What do licensed practical nurses do?

http://www.lpnduties.com/

What Does An LPN Do?
Licensed Practical Nurses are extremely important, as they are the ones who deal directly with patients on a day to day basis. They take care of the daily needs of the patient and convey any problems and discomforts during patient treatment to their supervisory nurses and doctors. As a result, Licensed Practical Nurses are in daily communication with patients and they have a lot of duties that deal with patient care. A few of the more common duties assigned to an LPN are as follows: (see link above).

@gailcalled pretty much summed it up with that link. What a LPN does on a daily basis will vary depending on where they work. There are some pretty big differences between what is done in a doctor’s office and in a hospital.

In the hospital setting, LPNs provide much of the daily care to the patient (sometimes on their own and sometimes while working with a nursing assistant, depending on the hospital). They will perform assessments, vital signs, administer medications, and assist with activities of daily living (such as personal hygiene and exercises). A lot of what they will do will depend on the doctor’s orders and the hospital policies. Some states allow LPNs to give IV medications after receiving additional training, but some don’t. Some states also use the term Licensed Vocational Nurse instead of Licensed Practical Nurse.

In a doctor’s office, it will depend on the set up of the office. In the office I work at right now, we have medical assistants that usually check in the patients, but the nurses help out when the MAs get busy. The nurses primarily assist the doctors during the visit when necessary, do phone triage, do referrals to other places, and refill prescriptions. Sometimes the nurses will have to give injections, but some states allow MAs to do injections if the doctor will cover them under their insurance.

From my experience, the hospital setting is a lot more hands on than a doctors office is.

how much do they earn

@trailsillustrated Depends on where they live and where they work. Pay on the coasts tend to be higher than in the midwest. Pay in big cities is higher than in small cities. Pay at the hospital is higher than in the doctor’s office.

When I was working as a LPN in a hospital, I was making about $14 something an hour, starting our right after graduation from nursing school, the doctor’s offices were offering about $10 something an hour. That was on the East Coast a few years ago. I work at a doctor’s office as an RN right now in Kansas, so I’m not sure what they pay their LPNs. Typically LPNs make less than RNs.

My daughter is an LPN in Seattle. she earns $25 an hour.

Surprisingly, great looks, personality and intelligence can do wonders for the career of an LPN. My daughter is an LPN. She was hired to do EKG’s for a big cardiovascular clinic. She assisted with diagnoses and eventually was writing prescriptions (they had to be ok’d by a doctor). Then she wrote their entire computer program they used to keep track of their patients and bills. She also was handed a credit card to decorate their new offices .