LPN Classes, Courses, and Curriculum

An Introduction to Nursing and the Role of the Licensed Practical Nurse

This course will provide you with information about the history of nursing, the roles and responsibilities of the licensed practical nurse (LPN) within the contemporary healthcare team, the settings in which the LPN practices nursing care, the components of the nursing process, critical thinking, the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship and communication with the patient, family members and other members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team.

• The evolution and history of nursing from early civilization and Florence Nightingale to the current day
• The LPN scope of practice, roles and responsibilities
• The roles and responsibilities of other members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team
• Settings of care
• The nursing process including assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation
• Applying critical thinking skills to the nursing process and the care of patients
• Therapeutic verbal and non verbal communication techniques
• Factors that affect the communication process
• Overcoming barriers to therapeutic communication

Legal, Ethical, Cultural and Ethnic Aspects of Nursing

During this course you will learn about the legal system, laws and ethical principles and practices that underpin all aspects of nursing care. You will also learn about cultural and ethnical factors and forces that impact on the patient and how licensed practical nurses modify care in respect to these considerations.

• Standards of nursing care and state nurse practice acts
• The role of the state boards of nursing
• Malpractice and negligence
• Privacy and patient confidentiality
• Abuse and neglect of children, elders and spouses
• Professional liability insurance
• Ethical principles and ethical dilemmas
• The American Nurses’ Association Code of Ethics
• Commonly occurring ethical and bioethical issues in healthcare
• Assessing the patient’s cultural and ethnical needs
• Diversity, transcultural nursing and cultural competence
• Modifying and providing culturally and ethnicity sensitive care
• Applying the nursing process to legal, ethical, cultural and ethnical aspects of care

Anatomy and Physiology

Licensed practical nurses must be knowledgeable about the human body and how it functions in order to render quality nursing care to patients and groups of patients. This course contains content relating to medical terminology, anatomical and physiological terms, and the normal functioning of the cells, tissues, membranes, organs and bodily systems.

• Anatomical and physiological terminology
• Cellular structures and functions
• Tissues: Structures, functions and types of tissue
• Membranes: Structures, functions and types of membranes
• Organs and systems: Structures, functions and examples of bodily systems

Assessments: The Health History and the Physical Examination

Assessment is the first phase of the nursing process. The purpose of assessment is to allow the licensed practical nurse to determine the healthcare needs of the patient in collaboration with the registered nurse.

A thorough, timely and accurate assessment is essential to the planning and implementation of nursing care. The health history portion of this assessment includes data relating to the patient’s past and current medical and health history; the physical assessment consists of a head to toe examination of the patient and their level of functioning.

• Types of data
• Methods of data collection
• Conducting the health history interview process
• The components of the health history
• Risk factors, signs and symptoms
• Medication reconciliation
• Physical assessment techniques: Inspection, auscultation, palpation and percussion
• Performing a complete and systematic head to toe physical assessment
• Taking and interpreting vital signs for all age groups throughout the life span
• Applying the nursing process to patient assessment

Documentation

Laws and regulatory bodies such as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the states mandate that all patient care is documented. In fact, many of these regulations state that “if it is not documented, it was not done”. Documentation is a form of written communication that all members of the healthcare team, including licensed practical nurses, must be skilled in.

This course will cover commonly used medical terminology, acceptable abbreviations, the legal aspects of documentation, methods of documentation and documenting care in acute as well as long term care facilities.

• Basic medical terminology
• Acceptable and unacceptable abbreviations
• The basic guidelines for documentation
• The legal aspects of documentation
• Methods of documentation: Traditional, problem oriented, SOAP, focus charting, charting by exception and critical/clinical pathway methods of documentation
• Documentation and charting forms: Graphic charts, Kardex, patient assessment, medication administration records, progress notes, falls screening and skin assessment forms
• How nurses document in a complete, accurate and timely manner in the acute care and long term care settings

Growth and Development Along the Lifespan

Licensed practical nurses provide care to patients of all ages. They, therefore, must be knowledgeable about the biological, psychological, cognitive/intellectual, social and spiritual needs of patients from the neonate to the elderly person so that care and communication can be modified according to these needs.

Student practical nurses will learn about the stages of growth and development as well as the age specific characteristics and needs for the infant, toddler, preschool child, school age child, adolescent, early adulthood, middle aged adults and the elderly.

• The age groups along the continuum of life
• Psychosocial development: Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud and other theorists
• Cognitive development: Jean Piaget and other theorists
• Motor and mobility development
• Communication and language development
• Health promotion activities when caring for the infant, toddler, preschool child, school age child, adolescent, early adulthood, middle aged adults and the elderly patient
• Types of families
• The stages of family development
• Applying the nursing process to the growth and development characteristics and needs across the life span

Patient Safety

Patients are at high risk for incidents and accidents. Some of these risk factors are the function of the patient’s physical or psychological condition, others are the result of healthcare provider errors and mistakes and still more risk factors are environmental in nature. Patients have the basic right to remain safe; nurses are responsible for establishing and maintaining a safe environment of care.

The content of this course will include patient related risk factors such as age, medications used and psychological status, healthcare provider errors and mistakes such as the administration of an incorrect medication dosage and environmental hazards such as wet floors and frayed electrical cords. It also contains information about ergonomics and body mechanics to protect the nurse from injury during patient transfers and movements.

• JCAHO, OSHA and CDC safety standards
• National Patient Safety Goals for acute and long term care
• Reporting incidents and accidents
• Sentinel events, root cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions
• Healthcare provider errors and mistakes: Medication errors, wrong site surgery, inaccurate patient identification, sharps injuries and inadequate patient monitoring
• Safety hazards along the life span
• Basic safety precautions: Patient identification, preventing distractions and other measures
• Falls and falls prevention: Environmental and patient related risk factors, falls risk screening tools and preventive measures
• Physical and chemical restraints
• A restraint free environment: Alternatives to the use of restraints
• The correct application of multiple types of restraints and the monitoring of the patient who is restrained
• Psychological crises and suicide risk
• Environmental hazards: Wet floors, oxygen and other medical gases, poor lighting, radiation, latex, accidental poisonings, suffocation, patient elopement, infant abduction and mercury
• Preventing and managing internal disasters: Fire, smoke, bomb threats, workplace violence, utility failures, communication breakdowns, terrorism and bioteriorism
• Managing external disasters: Terrorism, bioterrorism, earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes, airplane and other major transportation accidents
• Body mechanics: Purpose, correct bodily alignment, the line of gravity, the center of gravity and the base of support
• Body mechanics techniques and practices
• Applying the nursing process to the safety of the patients, visitors, staff members and oneself

Infection Control and Prevention

Healthcare associated infections are a major and costly problem that potentially affects virtually all patients in all settings where healthcare services are provided by nurses and other members of the healthcare team. This course will provide the learner with information about the chain of infection, microbiology, risk factors relating to infection, the signs and symptoms of infection, standard precautions, special isolation precautions, medical asepsis, surgical asepsis, cleaning, disinfection, sterilization and the management and disposal of biohazardous waste.

• The chain of infection: The infectious agent, the reservoir, the portal of exit, the mode of transmission, the portal of entry and the host
• Microbiology: Bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and protozoa
• Patient related risk factors associated with infections
• Treatment related risk factors associated with infections such as urinary catheters and intravenous fluid lines
• The local and systemic signs and symptoms of infection and inflammation
• Immunity: Active, passive, natural and artificial
• Standard precautions, handwashing and personal protective equipment
• Special mode of transmission isolation procedures: Contact, airborne and droplet contact precautions
• Medical asepsis: Purpose and procedures
• Surgical asepsis: Purpose and procedures
• Cleaning: Purpose and techniques
• Disinfection: Purpose and techniques
• Sterilization: Purpose and techniques
• Managing and disposing of biohazards wastes including sharps
• Applying the nursing process to infections and infection control

Medication Administration

Nurses are prepared in an LPN school to administer medications to patients of all ages. Accuracy is of paramount importance. During this course, you will review basic mathematics and learn about different measurement systems, calculating medication dosages, medication classifications, routes of administration, the side effects, contraindications, and adverse effects of drugs, medication orders, the “six rights of medication administration” and special considerations for the pediatric and elderly client.

• Mathematics review: Fractions, mixed numbers, decimals, percents, ratios and proportion
• Measurement systems: The metric, apothecary and household measurement systems
• The calculation of dosages: The ratio/proportion and dimensional analysis methods of calculation
• Medication classifications and the indications for each
• Commonly occurring contraindications, side effects and adverse effects including life threatening anaphylaxis
• Routes of medication administration and age related modifications of routes and forms for the pediatric and elderly populations
• Complete and acceptable physician medication orders
• Types of medication orders
• The “Six Rights of Medication Administration”: The right patient, the right medication, the right dosage, the right time, the right route and the right documentation
• Age specific considerations for the pediatric and elderly populations such as dosage and contraindications
• Applying the nursing process to medications and medication administration

Basic Patient Needs: Comfort and Rest

This course will provide you with information about pain, pain management, the sleep cycle and ways to promote sleep and rest for the patients that a licensed practical nurse will care for.

• Pain: The “Fifth Vital Sign”
• Types of pain
• Factors that impact on the pain experience
• Behavioral indications of pain
• Pain assessment scales for adults, infants and children
• Pain management: Invasive and noninvasive pain management
• Pain management medications and alternative techniques
• Sleep and the sleep cycle
• Factors that negatively impact on sleep and rest
• Strategies to enhance sleep and rest
• Applying the nursing process to the patient’s need for comfort, sleep and rest

Basic Patient Needs: Hygiene

Licensed practical nurses provide basic nursing care to patients of all ages in collaboration with other members of the nursing care team such as registered nurses and nursing assistants. Some of the components of hygiene are bathing, skin care, oral care, hand, foot and nail care, perineal care, hair care, shaving and cleaning the eyes, ears and nose.

Some of the environmental hygiene measures that will be also included in this course are cleanliness of the immediate patient care environment and bed making.

• Baths: Therapeutic and nontherapeutic baths
• The procedures for complete and partial bed baths
• Showering
• Skin care: Assessment, cleansing and back rubs
• Oral care: Dentures and natural teeth
• Hand, foot and nail care in addition to the needs of the diabetic patient
• Perineal care: Males, females and care of an indwelling urinary catheter
• Shaving: Males and females
• Special procedures for cleansing the eyes, ears and nose
• Beds: Medical asepsis, types of beds and procedures for each
• Environmental hygiene: Cleanliness of the environment and patient care equipment
• Applying the nursing process to the patient’s hygiene needs

Basic Patient Needs: Mobility

Many patients are affected with acute or chronic disorders and diseases that impact on the patient’s ability to be mobile and functioning in an independent manner. During this class, the LPN student will learn about the hazards of immobility, proper patient positioning and alignment, positioning aids, ways to safely transfer patients, the performance of and assistance with range of motion to joints and how to use assistive devices to promote patient mobility, ambulation and independence.

• The hazards of immobility that impact on the patient’s musculoskeletal, respiratory, circulatory, urinary, metabolic, integumentary and gastrointestinal systems
• Levels of activity: Complete bed rest, bed rest with commode privileges, bed rest with bathroom privileges, out of bed to the chair and independent out of bed activity
• Patient positions and alignment: Fowler’s, supine, prone, lateral, Sims’, orthopneic, Trendelenburg and genupectoral positions
•  Positioning devices and their uses
• Patient transfers in bed, from the bed to the chair and the chair to the bed
• Mechanical lifts
• Preventing shearing and friction
• Joint movements and joint related terminology
• Active, passive and active assist range of motion exercises
• Continuous passive motion equipment
• Ambulation assistive devices and their uses
• Applying the nursing process to the mobility needs of the patient

Basic Patient Needs: Fluids and Electrolytes

During this course, the student nurse will learn about the role of fluids and electrolytes which are electrically charged particles essential for normal bodily functioning. Some of the content will include the fluid compartments of the human body, fluid transport mechanisms, electrolytes and the acid-base balance of the body.

• Fluid compartments: Intracellular and extracellular fluid compartments
• Factors that impact on the intake and output of the patient
• Movement of fluids and electrolytes between the fluid compartments: Active transport and passive transport (diffusion, osmosis and filtration)
• Electrolytes: The cations and the anions
• The causes, treatments and signs and symptoms of electrolyte excesses and deficits
• The Acid-base balance
• Acid-base imbalances, their causes and their treatments: Respiratory acidosis, respiratory alkalosis, metabolic acidosis and metabolic alkalosis
• Applying the nursing process to the fluid and electrolyte needs of the patient

Adult Medical Surgical Nursing

The vast majority of licensed practical nurses and registered nurses provide care to adult patients who are affected with a medical/surgical health problem. Although the content of this course is briefly described below, the content of this course is presented by the licensed practical nursing instructor in great detail and over more hours than any other LPN course. The core components of system disorders and diseases include: etiology, risk factors, signs and symptoms, diagnosis and treatment:

• Integumentary system
• Musculoskeletal system
• Gastrointestinal system
• Blood and lymphatic system
• Cardiovascular system
• Respiratory system
• Genitourinary system
• Endocrine system
• Reproductive system
• Sensory system
• Neurological system
• Immune system
• Applying the nursing process to the care of the adult with a medical/surgical disorder or disease

Emergency Nursing Care

Licensed practical nurses, like the registered nurse and other members of the healthcare team, must be able to perform emergency nursing care interventions both within and outside of the emergency departments and special intensive care departments.

Some of the knowledge, skills and abilities that you will learn in this course will include the assessment and care of the patient who is affected with a cardiopulmonary arrest, shock, hemorrhage, trauma, aspiration, burns, accidental poisonings, substance use and abuse emergencies, musculoskeletal injuries and acts of terrorism and/or bioterrorism.

• The assessment of the patient for emergency medical crises
• Calling for and obtaining help during an emergency medical crisis
• Cardiopulmonary arrest: Performing the ABCs of cardiopulmonary resuscitation for neonates, infants, children and adults
• The assessment and treatment of shock: Cardiogenic shock, neurogenic shock, hypovolemic shock, septic shock, psychogenic shock and anaphylactic shock
• Hemorrhage: The assessment and treatment of arterial bleeding, venous bleeding, capillary bleeding and external bleeding
• The priorities of care and treatment for the trauma patient
• Types of traumatic wounds: Open wounds and closed wounds
• Aspiration of foreign bodies: Populations at risk for aspiration of foreign bodies in the throat, ears and nose
• The signs, symptoms and treatment of complete and partial airway obstructions for the infant, child, adult, conscious and unconscious patient
• Burns: Heat, cold and chemical burns
• The assessment and treatment of burns: Shallow, partial thickness, deep, partial thickness and full thickness burns and the Rule of Nines
• Accidental poisonings: Populations at risk, inhaled, ingested, injected and absorbed poisons
• The treatment of accidental poisonings and the role of the Poison Control Centers
• The signs, symptoms and treatments for various substance abuse emergencies
• Types of skeletal fractures and their treatments: Compound, closed, greenstick, comminuted, spiral, impacted, compressed and depressed fractures
• The assessment and care of dislocations
• Spinal cord injuries: Assessment and care
• Agents of terrorism and/or bioterrorism: Pathogens, nuclear explosion, blasts and chemicals
• The treatment of the adverse effects of terrorism and bioterrorism according to the agent
• Applying the nursing process to the management of all kinds of emergencies

Perioperative Nursing

Many patients have surgical and other invasive procedures. Some of these procedures are elective and others are not elective, but instead, performed for treatment and as a response to some urgent and emergency disease or disorder; some are performed in the acute care setting, others are performed in an outpatient day surgery setting and still more are performed at the bedside.

Licensed practical nurses care for patients, in collaboration with the registered nurse and other members of the surgical team, during the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative phases of the perioperative process. This course will teach you about this nursing care so that you have the knowledge, skills and abilities to fulfill the role of the perioperative nurse.

• Factors that impact on the surgical process: Age, illness, nutritional status, psychological status, socioeconomic status and medications that are taken by the patient
• The preoperative phase of the perioperative process: Assessments, patient/family teaching, informed consent, laboratory and other diagnostic testing, respiratory coughing, deep breathing and splinting exercises
• Completing a thorough and accurate preoperative checklist
• Anesthesia: General, regional, local and conscious sedation
• Patient identification and the prevention of wrong patient and wrong site surgery
• Sterile asepsis and sterile techniques
• Handling of sharps in the operating room using a “neutral zone”
• The intraoperative phase of the perioperative process: Patient positioning, the role and responsibilities of the scrub nurse and the circulating nurse
• The postoperative phase of the perioperative process: The role and responsibilities of the nurse during the immediate and later postoperative stages
• Pain and pain management
• Caring for the incisional site
• Applying the nursing process to the care of patients during the perioperative process

Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

There is a relationship and connectedness of the mind and the body. Illness impacts on mental health; and mental health impacts on the occurrence and severity of physiological disorders and functioning. Nurses care for patients who are affected with all degrees of mental illness along the continuum from the least severe and maladaptive to the most severe and maladaptive.

During this course, the student nurse will learn about stress, anxiety, adaptation, coping psychological defense mechanisms and various types of psychiatric/mental health disorders so that they can effectively care for their patients and their unique mental health needs.

• Psychological defense mechanisms, their purpose, signs and symptoms
• Stress and anxiety, its effects on mental functioning and stress management techniques
• Coping: Adaptive and maladaptive coping
• Types of psychiatric/mental health disorders: Organic disorders, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, mood disorders, psychogenic disorders and thought process disorders
• Organic mental disorders: The signs, symptoms and treatments for delirium and dementia
• Eating disorders: The signs, symptoms and treatments for anorexia and bulimia nervosa
• Anxiety disorders: The signs, symptoms and treatments for phobias, obsessive-compulsive and posttraumatic stress disorders
• Personality disorders: The signs, symptoms and treatments for paranoid, borderline, antisocial, abusive and dependent personality disorders
• Mood disorders: The signs, symptoms and treatments for depression, bipolar and cyclothymic disorders
• Psychogenic disorders: The signs, symptoms and treatments for psychosomatic and somatoform disorders
• Thought process disorders: The signs, symptoms and treatments for schizophrenia
• The stages and characteristics of addiction and dependence
• Addictive disorders: The signs, symptoms and treatments for illicit drug and alcohol abuse/addiction
• Psychiatric/mental health interventions: Therapeutic relationships, a therapeutic milieu, psychotherapy, cognitive/behavioral therapy, electroconvulsive therapy and medications
• Psychotropic medications, indications, side effects and nursing implications
• Applying the nursing process to the psychiatric and mental health needs of patients

Grief, Loss and the End of Life

All patients and other people, such as family members, experience grief and loss as the result of many different circumstances including the loss of independence, the loss or alteration of a bodily part such as a breast or leg and when the patient is diagnosed with a life altering or terminal disease.

The needs of these patients, family members and significant others affected with grief and loss and the perideath experience are physical, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual in nature. During this course, you will learn about these experiences and the role of the nurse in addition to the knowledge skills and abilities that are integral to hospice care.

• Loss: Definition and types of loss
• Grief: Definition and types of grief
• Factors that impact on the patient’s grief and loss experiences
• Theories of grief and loss: Kubler-Ross, Bowlby, Worden and others
• Addressing the physical needs of the patient and significant others at the end of life
• Managing the psychological needs of the patient and significant others at the end of life
• Incorporating the social, cultural and spiritual aspects of care and support to the patient and significant others at the end of life
• The legal and ethical issues relating to the end of life: Advance directives, do not resuscitate (DNR) orders, healthcare surrogacy and proxy, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, organ donations, pain relief even if it hastens death and patient rights at the end of life
• Hospice care: Curative vs. palliative care, hospice settings, the members of the hospice team and the goals of hospice care
• Palliative care measures and interventions
• Post mortem care
• Applying the nursing process to loss, grief, hospice care and the perideath process

Rehabilitation and Restorative Care Nursing

Licensed practical nurses work in a variety of settings including the acute care hospital or medical center, subacute care centers, long term care facilities, in home care and also providing rehabilitation and restorative care in any one of these settings in collaboration with the registered nurse and other members of the rehabilitation/restorative care team such as the physical therapist, occupational therapist and the speech/language therapist.

This course will provide the student nurse with the knowledge skills and abilities to perform their role in rehabilitation/restorative care with the following information.

• The definitions of and the differences between rehabilitation and restorative care
• The indications for and the goals of rehabilitation and restorative nursing care
• The roles and responsibilities of the members of the rehabilitation and restorative care teams
• Pediatric, adult, gerontological and mental health rehabilitation/restorative care
• Disabling disorders: Spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular accidents, post traumatic stress disorder and polytrauma
• Applying the nursing process to the needs of the patient in need of restorative and rehabilitation nursing services

Maternal and Neonatal Nursing

Many licensed practical nursing graduates choose to work in the obstetrics and delivery areas of nursing practice. This course will provide the student with the basic abilities to perform in these areas if they choose to do so.

The content of this course will include information about the antepartal, labor/delivery and postpartum processes and well as the care of the newborn after delivery.

• The anatomy and physiology of pregnancy: Fertilization, implantation and fetal development
• Embryonic development: The fetal membranes, amniotic fluid, the placenta, the umbilical cord
• Fetal growth and development during the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy and gestation
• Fetal assessment: The fetal heart, the use of ultrasonography, fundal height, chorionic villus sampling, maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein, amniocentesis, stress testing and the biophysical profile
• Maternal anatomical and physiological changes during pregnancy
• The presumptive, probable and positive signs of pregnancy and the estimated date of delivery
• The pregnancy and childbirth plan: Obstetricians, midwives, birthing settings and child birth preparation classes
• The complications of pregnancy, signs, symptoms and treatment: Ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, molar pregnancy, incompetent cervix, heyperemesis gravidarum, abruptio placentae, placenta previa, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, disseminated intravascular coagulation, HELLP syndrome, TORCH, thrombophlebitis, multiple gestations, hemorrhage and age related complications
• Applying the nursing process to the antepartal period of time
• The onset of labor, signs of impending labor and differentiating between false and true labor
• The processes of labor: The passenger, the passage, the powers, the maternal psyche and the maternal position
• The stages of labor and the components of each
• The mechanisms of labor
• Fetal status and assessments during labor
• Fetal heart assessments and interventions: Tachycardia, bradycardia, variability and decelerations
• Medications and analgesia used during labor
• Applying the nursing process to the labor and delivery process
• Neonatal complications, signs, symptoms and treatment:: Preterm and post term neonates, hemolytic disorders, small and large for gestational age and Rh incompatibility
• Applying the nursing process to the care of the neonate and mother during the post postpartum period of time

Read more about careers in labor and delivery nursing.

Pediatric Nursing

Like other specialty care areas of nursing practice, students of licensed practical nursing often develop an interest in working with pediatric patients. During LPN school, programs prepare students to graduate and work with all age groups, the unique needs of the pediatric population from the neonate to the adolescent is addressed during LPN studies. The content of this course will contain the elements listed below.

• Family centered care and the care of the pediatric patient
• Factors and conditions that affect growth and development among pediatric patients
• The physical assessment of the pediatric patient from the neonate to the adolescent:  Physical growth, vital signs and changes in the findings of the head to toe physical assessment
• Age related needs and communication with the infant, toddler, preschool child, school age child and adolescent during hospitalization and when receiving healthcare services
• Age specific pain assessment and pain management
• Age related fears and the concept of death
• Nutritional needs of the pediatric patient
• Safety needs and the prevention of accidents among the pediatric population
• The administration of medications to the pediatric client and modifications of the dosage, route and intramuscular sites for the infant, toddler, preschool child, school age child and adolescent
• Health promotion interventions for the pediatric population according to their age and developmental status
• The diagnosis, signs, symptoms and treatment of commonly occurring pediatric diseases and disorders: Communicable diseases and those affecting the integumentary, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, blood and lymphatic, cardiovascular, respiratory, genitourinary, endocrine, reproductive, sensory, neurological and immune systems
• Applying the nursing process to the care of the pediatric client

Read more about careers in pediatric nursing.

Gerontology Nursing

Gerontology nursing includes the care of the elderly population in terms of their age specific characteristics and healthcare needs. The older patient is cared for in a variety of settings in which the licensed practical nurse practices. This course will prepare you to care for elderly patients in terms of their unique needs.

• Healthy aging: Debunking myths about aging, theories relating to the aging process, wellness and health promotion interventions for the aging population
• The “graying” of America
• The normal changes of the aging process: The integumentary, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, blood and lymphatic, cardiovascular, respiratory, genitourinary, endocrine, reproductive, sensory, neurological and immune systems
• Settings of care: The home, acute care, assisted living, long term care facilities and adult day care centers
• Psychosocial needs: Stressors, lower socioeconomic status, depression, loss, grief and the end of life
• Safety and security needs: Falls, other accidents and elder abuse and neglect
• Medication administration considerations for the elderly population and polypharmacy
• Applying the nursing process to the care of the gerontological patient

Read more about careers in gerontology nursing.

Intravenous Medications

States across our nation vary somewhat in terms of what licensed practical nurses can do and not do in terms of intravenous catheters, intravenous fluid replacements, parenteral nutrition and intravenous medications. Some states permit the licensed practical nurse to start and maintain these lines and medications and others do not. Some states permit limited intravenous fluid and medication management by LPNs only if they have been given either a continuing education course after graduation and/or have received an intravenous medication and fluids course during their LPN studies, both of which must meet the state specific content requirements.

This course will provide the learner with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform venipuncture and to provide fluids, electrolytes, nutrition, blood products and medications using the intravenous route.

• Basic intravenous therapy terms and terminology: Intravenous therapy, peripheral IV therapy, central line IV therapy, isotonic, hypertonic, hypotonic and osmolarity
• Review of the anatomy and physiology of the veins
• The advantages and disadvantages of intravenous therapy
• The complications of intravenous therapy: The prevention of, signs, symptoms and treatment for Infection, infiltration, extravasation, phlebitis, occlusions, embolus and hypersensitivity to intravenous medications
• Intravenous catheters: The characteristics, uses and nursing implications for peripheral, midline peripheral, peripherally inserted central and central venous catheters
• Intravenous tubings: Primary tubing, secondary IV tubing and piggybacks
• Drop factors and calculating intravenous flow rates
• Using a volumetric intravenous controller and a mini infuser syringe pump
• The types of intravenous solutions and their indications: Hypertonic, isotonic and hypotonic
• The administration of blood and blood products
• Applying the principles of safety and infection control to intravenous therapy
• Modifying intravenous therapy for the pediatric and elderly populations
• Performing venipuncture and inserting an intravenous catheter
• Applying the nursing process to intravenous therapy and the administration of blood and blood products