Whether one needs basic first aid care or severe emergencies assistance, nurses are the ones whom you need through the entire process.
Nurses play a vital role in medical care and are considered to be the backbone of the same. Whether it’s Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) or Registered Nurses (RN), both play a significant role in delivering the best medical care to the needed patients.
Recently, there have been many concerns arising about these above two nurses categories. It seems they need a proper understanding of their respective professions so that one can easily differentiate them based on the job roles and responsibilities.
Well, today’s blog will all be revolving around the same.
Starting from who they are, what their job role is all about, major differences between them, benefits of each profession, types of nurses lists, and how to reach out to them for business purposes, we will help you with all.
Let’s start.
What is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)?
A licensed practical nurse takes care of a variety of tasks or responsibilities that fall under non-clinical medical care. They are responsible for providing basic patient care and nursing to patients under the guidance and directions of physicians, other licensed medical practitioners, and registered nurses.
They assist the senior nurses and physicians in various healthcare settings like hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and long-term care facilities. They work under their guidance to make sure nothing goes wrong with the patients’ diagnosis.
So what are LPNs duties?
As we already mentioned, they perform basic nursing care to patients under the supervision of doctors. Usually, they perform duties like monitoring patients’ comforts, checking blood pressure, inserting catheters, administering medications, monitoring patients, monitoring vital signs, updating patients’ status to the doctors or physicians, and a lot of other tasks that involve little risks.
Sometimes, they are also asked to insert injections, draw blood for tests, insert saline, and do a lot of other similar tasks.
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What does a Licensed Practical Nurse Do?
Well, as we already mentioned they take care of a hell of a lot of tasks that involve assisting the doctors and the registered nurses. In this section, we will be having a detailed look at all the specific duties of an LPN.
So what are they?
Here we go.
- A nurse’s responsibility is to teach patients and family members how to care for specific health conditions or injuries after an appointment or discharge from a healthcare facility.
- Collecting samples of blood, urine, and other bodily fluids
- Testing routinely in the laboratory
- Checking the temperature and blood pressure of patients
- Performing basic patient care tasks, such as changing a bandage or inserting a catheter
- Keeping an eye on the patient’s health, mood, and behavior, and reporting any changes to an RN or the physician on duty
- Recording patient services in their medical charts
- Patient preparation, explaining procedures ordered by their physicians, and listening to any concerns or grievances they may have
- Providing medication to patients as prescribed by their doctors
- Incorporating immunizations into patient care
- Obtaining medical histories from patients upon arrival
After having a detailed look at what is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and what are their major job responsibilities, it’s time to discuss and understand the registered nurses and their job responsibilities in detail.
Let’s explore.
What are Registered Nurses (RN)?
A registered nurse is one who graduates from a nursing program and is authorized to practice and work in professional healthcare settings with a certified nursing license.
They meet the license requirements outlined by the government of any state or country and are authorized to work in professional care establishments. They generally take ownership of supervising junior healthcare workers like licensed practical nurses, student nurses, unlicensed assistive personnel, and less-experienced RNs and train them under strict supervision.
Though they provide direct care to the patients along with some specified duties, it again varies depending on their level of education, work settings, location, and a few other factors. So, what are the basic job responsibilities that a registered nurse takes care of?
What does a Registered Nurse do?
As already mentioned, a registered nurse (RN) is responsible for providing direct care to patients of varying demographics. Here we’re going to mention a few of the basic points that will help you understand their different job roles in specific.
Here are some of them listed below.
- Assessing the health needs and problems of patients through physical examinations
- Performing procedures as ordered by physicians, starting IVs, administering medications, and interpreting special tests.
- Attending injured, disabled, ill, or convalescent patients with immediate care measures
- Reviewing and maintenance of medical and clinical records
- Developing nursing care plans and implementing them
- Helping patients and their family members in guiding them with disease prevention and health maintenance
- Arranging tests and evaluating test reports to assess patients’ with proper care
- Guiding licensed practical nurses, nursing aides, and assistants with the work processes and supervising them
- Helping patients educate on their medical conditions and treatment plans and procedures.
- Ensuring a safe, hygienic working environment with healthy practices implementations.
- Arranging rooms, medical equipment, and decontaminate instruments for necessary medical procedures
- Providing emotional and psychological support to the patients and their family members out there.
So now, you must be having a question regarding the difference between a registered nurse (RN) and a licensed practical nurse (LPN). How do their job roles differentiate themselves or what are the main differentiating factors to differentiate these two professions?
Difference Between Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and Registered Nurses (RN)?
In case you are new to the critical contrasts between an LPN and RN, it tends to be hard to recognize the two. Authorized useful medical attendants and enrolled nurture habitually cooperate and their day-by-day obligations frequently cross over, so it is not difficult to confuse one with the other.
Essentially, the two LPNs and RNs perform work that meets similar fundamental nursing goals – they care for individuals with wounds or diseases and put resources into assisting their patients with recuperating rapidly and serenely as could really be expected. Here’s a rundown of the contrasts between the callings.
#1. Scope of Practice
LPNs essentially handle fundamental nursing care while working under the oversight of either a specialist or enrolled nurture. RNs commonly have more independence and can perform undertakings that include more basic reasoning and caution.
Registered Nurses are likewise better prepared in overseeing more mind-boggling cases, including wound consideration, palliative consideration, injury, and heart crises.
Moreover, LPNs are not qualified to begin IV liquids or control any intravenous specialist through a focal line, the two of which are probably going to be RN obligations.
#2. Education
There are huge contrasts in how LPNs and RNs are prepared. To turn into an LPN, applicants should procure a recognition or declaration from a state-supported program. Functional nursing accreditation programs take as few as a year to finish.
LPN programs cover everything from essential nursing abilities to sterilization, security, disease control, and fundamental wellbeing science ideas. Graduates should finish the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-PN) to get a permit and start to function as Licensed Practical Nurse.
#3. Compensation
Enrolled registered nurses enter the labor force with more noteworthy scholastic and clinical experience, which legitimizes a more prominent extent of training and higher wages. Accordingly, the yearly pay for an RN is essentially higher than the yearly pay for an LPN. Overall.
#4. Work Settings
As per the BLS, the most widely recognized work environments for LPNs are nursing and long-haul private consideration offices. Around 38% of all authorized reasonable attendants held positions in this sort of work setting.
Clinics stay the biggest businesses of enrolled attendants, with more than 60% of the RN labor force utilized in this setting. By examination, just 14% of LPNs work in medical clinic settings.
The biggest bosses of authorized useful medical attendants were as per the following:
- Nursing and long-term residential care facilities | 38%
- Hospitals, including local, state, and private | 14%
- Physicians’ offices | 13%
- Home health care services | 12%
- Government | 7%
The Benefits of Becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse
There are many benefits to being an LPN. It is a doorway to a great career with advanced positions and enhanced payscale. Along with it helps one expose to experience a whole lot of opportunities that are devoid of in other nursing courses or specialties.
So below are mentioned some of the points that tell you about the benefits on an overall basis.
i) Quick Entry to the Workforce
The major benefit of opting into LPN is its course duration. To be a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPNs), you need to spend just a year of school at an accredited nursing program, and you are done.
Whereas, other nursing programs come with 4 years of graduation. So one doing an LPN certification program can leverage the rest 3 years working as a licensed nurse gaining practical experience while earning at the same time.
So, folks with an average financial condition can opt for this course to spend less time and money in completing the course and quickly start earning at an early stage.
ii) Robust Employment Hike
RNs have enjoyed strong employment opportunities for over a decade, and by 2030 there are projected to be nine percent more licensed practical nurses employed.
As the American population ages, procedures that can be performed outside of the hospital setting increase, and demand from residential care, in-home care, and assisted living centers increase, the demand for LPNs grows.
Types of Nurses Lists
With the demand of the nursing field constantly exploding in the US, there are a variety of nurses courses or degrees one can opt for. There are a variety of courses for nurses in New York. Not only New York, nurses in Florida, and nurses in California are also in great demand and students are trying to explore the vast amount of opportunities that are available in the nursing field to have a booming career in it.
So, what are they?
Here is the list of top 20 fast-growing nurses specialties or nurses lists which students can opt for experiencing a bright career in nursing ahead.
- Registered Nurse (RN)
- Cardiac Nurse
- Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
- Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)
- Critical Care Nurse
- ER Nurse
- Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
- Geriatric Nursing
- Perioperative Nurse (Surgical/OR Nurse)
- Mental Health Nurse
- Nurse Educator
- Nurse Manager
- Nurse Midwife
- Nurse Practitioner
- Nursing Administrator
- Oncology Nurse
- Orthopedic Nurse
- Pediatric Nurse
- Public Health Nurse
- Travel Nurse
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