Need help from LPN

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2008

You can go ahead and post your interview questions here.

oceansofenvy · Nov 14, 2008

1. How did you get started in this job?

2. What kind of training did you have that helped you get this job?

3. What do you like most about this job?

4. What do you like least about this job?

5. Where do you see yourself and your career in five years? In ten years?

6. What kind of schooling or training did you have to do to qualify for this job?

7. Would you recommend this job to newcomers?

8. What is your average day like?

9. What skills does your job use?

10. How has this job changed since you started?

11. What does the future look like for a person in this job?

12. What type of training would you recommend to a newcomer?

Thank-you in advance for any answers.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2008

1. how did you get started in this job? i first heard of the lpn designation at age 11 while reading a novel in school.
2. what kind of training did you have that helped you get this job? i have a diploma of vocational nursing which was earned at a trade school.
3. what do you like most about this job? i like the flexibility, multiple days off per week, autonomy, and steady income.
4. what do you like least about this job? i dislike the abusive family members of the patients, as well as managers who are too strict, political, and uncaring toward staff.
5. where do you see yourself and your career in five years? in ten years? i will hopefully be employed as an rn five years from today's date. i will hopefully have earned a bsn degree ten years from today's date.
6. what kind of schooling or training did you have to do to qualify for this job? i have a diploma of vocational nursing which was earned at a trade school.
7. would you recommend this job to newcomers? i'd recommend this job to certain newcomers.
8. what is your average day like? my average day is task-oriented and routine unless something goes terribly wrong with one of my patients.
9. what skills does your job use? it employs interpersonal skills, nursing skills, writing skills, basic math skills, reading comprehension, assessment skills, and some critical thinking skills.
10. how has this job changed since you started? management is stricter regarding staff getting off the clock on time. they want to save money due to the slumping economy.
11. what does the future look like for a person in this job? i'd say that the job outlook is somewhat bright for the future because of the masses of baby boomers who will soon become elderly. these people will need healthcare in droves.
12. what type of training would you recommend to a newcomer? attend an lpn or rn program at a regionally accredited community college or university.

:typing

lpnflorida · Nov 14, 2008

1. How did you get started in this job? I started looking for work just before graduating from LPN school.
2. What kind of training did you have that helped you get this job? Initially having graduated from a well respected program was enough to get my first job as LPN on an acute psych unit in a level 1 trauma center.
3. What do you like most about this job? Hmm > I worked psych for 20 years, I loved everything about it, including my co-workers.
4. What do you like least about this job? I would have to say the number of weekends and holidays away from my family.
5. Where do you see yourself and your career in five years? In ten years? At this stage of late middle years I see myself continuing to work as an LPN in the current hospital I am employed at.
6. What kind of schooling or training did you have to do to qualify for this job? Again, I took my LPN training, have since gotten additional certification in areas of interest to me.
7. Would you recommend this job to newcomers? I recommend working in any hospital for LPN's.
8. What is your average day like? Working twelve hour shifts, I have anywhere from 4-8 patient on the inpatient rehab unit. 4 patients if I am working primary care. 8 if I have a CNA working with me.
9. What skills does your job use? My ability to understand the disease processes of my patients, the ability to know what is norm and what is not. The ability to act within the guidelines of my scope of practice to provide safe care of my patient's whether it is the routine day or a day of crisis.
10. How has this job changed since you started? The major change has been not able to sign off my own orders any longer. I can still take telephone orders. Due to the requirements, I now have to have a RN who's role it is to assess my patients even though I have already done the documentation, and physical examination of my own patients.
11. What does the future look like for a person in this job?
12. What type of training would you recommend to a newcomer? I would highly recommend continuing your education while you are young. Do not stop at being an LPN, the field is becoming more and more limited, through no fault of our own.
Thank-you in advance for any answers.

hope this helps you.

mama_d, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2008

1. How did you get started in this job?

If by "this job" you mean where I am currently, I was ready to move on to a more acute setting. I had been doing med-surg and orthopedic rehab nursing for almost two years and moved up into telemetry. I have been in tele for five years now. About three years ago our floors split up and sub-specialized so I now am on a tele/oncology floor instead of straight tele.

As far as starting nursing in general, it was what was available during the time slot that my mom could watch my baby while I went to school. I just fell into without any planning and found my calling in life. I'm not very religious in general, but truly feel that the circumstances leading to me being a nurse show that God works in mysterious ways indeed.

2. What kind of training did you have that helped you get this job?

I had been a nurse for over three years already when I applied for my current job. I had been working agency at the hospital I got hired on at, so many of the managers already knew me and were able to vouch for the fact that I was a good hire.

During nursing school I worked as a tech, and I think that this was beneficial to getting my first nursing job since I already had hospital experience.

3. What do you like most about this job?

I love being able to make a difference in people's lives. It's not just making them better while they are in the acute stage of illness at the hospital, it's being able to provide them with education on their disease process that (if they choose to follow) will make a life long difference.

I also enjoy being able to be an advocate for my patients, even if the doctors don't always appreciate it!

Working with many patients who are at the end of their life, I have found an appreciaton for the honor it is to be one of the caregivers there at the end to ensure that they pass with optimal comfort, and that their families get the best support possible.

4. What do you like least about this job?

I do not like dealing with the power struggles and politics involved in nursing. There are times where I can see patient care being compromised because of different initiatives/directives/lack of cooperation, and it is ethically disturbing and emotionally frustrating.

5. Where do you see yourself and your career in five years? In ten years?

In five years, I hope to be a RN with specialty certification in oncology and palliative care. In ten years, I hope to be a nurse practitioner.

6. What kind of schooling or training did you have to do to qualify for this job?

I attended a one year diploma program at a trade school. Fifty straight weeks of classes and clinicals. And passed the NCLEX-PN, of course. For my current job, I am also ACLS certified and have attended numerous telemetry and oncology classes and inservices.

7. Would you recommend this job to newcomers?

Yes and no. Yes if you don't have the opportunity to go straight for your RN, because it's better to be a LPN than not a nurse at all. No because LPN use has become so very limited and pigeonholed, there just aren't as many opportunities for us as for RNs.

8. What is your average day like?

Busy! Physically and emotionally draining. But oftentimes invigorating as well. There are some shifts where I literally go for thirteen hours without eating or using the bathroom.

9. What skills does your job use?

Every skill you could think of. Communication, time management, technical skills directly related to nursing, critical thinking, negotiation, assessment and what to do with it, knowledge of lab results/medications/disease processes, and a ton more I'm sure I'm not coming up with this second.

10. How has this job changed since you started?

The acuity level of the patients I care for has become higher. As we focus more as a society on quantity of life instead of quality of life, the comorbidities of the patients get increasingly complicated. The paperwork and protocols have increased significantly. There are some shifts where I swear I've gone through a whole tree's worth of paper on just one patient! Also, as I have been on the same floor for longer and longer, and become one of the seasoned nurses instead of one of the newbies, the doctors have come to trust me more and more; it is easier to get their attention and desired results when I call them than it was at the beginning because they know if I call, there's a reason for it.

11. What does the future look like for a person in this job?

Somewhat shaky. As more and more hospitals go to RN only, the role of the LPN is becoming more and more that of a LTC nurse only. Hence my being in school to get my RN at this point.

12. What type of training would you recommend to a newcomer?

Get as much as you can out of school. Get a firm foundation of knowledge to build your future career on. Seek out interesting situations/procedures while at clinicals; let the floor nurses know that if there's a procedure going on, you'd love to watch it. If at all possible, work as a tech or secretary while in nursing school to familiarize yourself with the flow and terminology.

Always remember that to get respect, you have to give it; treat the housekeepers the same as you would your manager, and they'll (usually) give you the same respect back. It takes a village to run a facility, not just the nurses; everyone is important and does a needed job.

DavidLVN · Nov 18, 2008

1. How did you get started in this job?

Previously worked for cwide and when they started hiring in the, foreclosure departments I knew the direction of the industry and I put in my two weeks

2. What kind of training did you have that helped you get this job?

Dont have a job yet

3. What do you like most about this job?

Not staring at loan paperwork all day, and the type of job is kind of psychologically rewarding

4. What do you like least about this job?

The strange looks from ppl when you tell them ure a nurse and then ask if you are male

5. Where do you see yourself and your career in five years? In ten years?

5 years RN

10 BSN

6. What kind of schooling or training did you have to do to qualify for this job?

Certificate

7. Would you recommend this job to newcomers?

Maybe

8. What is your average day like?

Wake up, Gym, come home job hunt

9. What skills does your job use?

Lifting, thinking, time management

10. How has this job changed since you started?

Its no longer learning but job hunting, and they said nurses were in demand... /me snort

11. What does the future look like for a person in this job?

Tough, tiring

12. What type of training would you recommend to a newcomer?

Time management, stress management, understanding that as a nurse you are a GRUNT.

Thank-you in advance for any answers.