Work Landscape Shifting for LPNs

The employment outlook for licensed practical nurses in the Twin Cities continues to evolve as hospital patient acuity increases and more elderly patients receive care in assisted-living and long-term care facilities.

LPNs are trained to care for stable patient populations, and their ranks at Twin Cities hospitals have thinned over the past several years. Most metro hospitals have instead been opting for registered nurses, with and without bachelor's degrees, or BSNs. These more highly trained nurses are licensed to care for sicker patients.

A different approach

That doesn't mean there's nowhere for LPNs to work. Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville (fairview.org) has been bucking the trend and hiring LPNs to do personal care, freeing RNs to work on more acute cases. "Personal care takes up a great deal of time and the RNs weren't as free to participate in things like rounds and care planning," said chief nursing officer Carol Koeppel-Olsen. "We were trying to support the RNs to care for more acute patients as a team."

The aging population will also fuel the need for LPNs in clinics, assisted-living, long-term care and home care environments, according to representatives of Minnesota's hospital and nursing home associations.

"There will be a need for LPNs. It's a marvelous career choice to start in nursing and for some folks, it's a great career for a lifetime," said Jane Foote of HealthForce Minnesota, an education, industry and community partnership working to increase the number and expand the diversity of health care workers. "Elder care, home care, ambulatory care --they're very rewarding jobs for people who want to work hands-on with people, making a difference."

The education angle

LPNs who opt to pursue a baccalaureate degree will need a strong liberal arts education, said Marilyn Loen, Ph.D., dean of Nursing and Health Sciences at Metropolitan State University (metrostate.edu). That will help them develop what Marilyn Krasowski of Saint Paul College called "professional nurse-thinking," which will enable them to make decisions in acute and changing care situations.