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Description
Example Titles
Classified Elsewhere
Duties
Skills
Employment Requirements
Terms & Conditions
Earnings
Education / Training
Career Paths
Outlook
Professional Associations, Unions, and Regulatory Bodies
Other Related Information

Employment by Age Group
Employment by Industry
Employment by Region
Employment by Gender
Employment by Aboriginal Self-Identification
Employment by Visible Minority

Licensed Practical Nurses (NOC 3233)

Description

Licensed practical nurses provide nursing care usually under the direction of medical practitioners, registered nurses, or other health team members. They are employed in hospitals, nursing homes, extended-care facilities, rehabilitation centres, doctor's offices, clinics, companies, private homes and community health centres. Operating room technicians are included in this unit group.

Example Titles

Licensed Practical Nurse (L.P.N.)
Operating Room Technician
Registered Practical Nurse (R.P.N.)

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Classified Elsewhere

Registered Nurses (3152)
Home Health aide (in 6471 Visiting Homemakers, Housekeepers and Related Occupations)
Nurse Aides, Orderlies and Patient Service Associates (3413)

Duties

Licensed practical nurses perform some or all of the following duties:

Develop, implement and evaluate nursing care plans
Provide nursing services, within defined scope of practice, to patients based on patient assessment and care planning procedures
Perform nursing interventions such as taking vital signs, applying aseptic techniques including sterile dressing, ensuring infection control, monitoring nutritional intake and conducting specimen collection
Administer medication and observe and document therapeutic effects
Provide pre-operative and post-operative personal and comfort care
Initiate, monitor and discontinue respiratory therapy and intravenous therapy
Monitor patient progress, evaluate effectiveness of nursing interventions and consult with appropriate members of healthcare team
Provide safety and health education to individuals and their families.

Operating room technicians perform some or all of the following duties:

Prepare patients for surgery by washing, shaving and sterilizing operative areas
Assist in surgery by laying out instruments, setting up equipment, assisting surgical teams with gowns and gloves and passing instruments to surgeons
Clean and sterilize the operating room and instruments.

Skills

Licensed practical nurses need the following skills and abilities:

Essential skills include:

able to relate well to a wide range of people and gain their confidence,
ability to work independently and as a member of a team,
good problem-solving and decision-making skills,
emotional stability, maturity, integrity, reliability, realistic self appraisal,
ability to cope with stressful situations,
physical stamina and manual dexterity,
good listening and observational skills,
good verbal and written communication skills,
knowledge of computers.

Technical skills include:

supervisory skills in instructing patient support network

Employment Requirements

Completion of a college program for licensed practical nursing is required.
A license from the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba is also required.
At present, in order to maintain a license a nurse must work 1,000 hours within the previous four years immediately before the year for which registration is sought. Refresher training is available through distance delivery.

Terms & Conditions

The majority of licensed practical nurses (69%) work part-time. Often only part time or casual work is available for new entrants. Shift work is common. Self-employment in this occupation is rare.

Licensed practical nurses may be required to do physically demanding work such as lifting and moving patients with limited mobility.

Earnings

$43,400 per annum - starting

$50,400 per annum - average

$63,300 per annum - high

Earnings are reviewed annually or more frequently if new information becomes available.

Education / Training

Assiniboine Community College offers a 15-month program in Practical Nursing at the Brandon Campus, in Winnipeg, and in 2 rural Manitoba communities that rotate year to year. Students in the Practical Nursing program are eligible for block credit transfer to the Bachelor of Nursing program at the University of Manitoba, Red River College, or Brandon University where they can continue their education. http://public.assiniboine.net/default.aspx?tabID=84&i=914&prgID=44
Assiniboine Community College also offers a Practical Nursing Refresher program. http://puiblic.assiniboine.net/default.aspx?tabID=84&prgID=45
University College of the North offers a 1-year General Studies: Preparation for Careers in Health Care program. http://www.ucn.ca

Career Paths

Health care aides and orderlies may find their experience useful if they take further education as nurses. Individuals may explore their interest in nursing through volunteer positions in hospitals and nursing homes.

Licensed Practical Nurses work in community health centres, hospitals, clinics, long term and personal care home facilities, or may work for doctors in private practice.

Advanced opportunities for licensed practical nurses are limited without additional training. A transfer of credits to a Registered Nurse or Registered Psychiatric Nurse program may be possible.

Some licensed practical nurses may take further training to become operating room technicians or special education assistants. Practical nurses may work in private health care practice.

Outlook

Employment prospects for licensed practical nurses are expected to be good in the period 2010 to 2014. Employment in Manitoba in 2010 is estimated at 2,030.

The long term shift from hospital to community care for chronic patients means that employment opportunities will be increasingly more available in community based nursing and residential care facilities for the elderly and chronically ill. The speedy discharge of patients from hospitals, the increasing number of elderly patients with medical needs and the availability of mobile health care equipment will create greater need for LPNs to provide medical services for patients in their homes. LPN's with experience in geriatrics and home care will be in greatest demand. Prospects are also better for those willing to work casually or part time.

A proportionally larger number of licensed practical nurses are to be found in rural Manitoba. Nearly all LPN's are employed in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector (98%). Within this sector, 46% are employed in hospitals, 43% in nursing and residential care homes and 11% in community based offices and health centres (which includes those providing home care).

Employment by Age Group

Employment by Industry

Employment by Region

Employment by Gender

Employment by Aboriginal Self-Identification

Employment by Visible Minority

Please Note - The source for above charts is the 2006 Census.

Professional Associations, Unions, and Regulatory Bodies...

College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba, http://www.clpnm.ca
Manitoba Nurses' Union, http://www.nursesunion.mb.ca

Other Related Information...

Career Destination: Manitoba profiles of an individual in this occupation. http://www.immigrantsandcareers.mb.ca/cdmb-newcomers/141_150/149_cheryl_b/basic_facts/