According to the BVNPT (Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians) in order to be a Vocational Nurse in the state of California, a person must complete 1530 total hours of training. Five hundred and seventy six of those hours are Theory, while Clinical is nine hundred and fifty four hours. Theory includes Anatomy and Physiology, Psychology, Normal Growth and Development, Rehab Nursing, Maternity Nursing, Nursing Fundamentals, Pediatric Nursing, Med Surg Nursing, Gerontological Nursing, Leadership, Supervising, and Communicable Disease including HIV.
Program lengths can vary if you go full time training may take 12-14 months, and if you are going part time training is 18-20 months. If you are a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) you can challenge the BVNPT to become a LVN if you have at least 51 months of paid bedside nursing experience, of this 48 months should be general medical-surgical experience, 6 weeks of maternity or genitourinary nursing, and six weeks of pediatric nursing.
The 51 months of experience should have been within the last 10 years and at least half of it within the last 5 years, also you must complete 54 hours of Pharmacology. However if you are a CNA and you challenge the Board your licenses would only be active in California. Another option is completing education and experience as a corpsman in the U. S. Military. This includes 12 months active duty providing direct bedside patient care, completion of basic course in nursing in a branch of the armed forces, and general honorable discharge from the military.
As an LVN there is a Standard of Practice that one should follow, these standards are set to provide a basic model to where the quality of health service, nursing service, and nursing care can be evaluated and measured; these standards were also developed to establish, maintain, and elevate professional standards. The standards are as follows. Accepting assigned responsibilities as an accountable member of the health care team.
Functioning within the limits of educational preparation and experience as related to the assigned duties, i. . do not go beyond your scope of practice. Promoting and maintaining health with other members of the health care team, preventing disease and disability, caring for and rehabbing patients who are experiencing an altered health state, and contributing to the ultimate quality of life until death. Knowing and utilizing the nursing process in planning, implementing, and evaluating health services and nursing care for the patient or group.
Participating in peer review and other evaluation processes. Participating in the development of policies concerning the health and nursing needs of society and in the role and functions of the LVN. Being an LVN there is a requirement that you educate health care consumers of their rights, this is for the patient’s health, safety, and welfare. An LVN educates the public of their rights and respects and maintains privacy as required by law.
Patients have the right to confidentiality, to refuse medical treatment, to be informed about their medical condition, to refuse third party interference in their medical care, to seek consultation with the doctor of their choice, to contract with that doctor on agreeable terms, and to use their own resources to purchase their care of choice. I am extremely confident that I am a “qualified person” according to these requirements. The educational requirements, to me are something that I have no problem fulfilling.
Standards of Practice make perfect sense to me and are something I will abide by during my entire career as a nurse. Educating consumers of their rights in health care is definitely part of any health care provider’s job, I believe an informed consumer keeps the health care provider from cutting any corners, which in turn shows up in the quality of care. Which is something I would strive for, to provide the best quality of care possible to patients that are as informed as possible.