do any of you work in anything other than ltc as an LPN?

sexybbwnyc · Nov 27, 2005

Goodmorning everyone i'm from the nyc area, and i work in a clinical setting. My patients are children in foster care. It is rewarding, but i am ready to move on. been doing it for 5yrs.

LadyLesile · Nov 27, 2005

Ican not wait to get out of LTC it is so hard.

NurseWeaver · Nov 28, 2005

I work in Med/Surg primarily, and float to ICU, ER, and Mother-Baby. I start IVs, give blood, give IVP,etc.. I do everything that the RN working with me does. And sometimes the only RN is the charge nurse. I live in Indiana, and I know scope of practice differs from state to state.

If you want to work in obstetrics, why not try getting a position as a tech on a OB/GYN floor while you are in school? Then you could transfer into a LPN position on the Mother-Baby unit. At my hospital we can do mother-baby, just not L&D.

Mandylpn · Nov 30, 2005

That's great that North Carolina has so many LPN jobs!!! Maybe I will end up in NC someday. I know I cannot work in LTC ever again. I'd rather work as a prostitute than work in LTC. Unfortunately, due to age I don't think I would be able to get enough customers. :rotfl:

:lol2: OMG too funny!:roll :roll :roll

Kelly_the_Great · Nov 30, 2005

I have worked in psych, community health, home health, doctor's office & back to home health. :)

LPN2RNdude · Nov 30, 2005

I have been an LPN for 5 years. I was a corpsman in the Navy for 4 years before going to nursing school. I currently work in a LTC facility in the state of GA. In GA LPN's have almost no limitations, to the exception of hanging blood. I work at a facility which is part of a hospital, so we get to use a lot of skills that you normally wouldnt get to use in a "nursing home." our facility is a "skilled" nursing facility. We have had PCA pumps, and we are allowed to change them out, set them, and monitor them. We can start IV's and give IV push meds, but are no longer allowed to touch central lines, they enforced this rule like 2 months ago. Now we have to track down an RN if any TLC's, PICC lines, or porta-caths are involved. which i think is absurd. Ive had an RN come to me more than once to be sure she was "doing things correctly" when hanging meds through a TLC. I think they do have a point with the new rule, though. most LPN schools do not cover central lines and such as in depth as RN schools.... thats why i am currently in RN school, i do not like limits set on the care i give my patients.

now back to the topic.... LTC needs great nurses. before i got my LPN i swore id never ever work LTC. now i see that LTC facilities are not just a place where old folks are warehoused to die.... it is also a place where people go to recover from surgery and illness before going home. the nursing home is not always the last stop before death. if you do your job in a LTC facility, you can use your skills as a nurse. the nurse in LTC functions as the eyes and ears of the physician. ive worked in clinics, surgery, outpatient, ect.... and ive never felt more like a nurse than i do now in LTC. try it out, you might just like it.

pedinurse05 · Nov 30, 2005

I have been an LPN for 5 years. I was a corpsman in the Navy for 4 years before going to nursing school. I currently work in a LTC facility in the state of GA. In GA LPN's have almost no limitations, to the exception of hanging blood. I work at a facility which is part of a hospital, so we get to use a lot of skills that you normally wouldnt get to use in a "nursing home." our facility is a "skilled" nursing facility. We have had PCA pumps, and we are allowed to change them out, set them, and monitor them. We can start IV's and give IV push meds, but are no longer allowed to touch central lines, they enforced this rule like 2 months ago. Now we have to track down an RN if any TLC's, PICC lines, or porta-caths are involved. which i think is absurd. Ive had an RN come to me more than once to be sure she was "doing things correctly" when hanging meds through a TLC. I think they do have a point with the new rule, though. most LPN schools do not cover central lines and such as in depth as RN schools.... thats why i am currently in RN school, i do not like limits set on the care i give my patients.
now back to the topic.... LTC needs great nurses. before i got my LPN i swore id never ever work LTC. now i see that LTC facilities are not just a place where old folks are warehoused to die.... it is also a place where people go to recover from surgery and illness before going home. the nursing home is not always the last stop before death. if you do your job in a LTC facility, you can use your skills as a nurse. the nurse in LTC functions as the eyes and ears of the physician. ive worked in clinics, surgery, outpatient, ect.... and ive never felt more like a nurse than i do now in LTC. try it out, you might just like it.

Great post! With the level of acuity rising, LTC sure isn't just a stopping place. Thanks for this view point.

preemiepedsnrs · Dec 2, 2005

I've been an LPN since 1999 and worked in LTC for the first six months after getting my license. In Aug 2000, I was hired into the NICU (my dream job) and have been there ever since. Originally, I did only feeder/growers, but transferred to a different NICU in the same healthcare system in July of 2004 that allowed me to train for level 3 patients. Now, I take care of some of the sickest babies that come in sometimes. The main things that I can't do are admit infants directly from L&D (so an RN does the initial admission assessment, then I take over from there) and we are not allowed to work the delivery team for the same reason. The RN's in my unit are VERY easy to work with and will readily assist me when something comes up that I am not allowed to do. My state just recently changed it's scope to allow LPN's to administer blood products and do some IVP's. It's made a big difference on those busy days.

I love it.:)

sexybbwnyc · Dec 2, 2005

i think that is great!!!!

blynn · Dec 4, 2005

I have never worked in LTC as an LPN. I did pediatric home care for about four years, and now I work in a urology office. I live in Minnesota. Seems like all of the clinics in the Twin Cities are trying to hire mostly LPNs and CMAs. (We're cheap, but darn effective.)

beckyboo1, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2005

I've worked most of my 18 years as an LPN on a telemetry stepdown unit. We're allowed to do most everything here except blood and IVP's. We do the majority of patient care also. The RNs on my unit are great to work with! I am, however, pursuing my RN because as another poster said, I hate to have limits on what I can do and I can see that if I ever want to work anywhere else, it's going to be a lot easier to have my RN. There are just a lot more opportunities with an RN.

Becky

luvbug · Dec 5, 2005

Preemiepedsnrs, What state are you in if yoiu don't mind my asking? If I didn't do clinic work, my other choice would be to work in the NICU but I always thought you had to be an RN to do that...?