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Employer Quotes

The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Health Care

They are talking about this topic: Workforce Trends & Challenges

 

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Licensed Practical Nurse Shortage: Many employers struggle to fill the huge demand for LPNs. This is especially true in long-term facilities. There is high turnover in LPN positions because a large number quickly pursue an RN degree and then move to other positions. Additionally, many LPNs assume leadership positions—rather than hands-on positions—within long-term care facilities.

Employer Quote Region
"I've had an ad out now for seven months for an LPN with no hits. We decided we needed LPNs but we can't find them, so we'll go to all RNs. I put out an ad for an RN, and I got four in one day. But when they find out what the job entails, it's not glamorous enough. They don't want to do what an LPN does. And so we're stuck between a rock and a hard place because I need LPNs, but I can't get an RN to do what they do." Northwest
"You know, I've been a CNA, an LPN, and an RN. And it's hard work working in a nursing home. Yeah, maybe it's not as glamorous as an emergency room or whatever. But you deal with some complex cases, and you can actually build some excellent skills. But I don't think it's being sold in programs—it's not portrayed as a glamorous place to work. But we do wonderful things to extend the lives of the elderly population, and nobody wants to do it. Because I don't think it's—I don't know if it's seen as just not good enough for a lot of the people who are coming out of colleges?" Northwest
"I don't know what it's going to take, but we're struggling to find LPNs. They're just not out there. And they're going directly into the RN program, and then going to hospitals, I know we're close to Fargo, and I know a lot of people in our area go to Fargo. So, I don't know what the answer is." Northwest
"It sounds like there's a big demand in Bemidji for LPNs who are in northern Minnesota here. So, if there's a big demand for LPNs, there are maybe other programs with MnSCU—maybe that's the thing to take to MnSCU—that the other programs will have to ramp up there." Northwest
"Maybe we need to actually promote what an LPN does. Because we have surveyed our students, and none of them want to be LPNs. They go through the program because it's the only option there. So, it's one of those really tough things. It used to be that—when I went through the LPN program, I wanted to be an LPN. So, things have changed. But there's certainly not the promotion there that we see for other health care fields. So, what's it like being an LPN? What's the great part about giving individualized care and having an opportunity to see what they do at long-term care facilities? It means you get to be connected with people. I think that the whole promotion of that career has been lost." Northwest
"I guess for us, even if our LPNs look different, and they are trained differently three years from now than they are now, at least we have LPNs. I was talking to an administrator in another town saying, 'We're not able to admit residents at this time because we don't have the staff to care for them.' And I don't want that to happen in Bemidji. I don't want our region to face those situations three years from now or ten years from now." Northwest
"We have 20 LPNs and all but one have graduated from the [MnSCU college] Licensed Practical Nursing Program. What I see happening at our long-term care facility is that they work as a CNA while they're going to LPN school. And then they are an LPN while they're going into the RN program. And maybe they complete that in a year or two. So, I see good solid staff for three to four years which is huge in this industry—there's not the staff turnover like a lot of people see." Northwest
"Employer 1: There are some periods of time where there are zero applications for LPNs. So, there's a shortage.

Employer 2: So, on the LPNs—zero applications?

Employer 2: At some points.

Employer 2: I would wonder—with the LPNs in that group—how many of those are pursuing their RN degrees?

Employer 1: That was my question, too.

Employer 3: Yeah. I had that.

Employer 1: What we see, too—we're in long-term care and we see the same thing. We might not get LPN applicants, or if we do get an LPN applicant it's someone who is pursuing their RN degree and probably aren't going to stay in that position long-term. I think our program in Alexandria—when I visit with the LPN students—probably 80 to 90 percent are planning to move on to the RN program. So, it's hard to find LPNs that want to remain LPNs."		 Northwest
"We can't—we're not funded so that we can pay our licensed nurses what they can get paid in a hospital. Sometimes I hear that it's upwards of ten dollars an hour difference. So, that's what we struggle with in long-term care." Northwest
"We talk about nursing homes changing and the need for higher skills. You know, we see that all the time. But residents coming into our facility need a skill level that is more applicable to an RN, but you cannot necessarily afford the RN wages all the time, so the RNs are going to hospitals." Northwest