Are LPNs nothing but a "set dressing?"

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

according to a study "supply, demand and use of licensed practical nurses,

employers should examine how the work of licensed nurses could be allocated safely and reasonably, so that rns are not overwhelmed and lpns can practice to their full scope of practice. although lpns cannot directly substitute for rns, many tasks traditionally completed by rns can be accomplished by lpns, with appropriate training.

excuse me? i personally find this offensive. so what this is saying is that we lpns are low graded workers to reduce the burdens of rns? at my workplace, lpns have exactly same number of patients as rn's, we do exactly the same work as rns. the only thing that lpns cannot do is start an iv, but here in my state, even a patient care aides (cnas) can start an iv if they were trained so its nothing special previliges that rns have. i guess lpns are like what arnold schwarzennegger stated as " a set dressing" huh? how nice

SmilingBluEyes

20,964 Posts

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I don't see anything insulting about this paragraph. It's absolutely the truth, at least where I practice, and no degrading or demeaning words are said about LPN's and their scope of practice ANYWHERE in that report you quoted. I think you are reading something into it that is simply not there. Where I work, RNs and LPNs do NOT do "the same work". And if you are doing so where you are, maybe it's time to go back to school and become an RN so you can be paid to do all the same work the RN's are doing.

Trauma Columnist

traumaRUs, MSN, APRN

88 Articles; 21,249 Posts

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I don't see the objection here either.

MandyInMS

652 Posts

I read it as saying LPN's should be IV certified/cont. education et certification for specialty areas to be @ their full scope of practice..here in 'hickville' LPN's can be cert. for almost all IVPB's..ex IVP's/blood/cardiac drugs, ect...it does add extra stress for the RN to have to do her iv meds/starts & the non-certified LPN's...most times the non iv LPN has a slightly higher pt load to accomodate for this.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I'm not seeing the offense, either.

mtymom

49 Posts

I think before anyone comments on something they should read the whole article like I did. It is actually saying that LPN's can do some of the things RN's can do with the proper training. It also said that RN's and LPN's should work as a TEAM in the patient care setting. Before putting this one paragraph down you should look at the whole article and see what it means.

SmilingBluEyes

20,964 Posts

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I DID read the entire article.

CHATSDALE

4,177 Posts

in the hospitals lpn and rn do take the same number of pts . . lpns start ivs but cannot hang blood or hyper-al .. most hospitals have an iv team that floats toward 2/3 floors most or all of lpns are iv certified..i can't see them being hired in this day w/o being certified . most of the time nurses of both genre try to work together . you never know when a pt will need all the help you can gather and you will be glad to have someone who knows what to do in an emergency situation

fergus51

6,620 Posts

I don't see anything offensive either. In a lot of hospitals LPNs are not doing the same job as RNs, so in this time of a nursing shortage it only makes sense for them to advocate LPNs being able to practise to their full scope.

NancyJo

79 Posts

I usually have 1 or 2 more pt.'s than the RN covering me, but Rns who are not covering carry the same load. Most of us here are iv certified and can do all that the RNs do except hang blood, hyperal, and iv pushes. With the increasing number of respiratory problems that we are seeing it's essential that we all work together. My poor RN today had to push Solumedrol on 6 of my 7 pt.'s , plus her own pt.'s. If we didn't work together we both sink. I read the article also and didn't find it offensive either.

z's playa

2,056 Posts

I DID read the entire article.

Maybe they meant the OP should have read the whole article? :)

Z

JVanRN

406 Posts

according to a study "supply, demand and use of licensed practical nurses,

employers should examine how the work of licensed nurses could be allocated safely and reasonably, so that rns are not overwhelmed and lpns can practice to their full scope of practice. although lpns cannot directly substitute for rns, many tasks traditionally completed by rns can be accomplished by lpns, with appropriate training.

excuse me? i personally find this offensive. so what this is saying is that we lpns are low graded workers to reduce the burdens of rns? at my workplace, lpns have exactly same number of patients as rn's, we do exactly the same work as rns. the only thing that lpns cannot do is start an iv, but here in my state, even a patient care aides (cnas) can start an iv if they were trained so its nothing special previliges that rns have. i guess lpns are like what arnold schwarzennegger stated as " a set dressing" huh? how nice

i don't get what you are so offended about either. i think they are saying that we should start utilizing lvn's for the valuable resource they are. lvn's are far more capable than some people seem to think and we need to recognize this. it's not about doing the rn's "grunt work" it's about promoting team work. at least that is what i got from it.

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