Average LPN Salary and Advantages to Per Diem Shifts

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Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) play an enormously important role in society and the healthcare system. An LPN is a medical professional who is responsible for providing basic bedside care to patients who may be suffering from an injury, illness, mental disorder, or disability. To work LPN jobs, you should be compassionate, caring, able to deal with stress effectively and be willing to help others who cannot help themselves. Thus, making these folks remarkably strong people and a definite backbone to society.

There are many advantages to becoming an LPN. When questioning whether or not you should acquire your nursing license, you may be looking into other options such as becoming a Registered Nurse (RN). Firstly, you can enter the workforce much quicker than some others may be able to. Professional nursing degrees take up to four years to complete. Comparatively, practical nursing degrees that lead to the LPN career path can take as little as 12 months to complete. This means, depending on the course you decide to study, you have the opportunity to obtain more experience and exposure in the workforce for an additional three years.

Average LPN Salary

Before deciding to pursue any education, usually, you’d want to be sure that you can successfully land a job in the field upon graduation. For folks aspiring to be an LPN is that there are plenty of entry-level jobs open for those with little to no experience, there are thousands of jobs in fact! While working you will of course, naturally evolve and so will your life goals. If you end up wanting to become a registered nurse, you can! Programs to leap from LPN to RN can be completed in 12-18 months. An abundance of programs are offered online or during evenings and weekends too, so you can easily fit classes into your schedule! In the end, finances are a sizable contender in why those who choose to take the leap and end up going through with it. The median annual salary for LPNs is around $50,000, while the annual salary for RNs is around $70,000. So if you end up wanting to take that bridge in the future, you definitely can!

What Exactly is an LPN and How Do You Become One?

We went over the basics earlier, but what more is an LPN? As previously stated, an LPN is someone who is responsible for providing bedside care to patients. As part of an LPN’s daily responsibilities, they will measure their patient’s vital signs, including height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate. They will also record their patient’s medical history and report any abnormalities or reactions to their diet, medication or treatment. Along with these aspects, LPNs also assist with basic activities such as getting dressed, bathing, eating, walking, getting in and out of bed, and other challenging activities.

Furthermore, other than providing direct care to patients, LPNs may also collect and secure test samples in order to gather additional information on their patient’s health. They may also care for and attend to the needs of their patient’s infants/children and advise family members on how to provide basic care to the individual(s) they are helping.

Of course, being an LPN requires more than just fulfilling the daily job. You should be able to deal with the physical work components and mental as well. LPNs can spend an extensive amount of time walking and standing, lifting and moving patients, helping them shower and get dressed, and feeding patients. As with many other healthcare workers, LPNs need to also beware of potential work hazards that can occur on the job while working in an environment where bacteria or diseases may be present.

Most individuals looking into becoming an LPN can obtain their license and begin working in the field within 1 to 2 years. Before participating in an LPN program, students must be of age and have earned their Diploma or G.E.D. They may also be required to pass certain courses such as Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology, Developmental Psychology, Microbiology, and English and math courses. During the program, students will learn about basic patient care. They must also take the NCLEX-PN (National Council Licensure Exam for Practical Nurses) provided by their state before they can become a certified LPN.

Why Do People Choose to be A Nurse?

People choose to be a nurse for a plethora of reasons, most commonly it is the desire to help others and to make a real difference in the world. One of the most rewarding aspects of a nursing career is the ability to connect with patients on such an intimate level. Although, meeting them under awfully difficult circumstances, being there for people in their time of need is one of the best acts you can do, thus, you get to know patients exceptionally quickly and have the opportunity to play an amazingly important role in their lives. Although being a nurse can be challenging, you know that you have positively impacted someone's life and that is one of the best feelings you can have.

There are also numerous career paths available in the nursing field, always leaving something new to discover in case you want to switch jobs in the future. Hence, leaving heaps of options for those into nursing to continue to grow as a person and learn even more. Nurses also have flexible careers that allow them to pursue their other passions while still having a positive impact on patients. The most rewarding thing of all is knowing that you are actively making a difference for the better.

Choices for Career as an LPN

LPNs have tons of career options available in countless settings so they are able to choose the kind of care most interesting to them, or the type of patient they’d like to work with. There are travel nursing jobs as well as remote jobs, a growing number of insurance companies hire LPNs to review and process claims.

One of the most common places for an LPN to work is in a nursing home, in nursing homes, LPNs will assist nursing home RNs, nurse practitioners, or physicians, as well as provide direct care to patients. The next most common place for LPNs to work is hospitals, a whopping 14% of LPNs decide to work in a hospital. In this role, they assist patients with daily living activities as well as possibly administering medications, inserting catheters and intravenous lines, and reinforcing patient teaching.

For those who enjoy working with children or youth, there’s a great number of LPN careers available at schools. These LPNs work with a school nurse or other clinician and help communicate with patients’ families. An advantage to working in a school is that most work will involve caring for children with minor injuries or conditions, school nurses also have summers off. However, sometimes this can be emotionally tasking when treating children who have been seriously injured.

There are a lot of options for LPNs all around the world with thousands of jobs posted now and more being posted every day. Currently, midst the Covid-19 crisis, a considerable number of folks have taken interest in per diem nursing jobs, where you work on an “as-needed” basis. Additionally, by teaming up with us at NursaTM you can find plenty of career opportunities with our PRN healthcare staffing app. Find the job that’s perfect for you today!

Blog published on:
January 31, 2022

Miranda is a Registered Nurse, Medical Fact Checker, and Publishing Editor at Nursa. Her work has been featured in publications including the American Nurses Association (ANA), Healthcare IT Outcomes, International Living, and more.

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