Licensed Vocational Nurse

 

Career Profile
Licensed vocational nurses (sometimes called Licensed Practical Nurses), care for the sick, injured, convalescent, and disabled under the direction of physicians and registered nurses.

Most Licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) provide basic bedside care. They take vital signs such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration. They also treat bedsores, prepare and give injections and enemas, apply dressings, give alcohol rubs and massages, apply ice packs and hot water bottles, and monitor catheters. LVNs observe patients and report adverse reactions to medications or treatments. They collect samples for testing, perform routine laboratory tests, feed patients, and record food and fluid intake and output. They help patients with bathing, dressing, and personal hygiene, keep them comfortable, and care for their emotional needs. In States where the law allows, they may administer prescribed medicines or start intravenous fluids. Some LVNs help deliver, care for, and feed infants. Experienced LVNs may supervise nursing assistants and aides.

LVNs in nursing homes provide routine bedside care, help evaluate residents' needs, develop care plans, and supervise the care provided by nursing aides. In doctors' offices and clinics, they also may make appointments, keep records, and perform other clerical duties. LVNs who work in private homes also may prepare meals and teach family members simple nursing tasks.

Most licensed vocational nurses in hospitals and nursing homes work a 40-hour week, but because patients need around-the-clock care, some work nights, weekends, and holidays. They often stand for long periods and help patients move in bed, stand, or walk.

LVNs may face hazards from caustic chemicals, radiation, and infectious diseases such as hepatitis. They are subject to back injuries when moving patients and shock from electrical equipment. They often must deal with the stress of heavy workloads. In addition, the patients they care for may be confused, irrational, agitated, or uncooperative.

 

Important Work Activities

• Monitor Processes, Material, Surroundings -- Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, often to detect problems or to find out when things are finished.
• Assisting and Caring for Others -- Providing assistance or personal care to others.
• Communicating With Other Workers -- Providing information to supervisors, fellow workers, and subordinates. This information can be exchanged face-to-face, in writing, or via telephone/electronic transfer.
• Documenting/Recording Information -- Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in either written form or by electronic/magnetic recording.
• Handling and Moving Objects -- Using one's own hands and arms in handling, installing, forming, positioning, and moving materials, or in manipulating things, including the use of keyboards.
• Performing General Physical Activities -- Performing physical activities that require moving one's whole body, such as in climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, where the activities often also require considerable use of the arms and legs, such as in the physical handling of materials.

 

Job Outlook
The demand for Licensed Vocational Nurses in Texas is projected to grow with over 13,000 jobs available to the year 2005. The long-term-care needs of the aging population are fueling the growth in this field.

 

Salary
LVN positions have an average starting salary of $13.00/hr.

 

Licensed Vocational Nurse

 

Disqualifiers/Barriers

• Must submit to a criminal background check.
• Felony and misdemeanor offenses are carefully scrutinized.

Important Skills

• Active Listening -- Listening to what other people are saying and asking questions as appropriate
• Information Gathering -- Knowing how to find information and identifying essential information
• Problem Identification -- Identifying the nature of problems
• Service Orientation -- Actively looking for ways to help people
• Social Perceptiveness -- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react the way they do

Important Abilities

• Arm-Hand Steadiness -- The ability to keep the hand and arm steady while making an arm movement or while holding the arm and hand in one position
• Problem Sensitivity -- The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension -- The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences
• Oral Expression -- The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand
• Near Vision -- The ability to see details of objects at a close range (within a few feet of the observer)

Important Knowledge (Acquired during training)

• Clerical -- Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing systems, filing and records management systems, stenography and transcription, forms design principles, and other office procedures and terminology
• Customer and Personal Service -- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services including needs assessment techniques, quality service standards, alternative delivery systems, and customer satisfaction evaluation techniques
• Medicine and Dentistry -- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures
• Biology -- Knowledge of plant and animal living tissue, cells, organisms, and entities, including their functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment
• Chemistry -- Knowledge of the composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods
• Psychology -- Knowledge of human behavior and performance, mental processes, psychological research methods, and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders

 

Licensed Vocational Nurse

 

Educational Programs
Licensed Vocational Nursing Programs at Austin Community College and Victoria College.

 

License/Certification
Graduates of vocational nursing programs approved by the Texas State Board of Nursing must pass the written examination administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and approved by the Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners.

 

Length of Training/Requirements
Once prerequisite coursework is completed, the vocational nursing training programs usually require 18 months of study. Supervised clinical experience is provided in hospitals and other settings.

 

Location of Classes
Lectures and labs are held at an ACC Campus. The required clinical training is scheduled in local healthcare providers.

 

Licensed Vocational Nurse

 

St. David HealthCare Partnership
900 East 30th Street,Suite 109
Austin, Texas
512-397-4000
www.sdhcp.com

 

Seton HealthCare Network
W. 38th1/2 Street
Austin, Texas
www.seton.org

 

City of Austin