What Is The LPN Salary Range?

The need for more health care personnel is very obvious in the health care field. Health care facilities are always on the lookout to employ RNs and LPNs in their hospitals. And it’s not only limited to hospitals — even nursing homes and other private homes employ LPNs in their facilities. Fresh LPN passers often wonder — what is LPN salary range?

There are many factors to consider regarding the LPN salary range. These deciding factors include qualifications and experience, geographic location, and industry type.

According to recent studies made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a significant 14 percent increase in employment rate from 2007 to 2015 is expected, and starting May 2007, the average annual LPN salary range per year is $27,370 to $52,160.

A licensed practical nurse (LPN) or a licensed vocation nurse (LVN) performs nursing care under the direction of a registered nurse. Their task can include performing primary nursing care, like checking vital signs and assisting in routine patient activities like dressing, eating, and bathing. However, they cannot perform complex tasks such as anesthesia administration.

Experience is also a big factor in determining the LPN salary range. A LPN with less than a year of experience earns an annual average income of $29,391, which is not much if you compare it to the $39,184 annual average income of someone with 19 or more years of experience.

The salary of licensed practical nurses greatly varies for each industry; living expenses are considered in choosing a nursing job. The top three States that provide high LPN hourly wages are Connecticut ($24.39), Massachusetts ($22.72), and New Jersey ($22.50). On the other hand, the top three low LPN hourly paying states are North Dakota ($15.41), Missouri ($15.38), and Louisiana ($15.14).

The services of licensed practical nurses are not limited in the hospital setting. In fact, a lot of establishments spend a great amount of money on LPN salaries, and these include nursing homes, clinics, home care services, and employment services like the travel nursing industry.

However, these leading industries do not accommodate all job applicants and offer limited slots. If you are hired you can expect a rewarding salary, because the projected yearly salary range can be around $43,490 to $50,850.

There are actually countless resources to learn about the LPN salary range. You could check out your local newspapers, websites, and speak to employers that hire LPNs. The job opportunities for LPNs are countless, and with the right tools, you’ll be getting one in no time!

What is The Salary for LPN Practitioners?

The salary for LPN practitioners varies per State. The recent rise in demand for health care providers makes the market a competitive ground for LPNs and RNs. With this in mind, you’ll be expecting differences in salary (it can even vary with experience and credentials).

A licensed practical nurse (LPN) or licensed vocation nurse (LVN) in California and Texas is a part of the health care team under the supervision of nurses and doctors. They assist patients in daily care routine, administer certain medications, and monitor patient condition.

Compensation for LPNs is influenced by various factors such as experience and credentials, location, and industry type. On a survey conducted in 2006 by The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a licensed practical nurse receives an estimated $36,550 each year; the highest would be as high as $43,640 and the lowest would be as little as $26,380.

In a more recent survey by the US National Average Salary in 2009, a licensed practical nurse receives average earnings of $44,212 each year, much higher than the previous years.

Work experience is a big factor in determining how much a licensed practical nurse earns. In fact, an experience of less than a year could have an expected yearly wage of $26,027, which is less compared to the $47,211 annual income of someone with more than 15 years of experience. It is remarkable how experience can significantly increase the salary for LPN.

Choosing the right work location is an important factor in order to get a higher wage; Of course, you also have to consider the living expenses of an area, whether it is expensive or cheap. For example, Connecticut offers an average salary for LPN as high as $50,950 per year. However, if you work in states like North Dakota, you’ll expect an earning of only $29,085.

There are different industries that offer job opportunities for a licensed practical nurse. These can range from hospitals to employment services. The salary for LPN in medical and surgical hospitals approximately reaches $35,000 while those in the employment services have an average salary of $42,110. The prospect of employment for a LPN with specialization is mostly likely to be better.

The health care profession is a rewarding experience. You are called to serve those people who are ill and in need of your care. If you want to more about the salary for LPN, you can check out your local newspaper for job opportunities, the internet, or directly inquire from employers hiring LPNs.

A Guide To LPN Wages

There are a lot of things that affect what LPN wages will be set at. The Licensed Practical Nurse’s, or LPN salary can be greatly different from one LPN to the next. Some of the things that effect the LPN salary level are; the LPN’s experience level, his/her qualification, the geographical location, and the type facility he/she works for. It is important to note that there may be other reasons for a variance in LPN salaries.

In May of 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics formulated that the average salary for an LPN was approximately $39,000 per year. Due to the many factors that effect LPN salaries, there is a wide range of actual salaries, this number is simply an average. The LPN’s who are in the top ten percent of the salary range make more than $52,000 per year, whereas the LPN’s on the bottom of the salary range make less then $27,000 per year.

The LPN wages will steadily increase as the LPN gains experience. As a matter of fact, it is surprising how much experience can actually effect a persons earnings. Payscale shows that an LPN who was just licensed will have an average annual wage of approximately $29,000. You can see the difference experience makes by comparing this to the overall LPN salary average.

You also have to remember that the geographical location in which an LPN works also effects the LPN salary. There are some areas that tend to provide a better pay than others. However, the figures as a whole can be deceptive. This is due to the fact that the areas that have the higher wages also have a higher cost of living. What this means is that just because an LPN from a certain area has a better pay check, it does not mean that she is financially better off. In order to truly make a comparison of salaries from one geographical location to another, you have to calculate what your buying power will be with the new salary in the new area. Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have the highest recorded LPN salaries, ranging from $47,000 to $52,000.

What kind of particular medical facility the LPN works for also effects LPN wages. Unfortunately, the operations that pay 80% of the better rates achieved, do not have very many employees. the opportunities in these industries are few and far between even though an LPN salary could still be as much as $51,000 a year.

LPN wages tend to be higher for those who take traveling assignment jobs. Usually each of these assignments can last from three months to a year and are brought about by demand. Due to the demand being high, the wages and fringe benefits also tend to be high.

Starter LPN Salaries

For anyone who has been thinking of entering the nursing profession by training to become a licensed practical nurse, it is quite understandable that one of the more interesting and important initial considerations is the sort of LPN salaries that are available in the practical nursing roles that you are likely to take on once qualified.

LPN positions are generally increasing as demand for health care services has risen with improvements in medical technologies, life expectations and palliative care.  The area which has seen the most increase in demand for LPNs is that of long term nursing and elderly care facilities and in the provision of home nursing support.  As you might expect therefore where demand is highest, so the sort of LPN salaries on offer is also the highest, as employers compete for human resource.  The only exception to this case is the pay for contract LPN’s which is the highest of all, due to the fact that such roles require flexibility and adaptability and the people undertaking the work will not always be fully employed.

So what can a newly qualified LPN expect in initial LPN salaries?  Well the answer is of course dependant upon location and the particular sector which you are looking for a role, but it is quite reasonable to assume that a starting LPN graduate can expect starting LPN salaries of between £33,000 up to the high $30,000’s.  In addition to the base LPN salary an LPN might also expect to get a shift premium for working unsocial hours on certain shifts and they will almost certainly get some form of premium to the hourly rate when working overtime.

These sorts of reasonable salary expectations demonstrate why the investment and commitment required in order to qualify as an LPN is worthwhile.  Working as an LPN can be a rewarding and fulfilling vocation.  But it can also be relatively lucrative as LPN salaries reflect the relative shortage of qualified staff.  A nurse, can use the LPN qualification as an intermediate step on the way to becoming a Registered Nurse, and demand for the services of LPNs over the coming decade is expected to continue to increase thus making the decision to join the nursing profession in this manner as a way to achieve good stable employment.

LPN Salary | What You Really Need To Know

There are any number of websites out in the online community that will regurgitate the same old Bureau of Labor Statistics published back in 2006.  They all follow very much the same template.  There is a general re-write of the BLS text on the role of the LPN in different work environments, followed by a re-hash of the various potential salaries that are available on average if you qualify to work as an LPN.  The truth is that as with many employers the level of LPN salary that you can expect to achieve is actually entirely dependant upon all the normal dynamics of the job market.  Factors such as demand for the services of LPNs, the location of the healthcare facility, and the degree to which there is already adequate provision in the are for LPN roles, will likely take the fore in respect of the LPN salary that might be expected.

Having said that demand for LPN roles is very good at the moment.  And when demand for the services of a particular skilled worker is high then the average salary expectation for fulfilling that role will also rise accordingly.  But there are LPN roles and LPN roles.  Some facilities will pay more than others so it is worth making sure that you know which type of employer will pay the most and what you should expect from some of the least well paid roles.  This is all a matter of proper research which you really should do on a local basis as national figures will not necessarily give you the steer that you need and indeed may well serve to mislead you as to what sort of salary you can really expect.

It may well surprise you to know that some of the best paid LPN roles and therefore the highest LPN salary that you might expect comes from the provision of LPN services as an agency worker providing temporary employment cover.  This is followed by nursing care facilities, then home healthcare services.  Next comes hospitals and similar facilities and finally physicians medical practices.

If the fact that hospital workers can expect a relatively low LPN salary is more a reflection of the fact that there is significant interest in working in such environments amongst LPN graduates and the competition for jobs allows these employers to pay less as a result.

Overall a typical LPN salary still ranges from between $32,000 to over $50,000, so the decision to train to become an LPN remains a sensible one.  The LPN role is an opportunity to test out your suitability to the nursing role, to gain a nursing qualification that earns a qualification in its own right together with work that assists you, should you subsequently desire it, to go on to further train as, say, a registered nurse (RN).  But also provides you with the potential to earn a decent LPN salary if you choose to stay as an LPN and develop your career within that particular qualification.