I still don't understand why a hospital would hire cna's, or techs but not lpn's

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Just curious here, the last hospital I worked in was a magnet hospital and they were not hiring any lpn's even for outpatient. They fired their lpn's even the ones who had been there 20 plus years. Now I can get why a hospital would feel that more educated nurses would deliver better patient care but here's what I don't understand: THE CNA"S THERE WERE ALLOWED TO DO ALL KINDS OF THINGS i have never seen cna's do. They did all the vitals, blood sugar checks, Iv removal and catheter removal. They also prepped patients for surgery, even communicated with doctors at times.

I guess there are things about this whole system I don't understand. Who is actually deciding these things? Insurance companies? Other nurses? Doctors? Non medical board of directors? Is it really just a way to cut costs?

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Specializes in CCRN, ED, Unit Manager.

a CNA communicating with a doctor? Discontinuing foley's and IV's? lolwut

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

At my hospital, a CNA can insert foleys. I was shocked! Every hospital is different but I thought the stands and scope of practice should be the same across the board. I guess it would be worth a peek into the CNA certifying authority to see exactly what they are allowed to do legally. That would let us know what is facility-specific and what is not.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

What CNA's/techs can do varies by state/facility. The current facility I work at allows the techs to do more than anywhere else I have been employed. The techs can start IV's and do phlebotomy, place splints, do ADL's, as well as other typical tech responsibilities. As long as they have been properly trained and have shown competency in their skills I don't see a problem.

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It may not be a problem I was just wondering why they would not hire an lpn to do it? where is the advantage?

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
It may not be a problem I was just wondering why they would not hire an lpn to do it? where is the advantage?

The advantage is that they would have to pay the LPN's more. Since a tech or CNA is not licensed they can pay them less

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Techs make way less than LPNs for one thing.

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Christine beat me to it.....

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Specializes in Pedi.
It may not be a problem I was just wondering why they would not hire an lpn to do it? where is the advantage?

I'll agree with the previous 2 posters. Unlicensed staff are MUCH CHEAPER than licensed staff.

When I worked in the hospital, CNAs could d/c IVs but other than that, they could do little else but check VS, do ADLs and record I&O. When I was an aide in nursing school, we did all fingersticks.

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Yeah I don't get the whole ma thing a. the program at my school I believe is longer than the pn program and then they make what cna makes, it seems like a waste for all parties I dont see the advantage except saving money. I guessstill don't see why though these hospitals get rid of lpn's after all if all they want is to save money over patient safety why not get rid of rn's! maybe its because all rn staffing looks good then in reality you have cna's doing all the work.

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someone posed a question on here which I thought was very thought provoking why not licence cna's, and change it to lna. then they would have higher standards of accountability. make them go to school for 3-6 months and get some real education. You could still have 2 or three unlicensed personnel on the floor who could float to answer call lights, transfer people, and make beds, but they would not be responsible for a group of patients. I really think the system we have now isn't the best for patient safety its more about cost. Just ranting my opinions.

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Specializes in Oncology, Med-Surg.

This issue seems to waver back and forth. There is a glut of RN's out there now. Magnet hospitals are getting rid of RN's and LPN's because they want BSN's. There will be a shortage again, and then they will start hiring LPN's again. I'd much rather work with LPN's than glorified CNA's anyday.

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