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In Washington state, licensed practical nurses work in nursing
homes and hospitals. Their scope of practice includes contributing
to assessment, participating in development of a plan of care,
implementing aspects of care as directed, maintaining client
safety, and patient teaching. The shortage of licensed practical
nurses is important to hospitals in part because they are critical
to the function of nursing homes. When nursing homes are inadequately
staffed and cannot accept new patients, hospitals frequently
must keep patients who would usually be discharged to nursing
homes.
 Numbers
In 1998, Washington state ranked 42nd out of the 50 states
for the number of licensed practical nurses per 100,000
population. There were about 9,800 licensed practical nurses
working in Washington in 1998. By 2008, Washington state
will need an additional 220 licensed practical nurses to
maintain current levels of staffing. Seventy-seven percent
of Washington state hospitals responding to a recent survey
reported it was “somewhat or very difficult”
to recruit licensed practical nurses. The figure was 85
percent for urban hospitals.
Pipeline
Licensed practical nurses usually receive their education
from one-year community college certificate programs. Between
1992 and 1997, the number of Licensed Practical Nurse degrees
per 100,000 population dropped by 12 percent.
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