Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Duties
In an attempt to provide detailed information to those that are aspiring to be a licensed practical nurse, this article will try to outline some of the basic duties and job functions that one would expect to do as an LPN.
It should be noted that LPN duties may vary by job setting, whether a hospital, nursing home or even in-home facilities.
After approximately one year of study in a post-secondary school or an accredited online course, one can begin their duties as a Licensed Practical Nurse (sometimes referred to as a Licensed Vocational Nurse).
In a clinical setting, the LPN will work under the supervision of a Registered Nurse or physician and will care for people who are sick or injured or recovering from surgery. In all cases, an LPN's primary role is to provide bedside care and comfort to the patient.
Such comforting functions may include bathing the patient, helping to reposition them in bed. Often the LPN will help the patient to dress or eat, even helping the patient to stand or walk.
In more a more clinical capacity a Licensed Practical Nurse will have duties that include but are not limited to: taking vital signs such as blood pressure, temperature and pulse. They also will administer injections, as well as take blood for laboratory work as well as insert and change intravenous apparatus.
The LPN will often perform an enema if needed and monitor any catheters that the patient may have required. A Licensed Practical Nurse may also help to dress wounds or even assist physicians and Registered Nurses during procedures. It is not uncommon to have an LPN assist in the delivery and care of infants.
The most important overall LPN duties are in the capacity to monitor the patient. The LPN will monitor vital signs before, after and even during a procedure. They will monitor the patient after initially arriving or immediately following a clinical procedure, especially looking for any adverse reactions to any medications that the patient may have received. This role is paramount to the success of the Registered Nurse and caring physician for the LPN is truly the "eye and ears" of other hospital staff and perform their functions with humanity and personal care that simply an in-room monitor cannot provide.
In this capacity, LPN duties are much more sensitive than any bedside monitor can be, they can detect the subtle nuances exhibited by a patient that a machine simply will not see and in many cases, this could determine the length of stay or even the overall outcome of the patients recovery.
While often regarded as one of the lower occupational positions to be had among nurses in a health care setting, the hospital's success in treating the sick is directly reliant upon these basic LPN duties and the caring nurses that perform them.
