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Career Profile: Licensed Practical Nurse
Carlos Camacho, LPN, 20 Riverside Regional Medical Center, Newport News VA Licensed Practical Nurse
Dept. of Labor, Career Voyages, In Demand: Careers in Health Care
How did you get interested in nursing?
Actually I started out in radiology, but I realized right away it wasn’t for me. I didn’t want to start over, and my mom suggested nursing because there are so many areas to specialize in within the field. So I switched to the LPN program at Riverside Regional Medical Center. I liked it immediately, so I knew it was the right move.
What do you do in your job?
I work on the orthopedic unit. My duties include taking vital signs, changing dressings, pass out meds, giving massages, and assisting doctors as they treat patients. I also help ortho patients with physical therapy. For example, I may go with a patient as he walks around the floor to increase his strength. Or I might teach a patient how to do theraputic exercises in bed.
What training did you get for your job?
I completed an 11-month program that included classroom instruction, lab work and ongoing clinical rotations. In the labs, I worked with dummy patients and classmates who pretended to be patients.
What are your goals for the future?
Currently, I’m working on becoming a registered nurse. After that, I plan to get a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Eventually I plan to get my master’s degree in anesthesia because I’d like to specialize as a nurse anesthestist.
Check out the article The Supply, Demand, and Use of Licensed Practical Nurses.
chareisse
about 1 year ago
2 comments
I am a 37 year old mother of three. I am currently in the LPN program at Brown Mackie here in Indiana. Im a fulltime student now and its definitely a switch for me. I work weekends at Parkview Heart Institute also. I don't have much time for anything or anyone and I am starting to get discouraged. After reading your testimonial, it made me realize just how much joy, the sacrifices I'm making today, will pay off in the future. I will be finished with my program this November. I want to thank you so much for helping me get through this day by reading your comment. God Bless and good luck!
theala
about 1 year ago
410 comments
I knew I wanted to be a nurse when I was in the 7th grade. My aunt was an RN, but that didn't influence my decision. I got into science reading my mother's old college textbooks (she was a biology major but never finished her degree) when I was about 10. My local community college had both an LPN and RN program, so I planned to go there directly after high school and never took the SAT. Unfortunately, I didn't know the director had a prejudice against young women becoming nurses. She believed that women in their late teens and 20's didn't have the "emotional maturity" to be nurses and favored women in their 30's and 40's. I had to fight to get into the program, and the best I got was an LPN slot. I got the director to promise me a seat in the 2nd year of the RN program if I maintained a 3.0, which I did. But she reneged, and I transferred after graduating the PN program. Unfortunately, I burned out after my first job (horrible place to work) and I was too young, dumb, and stupid to look elsewhere for my first two years practicing and dropped out of a BSN program in disgust. But I had to go back to nursing a year later because I couldn't support myself delivering pizza. I got a different job (in a nursing home of all places) and fell in love with nursing all over again. However, it was 12 years before I finally got my RN. As an LPN I did a lot of exciting things: pediatric home health, corrections, ER, industrial health, cardiac step down. I was certified in ACLS and PALS, and frequently did emergent ground transports of patients from the ER where I worked to higher level hospitals. I only went back for my RN when I got forced out of my ER job when the new DON decided no more LPNs in critical care.
charlita
about 1 year ago
2978 comments
I always wanted to be a nurse. My Mom went to nursing school, but didn't finish. So I guess she planted that seed in my brain. I am the oldest child and have always like taking care of others. When my first child became sick with Leukemia, we were in and out of hospitals for that whole year before she died. That made me want to be a nurse even more-to help others who had been in situations like my daughter. Initially, I wanted to go into peds but found it too overwhelming in view of my daughter's death. I have worked in alot of areas of nursing. MD office, hospitals, nursing homes, public health assisted living and home health equipment. Of all the jobs I have had, my current position is the one I like the most. I am a recovery nurse in a GI office, taking care of the patients following their procedures.( endoscopy, colonoscopy) They are in recovery a minimum of 30 minutes. I monitor their vs, their mental status, any after effects such as n/v, dc their IV, chart, order procedures and call patients for f/u to their procedure. It's a great place to work, the people I work with are wonderful and helpful, low stress level, no weekends or holidays and I get to leave when we are finished (which is usually 2 or 3 pm-ocassionally I am there until 4). I worked in this office as a temp for 1 1/2 years. They have just recently hired me. I love my job and have no plans to further my education at this time. However, I am learning to start IVs (never did that) and possibly will learn how to do pill cam on patients. So it's a learning environment.