Have you ever wondered, ?What is an LVN?? A Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) is an entry-level medical care specialist who generally works directly with an RN (Registered Nurse) or physician, and handles a wide variety of daily patient care duties. Because LVNs are often closer to the patients, and better aware of their individual statuses and requirements than almost every other caregiver, they?re forever in demand and are considered one of the most-essential members of any health care team. For this reason, having a solid staff of Licensed Vocational Nurses is crucial to the successful performance of any hospital, long-term care facility, or any other health care operation.
What Are The Duties of an LVN?
Gathering samples, treating wounds, feeding and bathing patients, reading and recording vital signs, and overseeing medical equipment are just a few of the many duties that an LVN typically performs. While LVNs can perform a lot of the same jobs as RNs, every state does place different limitations on exactly which duties they can perform, and whether they have to be supervised during that time.
How Do I Become an LVN?
In order to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse, you need to first take and pass an accredited LVN training program that features the necessary number of hours. In California for instance, the curricular prerequisites for an LVN program to get fully-accredited include 1,530 total hours of study split up into 954 hours of Clinical study, 576 hours of Theory, and 54 hours of Pharmacology. Required content for accredited courses usually includes topics like Communicable Diseases, Nursing Fundamentals, Nutrition, Pharmacology, Psychology, Anatomy and Physiology, Leadership, and Gerontological Nursing.
In an example that?s fairly representative of what the majority of states require, LVN programs in California demand that applicants be at least 17 years old, and hold a high school diploma or its equivalent (a GED, for instance).
After finishing your training curriculum, the second (and most critical) step in becoming an LVN is to obtain your license. Acquiring your license involves getting a passing score on the NCLEX-PN ? a standardized, multiple-choice examination administered to LVN candidates to examine their knowledge in four crucial areas:
. Effective and safe care environment
. Health maintenance and promotion
. Fundamentals of psychosocial integrity
. Physiological integrity
What?s an LVN?s Salary?
As with every other occupation, LVNs have a wide salary scale based on various factors but the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics did report in 2011 that the average annual salary for the profession ranges from $28,912 to $55,120. This wide range in salary is affected by such variables as which part of the state the LVN works in, the kind of medical facility where he or she is employed, the individual?s amount of work experience.
What Does the Future Look Like for this Profession?
As the ?Baby Boomer? segment of the American population enters its Golden Years during the next 20 years, many new LVN jobs will be created by the accompanying expansion of the health care industry. To highlight the impact of this event on the labor market, in California health care facilities will need to add over 150,000 new Licensed Vocational Nurses over the next seven years to accomodate industry growth. If you?re interested in beginning a fast-paced, challenging career as an LVN, the future is so bright that you might have to wear sunglasses.
Would you like to learn more about becoming a vocational nurse? Then visit Ayla Ward?s blog on becoming a licensed vocational nurse!
Source: http://articleeducation.net/what-is-vocational-nursing/
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