What kind of jobs do y'all have as LPN/LVN?

littlespitfire · Jan 10, 2016

I work in a rehab wing in a skilled nursing facility... I have friends who are nurses in med surg units and when we chat about our days, my days and theirs are pretty similar. I don't like calling it "long term care" since we do more than that- sub acute care, pt/ot, peritoneal dialysis, infusion therapy, respite, hospice, have a dedicated dementia care unit and have long term care units. Our rehab wing is very similar to the med surg in the hospital we are a subsidiary of... meaning we get people just as acute as in the hospital. There are times we turn them around still with EMS because they're quite literally falling apart while rolling through our doors. Many SNF's have specialized units with specifically trained staff that work them. LTC isn't your only choice! many hospitals are also starting to hire LPN's as "tech" positions too. lots of options!

mc3, ASN, RN · Jan 10, 2016

I 've worked in hospice for 7 years, then a few years home health, now a school nurse :cat:

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2016

I'm thinking maybe in the bigger cities there are bigger opportunities for LPNs.

I've lived in a very big city with a population of 800,000+ people for the past 10+ years. In fact, my city of residence is the 16th largest in the United States, yet LPN/LVN opportunities here are limited to nursing homes, hospice, home health, private duty, clinics, jails, short-term rehab, and psychiatric facilities.

During my years as an LPN/LVN (2006 to 2010), I worked almost entirely in nursing homes and short-term SNF rehab. The main exception was a brief PRN/per diem stint as a medication nurse at a small psychiatric hospital.

downsouthlaff, LPN · Jan 14, 2016

As an LPN, I'm an LTC Nurse. I work night shift at a local nursing home! Lots of good experience as a Nurse in many areas such as assessment, emergency management, med administration, enteral tube care, foleys, injections, chatting, etc etc.

LVN2RNMom, ASN, BSN, LVN · Jan 14, 2016

As an LVN, I have worked: Grievance & Appeals Nurse (for Health Insurance Carrier), Psych Facility, Ambulatory Outpatient Surgery & now Clinic at a major healthcare corp/hospital.

HazelLPN, LPN · Jan 14, 2016

I worked most of my career in critical care nursing and spent all of my career working in the hospital setting until my retirement in 2009. My last 17 years were in peds...both PICU and NICU. When I was in nursing school , I didn't have any training outside of the hospital setting. In fact, I trained in a hospital based diploma program. Now I work a few days a month as a substitute assistant school nurse where I do very little actual nursing most of the time.

It is uncommon for LPNs to work in acute care in many places these days. The ones who are currently working there are usually veteran nurses at the end of their careers. They are the lucky ones. Many times they are thrown away like yesterday's garbage because of some poorly designed and biased research that says "patients are sicker these days and LPNs are not equipped to handle them"...despite the fact that these veteran LPNs, by virtue of their experience and informal education, certainly hold their own in these settings.

Personally, I'm against any nurse working as a "tech". An LPN is a licensed practical nurse, not an unlicensed tech.

I tell all young people that in my day, an LPN could work just about anywhere (except in administrative roles). These days, LPNs have much fewer career options. If I were young again and entering nursing school, I would not be in school to be an LPN. I would be at a four year university in a BSN program. If you wish to work in peds acute care, unless you work in a state and facility where LPN scope is broad and you have some connections, it is likely that you will need to be an RN to achieve that goal. Peds homecare is a different story. The hospital were I used to work hires few LPNs in acute care (ironically NICU is hiring them again...as nurses...not as techs) but there are many openings for the home care agency associated with the hospital.

LTC would have never worked for me. Those nurses work very hard, but its not a kind of work that I was ever cut out for.

Your best bet is to bridge to RN ASAP and then you will have more options. It will not make you a better nurse mind you, but it will gave you more options.

Best to you,

Mrs H.

flowervilet15 · Jan 15, 2016

I been working in a elementary school as a school nurse LVN/health clerk since 2013. its my first job as a LVN pay started as 19.75, it increase a dollar after a year. Holidays and weekends off, with paid vacations and holidays. I was lucky to get this job working with a school districts because it gives good benefits. My job deals with paper work, medication administration, dealing with students coming in for illness, aid, diabetes, etc.

lvnforschool · Jan 15, 2016

I also work as LVN- in a school. Im at at High/Jr school with about 600+ kids. It's an easy job, but staff is your biggest enemy. They can really make or break the job with some things they think you can "do" when it's not in your scope of practice. First LVN job for me, Ive been here going on 3 years.

Gravery · Jan 15, 2016

I work at a Medical Adult Day Health program and I think it's a good job as an LPN. In my area in MA typically LPN's are not hired in hospitals except for the occasional urgent care/express care type job in an ER. I have seen acute care hospital positions available in the Boston area. There are an abundance of opportunities in LTC/Rehab. There are also positions working in group homes with individuals with DD or mental illness, urgent care, MD office, home care, some visiting, and corrections. There are the occasional school and adult day or day hab positions also.

NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN · Jan 16, 2016

Employment opportunities vary by location but with more and more hospitals aiming for Magnet status, there are going to be fewer and fewer that hiring LPNs. I don't know of any in my state that hires LPNs anymore and many have been laid off, some while enrolled in a transition to RN program.

Another thing that many RNs are facing now is that more and more hospitals are requiring a BSN level of education. Some will not hire RNs with only an associates degree and some that will are requiring them to obtain their BSN within so many years of being hired (around 3 years I think). Some are still only requiring an associates, right now.

Here, most opportunities are outside of the hospital, particularly long term care and home health. Many doctor's offices are going with MAs instead of LPNs.

I'd advise contacting some travel agencies and see what they have to offer regarding LPNs and contracts for what you want to be doing. Also, check with hospitals that you would be interested in working when you graduate and see what their requirements are since you will more than likely need to have a year experience before you can work as a traveler. I don't mean this in a bad way. I just think it's important to know all the facts so that you can plan your career and education path to reach your goals. Good luck.

CalB.LPN · Jan 17, 2016

I currently work as a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber nurse/technician as well as wound care nurse in Pennsylvania. I love it! Its a very interesting field of nursing, always changing and always learning and growing more knowledgeable on a daily basis to better myself as a nurse for my patients. Prior to my current position I worked in LTC, and also dabbled with pediatric homecare. Best of luck to you in your schooling and future endeavors.