Licensed Vocational Nurses
Date: February 12, 2019
A licensed vocational nurse involves caring for the sick, convalescent, injured, and disabled under the superiors’ direction. The superiors who give them orders could be either physicians or registered nurses. A licensed vocational nurse, LVN, has to do a wide variety of work as part of their job profile. A licensed vocational nurse does things like taking temperature, pulse, or pressure, besides providing primary bedside care.
LVNs also give injections, apply to dress, and treat bedsores. A licensed vocational nurse can also collect samples for testing, record food and fluid intake and output. When to help keep patients comfortable, a licensed vocational nurse LVN also assists with dressing and bathing. There are individual states where a vocational nurse is allowed by the law to administer prescribed medicines.
Most of these nurses work for around 40 hours a week. This is so since patients need to be taken care of round-the-clock. A licensed vocational nurse LVN through a career aspiration of many involves extended periods of strenuous work. A licensed vocational nurse also sometimes faces hazards from radiation and infectious diseases. A lot of stress comes with the job since, many times, patients themselves may be uncooperative.
To become a licensed vocational nurse, one needs to pass a licensing examination. This examination, known as the NCLEX-PN, is given after completion of a state-approved practical nursing program. A licensed vocational nurse’s career is a financially rewarding one. Career growth prospects are also useful in the field. One can become an administrator or a clinical nurse specialist. There are instances when specialized nurses, such as an anesthetist, earn as much as a physician.
There is an acute shortage of trained nurses. This is the case the world over and is not limited to any country. This is one reason why many are driven towards doing a course for becoming a licensed vocational nurse. One should be careful enough to do a quality program, though.
It is always that you do a nursing course from an accredited institution. An excellent licensed vocational nurse training program should be able to equip you with all the necessary knowledge to pass out the state-approved exam. A typical Licensed vocational nurse program would last for about a year. Others could go on for a longer duration. The course syllabus would consist of practical training as well as theory classes.
A wise way to locate a particular training program would contact the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. You can always visit their website to find out more about the various institutions offering nursing programs. You can also find valuable information on the latest developments in the field by visiting scores of other online resources dedicated to nursing.
