Have you ever asked yourself, "What is an LVN?" A Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) is an entry-level health care provider who usually works directly with an RN (Registered Nurse) or physician, and handles a wide variety of day-to-day patient care responsibilities. Because LVNs are usually closer to the patients, and more aware of their individual statuses and needs than almost every other caregiver, they're forever in demand and are among the most-important members of any health care team. For this reason, having a solid staff of Licensed Vocational Nurses is essential to the effective operation of any hospital, long-term health care facility, or any other health-related operation.

Exactly What Does an LVN Do?

The LVN's typical responsibilities include tasks like taking and documenting vital signs, gathering samples for tests, cleaning and dressing wounds, giving injections, bathing and feeding patients, and monitoring medical equipment. Although the limitations differ from one state to another, LVNs are usually not allowed to do things like push IV medications (even though they are allowed to start IVs just about everywhere) or administer patients any other kinds of drugs unless explicitly ordered by a doctor or Registered Nurse.

What are the Requirements to Become an LVN?

To become a Licensed Vocational Nurse, you must first take and complete an accredited LVN training program that includes the necessary number of hours. In California for instance, the curricular prerequisites for an LVN program to become fully-accredited consist of 1,530 total hours of study broken down into 954 hours of Clinical study, 576 hours of Theory, and 54 hours of Pharmacology. Course content must also include: Anatomy and Physiology, Psychology, Pharmacology, Nursing Process, Communication, Patient Education, Nutrition, Normal Development and Growth, Rehabilitation Nursing, Maternity Nursing, Nursing Fundamentals, Pediatric Nursing, Medical/Surgical Nursing, Gerontological Nursing, Supervision, Leadership, and Communicable Disease including HIV.

In an example that's fairly reflective of what most states require, LVN programs in California demand that applicants be at least 17 years of age, and hold a high school diploma or its equivalent (a GED, for instance).

After completing your training program, the next (and most important) step in becoming an LVN is to obtain your license. Obtaining your license requires getting a passing score on the NCLEX-PN - a standardized, multiple-choice examination administered to LVN candidates to test their knowledge in four crucial areas:

. Safe and effective care environment
. Health maintenance and promotion
. Psychosocial integrity
. Physiological integrity

What's an LVN's Salary?

There are numerous factors built into deciding how much an LVN's salary is going to be, but the standard range in 2011 was $13.90 - $26.50 per hour (or $28,912 to $55,120 per year) according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average LVN salary can vary greatly based on which part of the state an individual works in, which type of facility he or she works at, and how much experience he or she has.

What Does Tomorrow Look Like for this Profession?

With the health care field likely to expand dramatically as the nation's population ages during the next 20 years, demand for LVNs is expected to be extremely high. To illustrate the effect of this event on the job market, in California health care providers will have to hire over 150,000 new Licensed Vocational Nurses over the next seven years to keep up with industry growth. If you are interested in embarking on a fast-paced, challenging career as an LVN, the future is so bright that you may have to wear sunglasses.