LPN vs. RN Salary

With a difference of more than two years between the two types of nursing programs that can be enrolled in to become an LPN (licensed practical nurse) or an RN (registered nurse); many students consider the difference in salary while considering which type of nursing is going to best suit their educational aspirations.

Learning about the wages of each type of nurse can be an effective way to help make the decision of which type of nursing education is going to be obtained. Using the internet, talking to nurses, or even speaking with the administer for the program that is being considered can be an effective way to determine which career is going to best suit your educational goals.

Nurses that are not working full time are often not eligible for salary and therefore retain an hourly wage. Hourly wages can change from place to place, but most follow certain minimum standards for the field.

Working as an LPN will allow the nurse to achieve an hourly rate that begins at $18/hour in most areas. These wages can increase upwards of $23/hour for nurses that have gained experience or for nurses that have increased their earning potential by completing additional continuing education courses and specializing in a certain sub-field of nursing, like obstetrics or orthopedics.

Working as an RN (registered nurse) can allow the nurse to earn between $26/hour and $38/hour. RNs can also increase their earning potential by obtaining additional education through continued learning courses that are available, allowing the nurse to specialize various fields and gain knowledge that can help to increase their pay grade and rankings.

The wages that have been set for both LPNs and RNs are bound to increase as the demand increases. Nurses can expect to see a pay increase through the various types of work that they choose as well. For example, nurses that have chosen to work in a critical care facility or a hospital often earn more than those that have chosen to work in a day to day clinic setting.

Shift premiums are an increase between $2-4 that is paid to the nurse, per hour, for shifts that are worked overnight. These shift premiums can allow the nurse to increase the amount that is earned by working these types of shifts and can be an effective way to increase the income from nursing. These premiums vary from hospital to hospital or facility to facility and act as an incentive for the nurse to work these shifts that are not often desired by those working in facilities that are open twenty-four hours.

Nursing Assistant Duties and Responsibilities

Becoming a nursing assistant means that the student is going to take on a vital role in the care that is provided to patients, on a very personal level. The nursing assistant provides care to the patient physically, but also provides a high level of emotional support to the patient that has been admitted to the hospital or care facility.

Here are some of the duties that are expected of a nursing assistant working in a health care facility:

Emotional Support
 

Emotional support is an essential part of the patient care. It is important that the patient feel their needs are understood, as well as the patient feeling as if they are being cared for throughout the process and course of their treatment. The nursing assistant can provide the patient with the information that they need, and act as a liaison between the doctors, nurses and other health care professionals that are taking part in the treatment.

Medication Delivery
 

Nursing assistants are currently being trained with the information needed to distribute the medication to the patient. The medication is ordered by physicians and distributed by nurses throughout the hospital, allowing the nursing assistant to take part in the care of the patient through the medication that is given as the course of the treatment.

The Collection of Samples
 

The nursing assistant is responsible for the collection of samples from the patient through various mediums, aside from blood that is drawn from the patient. This can include stool and urine samples that are collected as well as samples of hair and other swabs that are completed from wounds or from infection sites of the body. These samples are than delivered to the laboratory after they have been labeled by the nursing assistant.

Bathing Assistance
 

There are many patients in the hospital that are unable to bathe themselves. For this reason, the nursing assistants provide care for these patients through the assistance with bathing and other activities. Through the assistance, the individual is able to have help with regular activities that are completed through the bath or shower, including the washing of the hair and the body, as well as
 

Learning about the various responsibilities of the nursing assistant can provide the student with knowledge that is necessary to determine whether this is the right career for them or whether they are best suited to a different profession that has other duties required through the course of the shift.

Registered Nurse (RN) Responsibilities

Learning about the nursing position that is being considered can help the nurse to narrow down the many choices that are available. Through nursing school, the student will have to determine which type of nursing is right for them and choose between a nursing assistant, an LPN, a RN or even a Nurse Practitioner.

To assist in the decision making process, we have put together an outline of the responsibilities that are required of a registered nurse. Here are some of the things that the registered nurse is expected to complete through the course of her employment:

Provide Direct Nursing Care
 

The registered nurse will be required to provide direct nursing care to patients that are spending time in the hospital or care facility where the nurse is employed. This means having one on one contact with patients and completing diagnostic procedures like taking temperatures, pulses, blood pressures and while dispensing minor medications and dressing wounds for patients that are injured.

Assessing Needs
 

The registered nurse is expected to take part in a triage system if working in a critical care facility and must learn to assess the needs of the patient to determine the level of care that is required. This is often completed upon admission to the clinic, but the nurse must also be able to monitor patients to determine whether these needs are changing through the course of the treatment or wait-time.

Coordinating Diagnostic Tests and Referrals
 

The nurse is responsible for the booking of diagnostic tests and appointments that are requested by the physician. The nurse will contact the diagnostic department to arrange the time and inform the patient of the impending appointment, as well as arrange for transfer of the patient to the appointment. The nurse will also complete this same process for consults between a specialist and the physicians that are presently working on the case.

Coordinating the Patient and Their Family
 

It is important to ensure that the patient is able to remain in contact with their family and important to ensure that the family is updated on the condition of the patient, as well as on the treatment plan that is going to be obtained. The nurse can act as a liaison between the patient’s family and the health care team to ensure the family is updated on a regular basis.

Learning the responsibilities of becoming a nurse can help you to effectively make the decision of whether a nursing career is right for you.

CNA Certification Exam Questions

The final step to becoming a certified nursing assistant is to pass the exam that is given to all students. This exam ensures that the certified nursing student encompasses the knowledge that is required to understand the assistance that must be given to patients and ensures that the student is able to work as a team with other health care professionals that are in place to provide the patient with care while they are admitted into the facility.

The exam is required for all students that are hoping to pursue their career in nursing and is therefore an essential part of the program. The examination is required to be passed by all students that are seeking licensing.

While studying for the exam, students will find that there are a number of sample exams and questions that are available through the internet. Using these exams, the students can determine whether they are ready to write the test, but also use the exam questions to provide a readiness to write the examination.

Using practice exams as study aids can be an effective way to gauge the difficulty of the questions that are going to be present on the examinations. Many times, the practice exams that are available are actual exams that have been written in the past, that have been released for students to use as study guides.

Studying previously written exams can give the student insight to the course of study and help the student to determine which questions appear on multiple exams. Also, the student can become familiar with various wordings that are put through each of the exams and can effectively learn the material required in multiple ways.

Using the material that has been used to teach the course can be an effective way to determine the potential material that is going to be present on the exam. Examining the course material and searching for potential exam questions through the material is an effective way to learn methods that can be used for self-studying, as well as learning to choose relevant material from the courses that have been studied.

There are many outlines that are given through the courses that are taken – and these outlines can be an effective way to determine what type of information is going to be seen on the nursing exams. These exam outlines are given to students prior to the exam to enable the student to study relevant materials to the examination.

CNA Responsibilities and Expectations

Learning about the responsibilities of a certified nursing assistant before beginning the program of study to obtain the certification can be an effective way to ensure the student is up for the challenge that comes with the type of nursing that allows the nurse to interact directly with the patient through the course of care.

What are some of the responsibilities that are required of a CNA through a clinical care environment?

• Sample collection is an important part of the role and can include the CNA being required to collect stool and urine samples, as well as the nursing assistant being required to collect other swabs of bodily fluids that can be run through diagnostic and laboratory tests. Samples are labeled and delivered to the laboratory or drop-off by the CNA that either collects the sample alone or assists in the sample collection that has been initiated by the patient.
• Moving patients from bed to bed or room to room or even repositioning patients after they have had surgery or repositioning patients that are unable to move so they do not develop bed sores while in hospital, that can lead to infections.

What are the expectations of a CNA in the workplace? The expectations of a certified nursing assistant in the workplace vary from the responsibility or interaction with patients and ensuring that emotional support is provided through the time in the hospital, to ensuring that the patient has the answers to any questions and concerns that they may have. If unable to answer the questions of the patient, the nursing assistant will relay the question to a nurse or physician to obtain the answer, or have the nurse or physician speak with the patient directly.

The Certified nursing assistant is directly involved in the care of the patient through the care provided on a daily basis. Through the course of the shift, the nursing assistant is required to provide assistance through daily bathing and routine activities of the patient, ensuring that the patient has assistance while showering or in the bath if required, as well as ensuring that the patient takes the medication as directed that has been distributed by nurses.

The nursing assistant will observe and relay information to the nurses and physicians that are working on the team, as well as performing simple tasks on the patient. These simple tasks can include dressing the patient or changing non-sterile bandages and other types of dressing for the patient.

Interview Questions for Nurses

Preparing for an interview before the interview takes place is an important part of demonstrating preparedness for the job. Taking into account the various interview questions and topics that are posed during an interview for a position in a hospital or clinical care facility can help the nurse that is interviewing for the position to consider his or her answers and eloquently speak to impress the person completing the interview and successfully receive the job that they are being considered for.

Where can you find the various interview questions that are often asked during a nursing interview? Using the internet is a great way to learn about the commonly asked nursing interview questions. Throughout the internet, there are many interview websites that have been designed with thoughtful and up to date questions that are posed to nurses during interviews. Crafting answers and preparing for these questions ahead of time can be an effective way to speak without losing your train of thought throughout the interview.

Speaking with other nurses that are experienced in completing the interview process can be a great way to learn about the various interview questions that are asked. These nurses can tell you about the questions that are asked often, and the questions that are asked not-so-often and even assist with the answers that are going to help you see success through the interview process.

In many interviews, the nurse is asked a series of questions that will determine their knowledge of various practices, with the procedures that they would complete in certain instances. These situation type of questions are becoming more and more common to gauge the ability of the nurse to think quickly and react in the case that a patient needs immediate attention.

Learning about the common interview questions that are asked can help the nurse to display the education and experience that they have had to this date. Crafting the right answers to the interview questions will depend on whether the job is offered to the nurse or passed on to the next available applicant and it is therefore important to research the questions that may be asked.

Research Topics in the Nursing Career Field

Prior to choosing a career, it is important to research the various aspects of the career that are being chosen. Before choosing a career in nursing it is important to research the career and ensure that the choice is going to suit your personality, your expectations for the salary of the career and the type of job that you are seeking, in a specific work environment.

What topics should be researched when it comes to the nursing career?

Salary

Before starting the nursing career, the potential nurse should research the type of salary for the type of education that he or she is receiving. The starting salary for nurses ranges between nineteen and twenty five dollars per hour, with increases that are created for shift premiums and advanced types of nursing that can be obtained through additional education.

Job Requirements

What are the specific requirements that are associated with the job? Since there are many different types of nurse and nursing positions that are available it is important to learn about the description of each type of nursing in order to choose the right style of nursing for you and to choose the career that you can easily meet the requirements for.

Types of Jobs Available

Are you looking for a nursing job that can allow you to travel regularly? Are you seeking a nursing job that is going to allow you to work with patients on a long term basis and get to know the patients that you are working with, or even a job that can allow you to realize your dream of working with children? There are many types of nursing jobs that can be chosen from and each of the nursing jobs has varying requirements and hours, even various types of environments where the work is being completed. Each of these components should be considered when trying to decide between the various jobs that are available.

These topics can be easily researched by researching the nursing program, using the internet to learn about the profession and even talking to other nurses to determine the types of opportunities that are available in the field of nursing.