The Demand for Vocational Nurses
With the baby boomer generation flooding the health care system, there is a high demand for vocational nurses. LVNs have a secure future in the nursing field. The average rate of pay for licensed vocational nurses varies from state to state. In many states, LVNs, also known as LPNs in some states, earn up to $25 per hour. Many high school students take vocational nursing in their last year of high school, and others go to vocational school soon after graduating high school.
There is a great demand for vocational nurses. Most hospitals, nursing homes, and doctors’ offices hire LVNs because most LVNs demonstrate nursing skills and administrative skills similar to those of an RN. Many students in vocational nursing school have jobs lined up before they graduate. There is a high demand for vocational nurses, partly because there is a shortage of nurses, and partly because it is more cost effective for the administrators of health care facilities to employ LVNs. In essence, health care facilities can keep their cost of operations down by employing vocational nurses. LVNs are given more and more responsibility nowadays. At one time LVNs were limited in the technical procedures they were allowed to perform, but now more LVNs are trained to do the job that RNs used to do.
As an LVN, you will have frequent contact with your patients, or clients. Your job description may be to take vital signs, administer medications, and to prepare and administer injections. You may also be required to apply dressing changes, monitor blood transfusions, and monitor intravenous infusions. In some hospital environments, you may be certified to start IVs on patients.
As an LVN, you can train to work in almost any department in the hospital setting. If you like to work with babies, you might want to consider working in the newborn nursery. Many vocational nurses work in labor and delivery. They work very closely with the doctor. For example, if you are working labor and delivery, you are essentially the eyes and ears for the patient's doctor. Obviously doctors don't see their patients as often or as long as you will, as the nurse. The doctor of an OB patient will depend on your judgment to observe and report any changes in the patient's condition.
LVNs are instrumental in the Emergency Department of most hospitals. In smaller cities, an LVN may be in charge of an ER. There may be only one RN for the whole facility. You may have to work two units at times, such as OB and ER. Many nurses on the night shift have to split their time between the ER and OB when there are not enough nurses to go around. You, as the LVN, may direct all the personnel in the ER. You may have certified nursing assistants working with you. In larger cities, you may work under the supervision of an RN.
As a licensed vocational nurse, you will provide most of the nursing care to your patients. When you go to work as an LVN at a hospital, you may be taught to do procedures that you were never taught in nursing school. As a nurse, you will keep up with your nursing skills, and learn new skills by attending continuing in-service education. Many big hospitals have IV teams that go around the hospital starting IVs on patients, when ordered. When a patient needs a new IV, a member of the IV team is called to start it. You may be required to start IVs, but that is not in every LVNs job description.
You may wonder if you will ever have to worry about your job, since so many vocational nurses are graduating and coming into the workforce. There will always be a job for a vocational nurse. Nursing is a very rewarding job, and it is also, sometimes, a thankless job. When your patients are sick, or in pain, they may not appreciate all that you are trying to do for them. As a nurse, you don't take anything personally when a sick patient lashes out at you, because it is just part of a typical day for most nurses.
Published: 2009-09-21
