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Hi there and good morning. Different states have different practice acts and that is what governs the role and duties of an LPN, CNA or RN for that matter. In IL (where I live), the LPN scope of practice is quite different than an RN. Few hospitals outside of Chicago hire LPNs because of the limited scope of practice.

So...I guess the answer is that it depends on the state in which you practice. Good luck btw and congrats on starting the bridge program. I did it that way also.

[tomi2t]

i beg to differ on that. i am an illinois lpn. i have worked as such for 20+ years. pretty much in the rn role. in both hospital and nursing home settings. at the present, i am a staff nurse in a hospital south of chicago. about the only thing i don't do that rns do is hang drips (the drugs for the heart) if i worked in icu or cvu, it might be different, but i work on a general floor. other things i don't do, i don't do out of choice. only because if i do them, what do the rns have left to do? (i am sorry if you are an rn, but i do work with some that would let you do it all, but again, i work with some fantastic rns that practically knock me over to answer a call light and wipe a butt!)

the duties of an lpn differ by which hospital i worked in. in one, i could tend to the central/picc lines. this one i cannot. in one i could insert iv's. ng tubes, etc.

what an lpn does in any hospital, is what the hospital is willing to allow and possibly provide extra training for.

good luck on your bridge program, i started that 15 years ago, and family problems prevented it. now i am just content to be where i am at in nursing.

[TazziRN, RN]

in ca lvn's cannot give any med iv except heparin for flushing periph iv's. cannot assess new pts. other stuff too.

[Larry77, RN]

I see on here and in other places LPN's are compared to CNA's??? I worked as a CNA while I went to LPN school and an LPN job is in no way the same as a CNA.

I agree that an LPN role is not similar to a CNA role. I worked as a CNA while I was working on my LPN and I worked as an LPN while I worked on my RN so I understand all of these roles.

At our hospital we have very few LPN's anymore but those we have do almost everything the RN's do with the main differences being no IVP meds, no accessing chestports, and no giving blood products or TPN. But the actual "role" is very similar to an RN. You are assessing and implementing just like the rest of us.

The stigma that is around is uncalled for. I have seen this same "attitude" with BSN nurses compared to ADN nurses. For fun check out the nurse anesthetist forum--talk about higher than though attitudes...lol

Just remember a degree does not make a good nurse, skills, knowledge, and bedside manner make a good nurse.

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

I have worked with several LPN's, mostly in assisted living and LTC, and they did what I did as an RN because of their assigned roles and nursing teaching/supervision (what use to be called assignment and deligation).

Now that I am working med surge again, we have two LPN's that do the same duties as RN like in LTC under RN supervision and training. Which is great because they know and have been trained to do what an RN does, so why not! LPN doesn't mean nursing assistant, it is PRACTICAL Nurse!

Heck, where I come from in ALF the CNA's pass medications and do ostomy care and simple dressing changes...why not an LPN with more training! OR even the fact that we teach family to do these tasks...why not a trained medical person???

The bummer is the pay, and some documentation/orders that need RN signature...and I have always been there for that (yes I feel like a body and a signature sometimes! LOL!).

[Gromit]

our floor doesn't hire LPNs, but from time to time, when we're really short, they float them to us. They can hang drips (well, not those directly related to cardiac, but most of our stuff is 'hangable') but can't do ivpush drugs -which are plentiful on my floor- and they arent allowed to assess. Under those conditions, ours is a poor floor for an LPN to be stuck on, but thankfully our team works very well together, and we tend to cross-cover each other quite a lot, so everything gets done. I know the BON decrees a lot of what an LPN can and cannot do, but so does the facility. In my last facility, LPNs did nearly everything the RNs did -but they paid them very very poorly (only a buck or so more than the techs! ) -to that end, when I've had a student who was in LPN school, I strongly encouraged 'em to change to RN -it would open far more doors, and give them better pay as well. In any case, I'd never discourage anyone from doing what they want, but do believe in offering up opportunities -we all have our reasons for doing things the way we do 'em :) I was in my late thirties when I decided this was for me. :)

[karil57]

Hello all

I have been an LPN for 20 years and recently graduated with my BS in Management. The nursing shortage is very frustrating for everyone. And over the years, I have heard all the complaints and watched as the LPN cycles back to being used as a viable alternative to the shortage. The fact is that when you don't have an LPN to assist the RN on the floor, the RN has no back up to protect her license because she has to rely on unlicensed personnel to assist her. CNA's are very good at what they do, but in a crunch they can't give a medication or hang a new IV bag. While it is true that it depends on what state you live in as to the responsibilities LPN's are allowed to take on, most states state in the Standards of Practice that it is o.k. to have an LPN on any unit as long as they are supervised by an RN.

I have worked on many units such as OB, ER, Med/Surg, ICU and in psychiatric hospitals. I have done everything within the scope of my practice and then some in a dire situation. As long as training is available for the LPN, there should be no reason not to utilize them. It makes much more sense to me than to do what the federal government wants to do...recruit from other nations. What will that do to other nations health care system? You have plenty of good nurses here in this country that want to work along side the RN and assist in every way they can. But we don't give them the credit they are due for the work they are capable of doing. Let's not forget they are licensed and have something to lose if they don't do the right thing.

Nurses are the best.

[banditrn]

Geez, when I was a new RN, I couldn't have functioned without the advice and help of some of the long-time LPNs!