The exact definition of an LPN/LVN varies by state, employer and organization. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, a Licensed Practical Nurse or Licensed Vocational Nurse provides basic nursing care. They work under the direction of RN's and Doctors.1 Many websites and educational institutions minimize the role of LPN's and LVN's. I am not certain if this is done in an effort to promote the attainment of a college degree or if the representatives from those establishments have been misinformed about the profession. I have found opposing data on these misconceptions and I am raising awareness about it.
In an article from nursinglicensure.org entitled “LPN's Vs. RN's”, there are several misconceptions present. I read "The role of an LPN is, as the name suggests, practical."2 This is false because I have learned that working as an LPN/LVN comprises basic nursing care and advanced nursing care depending on one's education level, experience and competency.
I graduated from nursing school initially seeking to become a Registered Nurse since I did not know about the option to become an LPN/LVN. When I did not pass my NCLEX the first time, I became discouraged and thought that perhaps I should take a break from trying to become a nurse. I still wanted to work in the healthcare profession so I decided to become a caregiver.
While seeking employment as a caregiver, I encountered an LPN with an Associate’s Degree in Nursing who was the charge nurse in her own office at the homecare company that I applied for. This is when I first learned that an "LPN/LVN" is a nurse. Even though I met a charge nurse, I decided to re-take my NCLEX with the misconception that LPN's/LVN's are inferior to RN's. I was so eager to be a nurse that I held on to this misconception and did not care.
Perhaps the definitions of LPN's/LVN's that I read in the past have added to my confusion. The description from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics and other websites are very misleading since they mention that LPN's are supervised by Registered Nurses and Doctors.1,3 This is true, but so too are RN's who are not supervisors. Staff RN's on different units of hospitals are supervised by their charge nurse who is an RN or a Doctor.
It seems peculiar to me that when looking up the definition of an RN, there is no mention of who they are supervised by. I have since discovered that an LPN/LVN is not an inferior nurse. I think that the lies going around about these types of nurses exist because many LPN schools graduate their students without a college degree. This does not necessarily mean that LPN's/LVN's are lower in status because similarly, RN's may graduate without a college degree, being awarded a diploma from an approved nursing program.2
The length of time that nursing students are educated may be the same for RN's and LPN's too. LPN's and LVN's are not menial or "simple" because they may supervise in a variety of settings and are not limited to supervising unlicensed assistive personnel. The LPN who is a charge nurse requires job expertise that is far from basic nursing care.
The article implied that LPN's do not work in hospital settings very often. The idea of fewer job opportunities for LPN's is misleading since nationwide, there are a lot less Licensed Practical Nurses compared to Registered Nurses. If people tend to get their RN license instead of becoming an LPN, it is only logical that you will see smaller statistical data for the job market of LPN's. This is similar to saying that the availability of meatless pasta for dinner at restaurants is limited if you are a vegetarian. This is a misconception since most people are not vegetarians, so the option for it on menu's nationwide is limited if one were to create statistics on it. The option to order meatless pasta is available in restaurants nationwide if requested, just like the opportunities to work as an LPN/LVN nationwide.
I did a job search for random hospitals throughout the USA and saw that LPN's and LVN's are commonly hired in hospitals. In California, I saw several openings for LPN's/LVN's on the Colusa Medical Center web site.4 Similarly in Ohio, I saw some job openings at the Akron Children's Hospital.5 As I continued to read the article, it stated "In hospitals, LPN duties, as well as advancement opportunities, are more limited.
You’ll find LPNs taking vitals and sometimes administering medications...They won’t have as many options for specialization."3 This too is false because LPN's who are hired in hospitals can become certified to specialize in many areas. Some specialties in pediatrics include Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Neonatal Advanced Life Support (NALS) and Pediatric Emergency Assessment and Stabilization (PEARS).6
LPN's can become certified in other specialties through alternate routes from RN's.6 Some specialties outside of pediatrics that I found especially interesting and noteworthy are certifications as case managers, transplant coordinators and they can even work in surgery with certification as Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialists (RCIS).7 If the scope of practice of LPN's were so limited, the aforementioned specialties would not be available.
I believe that the additional education and training required for LPN's to obtain specialty certification prepares nurses for advanced skilled care performance better than training from nursing school. I feel this way because now that I am a licensed nurse who works in the field, I see that the brief timespan covering each skill is not enough to prepare nurses for performance on actual patients.
I graduated with my Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, which was a 4-year curriculum for full-time students. A lot of information was covered during that time. It is unreasonable to expect someone to remember the details of skills that he or she learned months or even years ago. If I am performing wound care on a patient and I learned this skill over a year ago, I cannot afford to make a mistake if I forget a step. This is where certification is very useful since it reinforces the skills that were learned in nursing school with updated information and it ensures competency for the procedure.
Registered Nurses are not required to be certified for most procedures. If I did not decide to take my LPN boards and decided to take the RN route instead, I would be expected to memorize all of the skills that I learned from my 4-year long nursing school curriculum. This is very risky and I would not know how to go about getting additional training.
In conclusion, I want to commend Registered Nurses on their achievements and hard work as healthcare professionals. I do not intend to discredit the professionalism of Registered Nurses. I am merely revealing the prevarications that exist about the profession of LPN's that I too was misled by. It is most important to remember that every health care professional is vital and plays a critical role in the well-being of patients. It is prudent to remain cautious about misleading information pertaining to the profession of LPN's/LVN's and all professions.
