History and Role of Vocational Nursing

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History and Role of Vocational Nursing

Introduction

The nursing field, especially practical nursing, has seen significant change throughout the years. One of the nursing specialties that has seen significant changes in the vocational nursing field. A vocational nurse, commonly known as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), work under the supervision of a medical doctor, Registered Nurses (RN), or any other mid-level practitioner to provide bedside nursing services to a disabled, injured, or sick patient (Phillips et al., 2021). This essay presents the history of vocational nursing over the past several years, my role as a vocational nurse today, and the future for vocational nurses.

History of Vocational Nursing

Practical nursing arose in the 1940s, facilitated by the increased need for nurses during the Second World War. The National Association for Practical Nurse Education and Service (NAPNES) organized a conference honoring practical nursing students. During this time, burses were neither licensed nor registered. The licensing of trained nurses did not emerge until 1951 and 1952, when all states established regulations, standards of educational training, and laws for LPN (Practicalnursing.org., 2022). The NFLPN described the roles of LPN in the late 1950s. For more than 72 years, the NALPN has been the voice for vocational nurses. It provides certifications, education, guidance, professional advice, scholarships, and member support. In recent years, vocational nurses have been phased out by health systems seeking higher educated nurses who can offer a wider range of nursing services.

My Role as a Vocational Nurse Today

Vocational nurses today are tasked with caring for injured, sick, or disabled patients in the hospital. While my role as a vocational nurse differs depending on my employer, I believe my role will include some of the common roles of vocational nurses, which include performing nursing assessment, ad patient diagnoses, as well as providing patient education and medication administration (Phillips et al., 2021). Also, I see my role to include reporting monitoring patients’ vital signs such as blood pressure, temperatures, weight, and height, reporting patients’ vital signs to the doctor, ensuring that the patients are comfortable, and helping with dressing the wounds as well as with other basic nursing care services.

Future of Vocation Nursing

Research reveals that LPNs nurses today do not feel respected by other health care team members, and their nursing knowledge is not acknowledged. This has led to most of them learning the role of Registered Nurses (RN) to become more recognized (Melrose, 2019). If this trend continues, it is expected that the field of vocational nursing may have fewer professionals in the future. Also, employment of LPNs is expected to expand by 11% between 2018 and 2028, much higher than the average for all professions during this time period (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). Since vocational nurses are shifting to RN and their employment rate is increasing, it can be logically inferred that the government will not have enough professionals to hire in this sector.

Conclusion

The vocational nursing specialty has seen significant changes in the past years. A progressive rise in the formal knowledge base needed and the necessity for a license to perform practical/vocational nursing are two significant shifts in practical nursing. Also, vocational nurses contribute significantly to the health care system and their roles cannot be assumed.

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018). Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/licensed-practical-and-licensed-vocational-nurses.htm

Melrose, S. (2019). Licensed Practical Nurses becoming Registered Nurses: Conflicts and responses that can help. Sherri Melrose Publications: A Virtual Memory Box.

Phillips, L. A., de Los Santos, N., & Jackson, J. (2021). Licensed practical nurses’ perceptions of their work environments and their intention to stay: A cross‐sectional study of four practice settings. Nursing Open, 8(6), 3299-3305. https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fnop2.1046Practicalnursing.org. (2022). LPN / LVN History & Background. Retrieved 19 July 2022, from https://www.practicalnursing.org/lpn-lvn-history.