Licensed Vocational Nurse: Are LVNs Still In Demand In Their Line Of Work?

There may not be a lot that differentiates a licensed vocational nurse from that of licensed practical nurses.

Both licensed vocational nurses and licensed practical nurses are required a high school diploma or GED upon admittance along with a clean criminal record. Both occupations must have also graduated from an approved accredited practical nursing program. A licensed vocational nurse is also required to pass the individual state’s educational requirements to gain a license as well as perform nursing duties in various hospitals, long-term nursing facilities, offices, and surgical centers. They perform almost all the same duties as would a licensed practical nurse.

However, there is still a subtle discrepancy in that makes a licensed vocational nurse uneasy about their preferred line of work. Most LVNs choose their degree for the duration of the period they would be able to accomplish while working and under more affordable rates. With regard to education, for instance, the state of Texas only requires a complete 20 contact hours every two years for LVNs working in Emergency Rooms and Forensic Evidence Collection and a targeted 20 hours of contact in Continuing Education once the LVN gets off from work. License renewal in the state of California requires 30 contact hours of Continuing Education for every two years. The remaining 48 states have varying requirements for contact hours and continuing education hours but these are earned under the title for LPN. Each of these discrepancies will further be cited below.

RN Supervision

Although a licensed vocational nurse is licensed by the state to provide routine patient care, work in a hospital, and provide many of the same services performed by the Registered nurses, an LVN cannot do everything an RN does. LVNs are usually trained for about a year or two generally in anatomy, physiology, and patient. One thing that sets them apart from registered nurses who have several or even more years of advanced science in a four-year course. In all of the states, LVNs are continually monitored or supervised by an RN or a doctor. Some states would never even let and LVN start an intravenous line (IV) not unless the LVN has been IV certified.

Hospital Work

A licensed vocational nurse does a lot of clean up in hospital settings. From preparing rooms to bathing patients and even cleaning up a patient who has vomited counts as work for LVNs. These jobs are important in a hospital setting and yet many LVNs feel that they are being abused by being assigned the dirtiest jobs and yet receiving only half the salary of a registered nurses. This has been quite an ongoing issue and many LVNs have decided to proceed with RN after working for a few years for more challenging work and a higher compensation.

Hospitals are now hiring fewer LVNs. They reason that with registered nurses performing more duties without the need for supervision, it would be more cost-effective to just hire an RN. Physician offices however, prefer the services of licensed vocational nurses simply because of the fact that registered nurses cost a lot more in terms of compensation than would an LVN. An LVN can perform almost all RN tasks in a doctor’s office and therefore are more cost-efficient for doctors to utilize.