Should Hospitals Rehire LPNs/LVNs?

[KatDD22]

This isn't just happening in the hospital. I work for a large school district. Previous to this school year you had to be an RN with a bachelor's degree to cover a campus. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government allocated billions of dollars to relieve school nurses including funds that could be used to hire more nurses. However, instead of getting more help, much needed experienced nurse assistants were pulled out of large schools leaving the nurse alone with a huge number of students (my campus was about 1400 with 5 special needs units). 

On top of removing the assistants, they added enough extra duties on the nurses that they should have hired people to do those jobs alone, such as contact tracing, notifying contacts, state COVID case reporting, calculating isolation dates for employees and providing COVID-19 testing for students and staff.

Needless to say, we lost a lot of nurses both during and after the last school year. (I went to a small school that does not need an assistant). So, this year they announced that they would be hiring LPNs, "temporarily," to cover vacant campuses. 

This makes all of us nurses nervous about our job security and pay. Also, there are a lot of emergencies that happen on school campuses that require critical thinking and assessment skills. I understand that they feel that this is better than having no one on a campus, but it rattles my cage.

[Vee D, ADN]

Yes and no, the issue is their scope of practice. There are certain things they can't do so not only will the RN's have oversee their patients but also cnas plus lpns. Plus I don't know how much faith lpns have with the hospital system considering they've pushed them out , put them back in, pushed them out now wants them back. I don't think a hospital is a reliable place for lpn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[voneek, ADN, BSN, LVN]

Hello I currently work per diem at a acute care hospital in California that utilizes LVN's on the Tele and medsurge floor and also in the ED. In my hospital in my opinion it works out great working with them on the floor, they are knowledgeable, helpful, and know their scope of practice. They help out with patient care, do all the accuchecks, can start IV's, and assist with discharging patients which is a huge plus in my hospital. It's the little things that make a huge difference. I say bring them back at a fair pay, one of the biggest problems is they try to lowball the LVN's a bit too much, and it's insulting. Some hospitals I have heard would actually pay CNA's more than a LVN. 

[Wuzzie]

Team nursing has been villainized but works extremely well when implemented properly. When I was in nursing school it was 6 patients to an RN-LPN-NA team. Sometimes the NA's had half an additional load (total of 9 patients) but even that did not overload them. It doesn't work at all when it's used by managment to minimize staffing. 

I'd be interested to know why the people who voted "no" to rehiring LPNs did so.

[FiremedicMike, RN, EMT-P]

Most of our LPN colleagues work their butts off, and to deny them the ability to come back to the hospital during this critical nursing shortage due to a perceived threat to "job security" is pure insanity.

Would it be nice for everyone in the hospital to be an RN?  Sure, but to what end.. Should we get rid of techs?  Unit clerks?  Heck, if we're really going for max education, lets get rid of nurses altogether and just force everyone who ever touches a patient to be a physician.

Everyone has their role to play.  LPNs keep me from drowning at work in the ED, and I love them for that. 

 

[payitforward]

You know what? I read this article and I am really slightly bothered at the tone of the article. Why is there ALWAYS the connotation that LPNs/LVNs are " less than"? I know many an LPN/LVN that  have mad skills, and can work circles around anyone! Yet, you treat them as second class citizens. NOW, there's a shortage and you are contemplating hiring them back?!

[FiremedicMike, RN, EMT-P]

payitforward said:

You know what? I read this article and I am really slightly bothered at the tone of the article. Why is there ALWAYS the connotation that LPNs/LVNs are " less than"? I know many an LPN/LVN that  have mad skills, and can work circles around anyone! Yet, you treat them as second class citizens. NOW, there's a shortage and you are contemplating hiring them back?!

To be fair - as nurses and humans, we are all equals.  In terms of functionality, there are things that need to be done in the hospital that LPN's legally cannot do in many states.  In my state, LPNs cannot give IV push medications or perform primary assessments - so they are in fact limited in how much help they can provide.

 

That said, if you work within the rules, there are still a great many things that our LPNs do to keep the wheels turning, and they are an invaluable resource.

[MConover13 LVN]

I'm an LVN in Texas. Nursing is my 2nd career, I became a nurse at 53. I currently worked in a skilled rehab facility and have only 6 long term residents. My patients come in with a plethora of comorbids, most are on IV ABTs via picc or midline, require wound care tx, etc. I have been trained and certified to perform these and many other tasks. I have full knowledge of my scope of practice and will not do anything outside of my scope. To say that an LVN is not qualified to work in the acute setting, isn't a fair statement. Our skills go far beyond chem sticks and insulin administration. I've trained new RN grads on how to work the floor. Most LVNs are an asset not a liability. 

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

voneek said:

Hello I currently work per diem at a acute care hospital in California that utilizes LVN's on the Tele and medsurge floor and also in the ED. In my hospital in my opinion it works out great working with them on the floor, they are knowledgeable, helpful, and know their scope of practice. They help out with patient care, do all the accuchecks, can start IV's, and assist with discharging patients which is a huge plus in my hospital. It's the little things that make a huge difference. I say bring them back at a fair pay, one of the biggest problems is they try to lowball the LVN's a bit too much, and it's insulting. Some hospitals I have heard would actually pay CNA's more than a LVN. 

As a fellow CA nurse, can I ask how many patients you have? Do you cover the LVNs?

[Crystal-Wings, LVN]

That would be a great opportunity for LVN's that want to work in a hospital. I personally do not want to work in a hospital. The more power to the rest of you LVN's/LPN's that do though! 😅

[voneek, ADN, BSN, LVN]

voneek said:

Hello I currently work per diem at a acute care hospital in California that utilizes LVN's on the Tele and medsurge floor and also in the ED. In my hospital in my opinion it works out great working with them on the floor, they are knowledgeable, helpful, and know their scope of practice. They help out with patient care, do all the accuchecks, can start IV's, and assist with discharging patients which is a huge plus in my hospital. It's the little things that make a huge difference. I say bring them back at a fair pay, one of the biggest problems is they try to lowball the LVN's a bit too much, and it's insulting. Some hospitals I have heard would actually pay CNA's more than a LVN. 

 

Nurse Beth said:

As a fellow CA nurse, can I ask how many patients you have? Do you cover the LVNs?

In our facility we have 4/5 patients on tele and usually 5/6 maybe 7 on med surge depending on the census and staffing. yes, we would cover the Lvn if need be.

[payitforward]

I honestly believe that one of the first things that NEEDS to happen is that LPN/LVNs need to be acknowledged as NURSES. We had to study, do clinical and sit boards just as our counterparts did.