LPN

2009-12-07T09:07:00.001-08:00

LPNs work in a variety of health care settings. They are often found working under the supervision of physicians in clinics and hospitals, or in private home health care. In long term care facilities, they sometimes supervise nursing assistants and orderlies.

The United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are about 700,000 persons employed as licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses in the U.S.

LPNs must at least be high school graduates or have a GED. They follow the rules of State Boards of Nursing. Requirements for taking boards usually include a clean criminal record and graduation from an approved accredited practical nursing program.

The first practical/vocational nurse training occurred at the Young Women's Christian Association in New York City in 1892. The first official training was three months long, offered at the Ballard School in New York in 1893. Students studied homemaking as well as learning how to care for patients. Some states did not have a license for LPN/LVNs until 1955. Education and training, depending on state requirements, may be vocational-based, hospital-based, or college-based, and can vary from 9 month certificate programs to 3 years in time for certain specialties like pediatrics, surgery/anesthesia, or school nursing which usually require an associate degree in practical nursing.[1]