LPNs have the unique advantage of being marketable across multiple healthcare settings allowing you the ability to really see where your interests and strengths lie. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014) reports that 38% of LPNs work in nursing care facilities, 17% in hospitals, 13% in doctor’s offices, and 11% in home health. For RNs, hospitals are the most common setting, with 61% in state, local or private hospitals.

In the long term care setting, LPNs have opportunities to quickly move up in ranks, often supervising nursing assistants (NAs). The NLN reported in 2011 that newly licensed LPNs in long term care were almost six times as likely to have administrative responsibilities as their counterparts in hospitals were.

You've made the decision you want to be a nurse and you’re ready to jump in and start gaining experience. PNP is set-up not only to provide you clinical rotation experience early and often, but you’ll be in the nursing field earning an average salary of $40,000/year in as little as 14-15 months.

What does this mean for you? With a smaller financial and time commitment, you can gain experience that will help you further determine whether this is indeed the career path for you or help you determine if you want to further your education and/or specialize or even try a different field entirely.

In a recent survey of Chester County healthcare providers, close to 75% offer tuition reimbursement, scholarships or grant funds for LPNs to further their education. So, if you do decide to move forward and become an RN you have the potential of having your employer assist you financially rather than trying to do it on your own.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014) reported that employment of LPNs is expected to grow 16 percent by 2024, faster than the average for all occupations. By 2020, an estimated 12 million older Americans will need long-term care (Medicare, 2009). To provide care for these individuals, the demand for health care workers is projected to increase (BLS, 2012). Currently, 70 percent of licensed care in nursing homes is provided by the LPN workforce (Corazzini, Anderson, Mueller, McConnell, Landerman, Thorpe, Shorti, 2011). In a recent survey of Chester County healthcare providers, 100% of the hiring organizations have at least one LPN position open for hire at any given time with over 35% having four or more positions open. 

While more than half of RNs will end up in a hospital setting Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) have the distinct advantage of being marketable across multiple healthcare settings. While performing similar tasks and duties in each setting, the LPN has the ability to specialize in one area or mix things up and experience new environments. The following are some of the most common work environments/career paths for LPNs as ranked by 2014 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):