After your training as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), you would be worried of where you will end up working. There is a common question on LPN jobs and knowing what you have to at this early stage should be to your advantage. In the U.S. today, there are at least 836, 936 LPNs. The state with most of these nurses is Alabama which claims 18,560 of this figure. On the lower side, Alaska has the least LPNs with only 772 practitioners.

Due to the relatively low training and certification requirements for LPNs, their salary is lower than most of the other specialties. Recent data show that an LPN earns $17.86 per hour. A neonatal nurse would earn as high as $34.17 in the same hour. The salary for LPNs is not expected to go up with the increase in years of experience as it is with the other kinds of nurses. Despite these disadvantages, this is an excellent career choice to start off your nursing profession. You only require a post-secondary diploma and off you start your career. Another advantage is that you can advance in education and climb into the higher nursing options that are paying better and in improved working environments. So, after all, this is a path worth considering and here is most of the information you would wish to know about LPN jobs.

Contents:

• Where to Find Jobs
• Best Specializations to Get You a Job Easily
• 5 States with the Best LPN Jobs in the USA
• Future Outlook for the LPN Specialty

Where to Find Jobs

One of the widespread misconceptions that LPN nursing practitioners have to live with is the argument that they cannot find jobs in other areas apart from a nursing home. This is not true at all since out of the approximately 0.1 million LPN nurses in the U.S. over 72% of them do not work within nursing homes. They have found jobs in other institutions and nursing facilities. Here is a list of places where you can find a rewarding job inside and without the federation:

• Residential care facilities: the Bureau of Labor Handbook stated that 37% of LPNs were employed in residential care facilities popularly referred to as nursing care facilities. This included those on part-time and full-time basis all with ranging experiences from as low as less than a year.
• Physicians’ offices: experienced doctors will want assistants to help on light duties such as keeping data, helping and giving general care to patients. In most physicians’ offices, you will find assistants and majority of them are drawn from the LPN specialty. Working here has its advantages since you have 2 channels to choose your specialization. The first specialization is to become a clinical specialist. It is a rewarding choice that will give you more experience and you will be in a good position to advance your career. The second path you can choose is to venture into the administrative duties. Here you will have a flexible working schedule and you will find your way to the top management levels.
• Hospitals: there are chances that you can get a job in a hospital. However, those chances are slim since many hospitals are looking to achieve ‘magnet status’ thus, they will prefer to hire registered nurses (RNs) as opposed to LPNs. The good news is that you can still advance your education and become an RN and be able to work where you wish to.
• Travel agencies and factories: here is the best opportunity to work in a less pressure environment and yet have a rewarding career. Travel agencies will hire travel nurses to have them render nursing services to the clients as well as employees. There is no much supervision as it is in the nursing mainstream. Factory owners also hire nurses to ensure safety at the workplace. These are called occupational nurses and they have flexible working schedule and conditions since this is not a place where emergencies and nursing needs arise every now and then.

Best Specializations to Get You a Job Easily

As LPN, you would not just be a general practitioner. You need to specialize so as to increase your chances for a job. The best specialties would be occupational nursing, travel nurses, clinical nurse and administrative nurse. These are in less pressure environments and it is something every other nurse would want in their choice of job. Nevertheless, if you do not have job offers in these specialties, it does not mean you cannot take on the others.

5 States with the Best LPN Jobs in the USA

You can get jobs all over the U.S. right from NJ, California, Colorado, Mississippi or whichever state you may want to work in. As long as you are certified, you can work anywhere in the federation. However, some states offer better remuneration and working conditions than others. As an LPN, here are the best states to seek jobs:

• Connecticut: here you can get a pay of $24.39 per hour. The best cities to work in here are Ansonia, Ashford, and Andover.
• New Jersey: you will earn $22.50 each hour and the choices of best cities include Trenton, Elizabeth, and Paterson.
• Massachusetts: LPNs will expect to get $22.72 in an hour. A good choice of cities to work in would be Rutland, Boston, and Framingham.
• District of Columbia: here you would be looking forward to making $21.85 per hour and the best cities you can find excellent jobs are in Washington and Alexandria.
• Nevada: an LPN would make $20 per hour. The best cities to work in this state would be Carson City, Las Vegas and Reno.

Future Outlook for the LPN Specialty

There is usually a misleading rumor on prospects of an LPN finding a job. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nursing profession is expected to grow by more than 20% in the next decade with the base year as 2012. LPNs fall in this category and thus jobs in this occupation will grow exponentially even though it may be lesser than in other specialties in this field. Furthermore, valid projections show that at least 309,000 LPN will be needed in U.S. in 2016 only. Due to the increased demand and diversification of healthcare, this figure will keep growing in the coming years. Therefore, it is a valid conclusion that LPNs have a brighter future in terms of jobs availability.