Want To Be A Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)?
The nursing qualification ladder begins with the Licensed Practical Nurse or LPN. If you wish to qualify as an LPN you must complete a training course approved by the State Board of Nursing. The qualification program lasts approximately 18 months to two years. Some school courses may be as little as 12 months. In order to achieve full qualification prospective candidates who have completed the approved program must then pass an examination.
The name of the examination you must pass in order to get licensed is NCLEX-PN. It is essential for students to pass this examination if you actually want to practice as a nurse. As a licensed nurse you will be able to carry out a range of medical procedures from simple to complex. LPN’s are however required to be supervised by a Registered Nurse (RN) or a physician.
Before you are admitted onto an authorized training program you must first demonstrate you have a high school diploma as a minimum. You must also be able to prove that you, as a prospective student do not have criminal record. High levels of demand for qualified LPN’s have meant that it is now possible to start the qualification regime prior to gaining your high school diploma. Indeed some students are able to commence the LPN course by entering into vocational training programs whilst still in high school.
There are many approved training programs distributed over the whole country all of which offer the necessary qualification courses.
In 2006 the Bureau of Labor Statistics disclosed that there were more than 1,500 state approved training courses in practical nursing according. A significant number of programs have been created in the period since 2006 a substantial proportion of which have been designed specifically for online completion.
It must be remembered that the training programs also have clinical phase. If you are enrolled on a distance learning program then completion of this clinical phase may well prove to be slightly more difficult than if you attend a school. Normally this is solved by the attendance at some form of organized clinical training events. There are usually many local vocation schools, technical programs and community colleges in your local vicinity that offer complete courses or just specific aspects of the training program so this problem is usually solvable.
Upon attainment of the LPN qualification newly qualified LPN’s are now capable of undertaking a variety of different procedures. These procedures might range from patient measurements, as an example, temperature or blood pressure measurement, extending to administrating CPR on a patient who may be suffering from a cardiac arrest. Despite this the day to day activities that most LPN’s undertake is to provide high quality care to infirm, elderly or recuperating patients in a non-hospital environment.