There is no doubt that the job outlook in almost every sector is tough at the moment. If you are currently lucky enough to have some employment then you probably should just keep your head down, work hard and hope that you can stick with it through these frankly awful times. If you do not have a job however then there are relatively few sectors that are recruiting significantly at all. Fortunately, demand for nurses and in particular LPN’s or Licensed Practical Nurses is in generaly tending to buck the trend and prospects remain relatively good. The reason for this is that nursing remains a high demand role, healthcare is still a growth industry and good quality health practitioners are continuually required in almost all healthcare work environments. This means that LPN salaries remain good, from a starter level through to the more experienced practical nurses.

What does “good” mean? Well, the details are often difficult to come by but generally speaking a starter LPN salary really starts in the low $30,000 range, rising to just over $40,000 in some states. Clearly, where you live has a significant impact on the sort of LPN salary that you are able to command, although this is perhaps not that surprising and is surely the case in almost all types of employment. The average LPN salary for all LPN’s across all states is approximately $43,000 and the highest LPN salaries are often comfortably in excess of $50,000, especially in east coast states.

Which Employers Pay The Best LPN Salaries

So, having established what the range from low to high of LPN salaries are the next question to answer should almost certainly be – what employers pay the best LPN salaries? Now before going in to any particular detail on this subject it is important to note that the LPN role in most healthcare organisations is not always an easy one. Many of the tasks undertaken by an LPN can be physically demanding, the hours can be long and there is often a strong emotional element especially when looking after patients who are seriously ill. It is perhaps for these reasons that getting hold of really good quality licensed practical nurses is so tough for employers. The amount they pay therefore tends to be a reflection of the “toughness” of the role that is required to be filled.

Hospital work tends to be the most sought after. This tends to mean that hospitals have more options when it comes to employing their LPN staff than other facilities. A hospital can offer a wider breadth of experience, established training programs and good career development opportunities. This means that hospital pay, certainly at the lower end of the LPN salary scale tends to be lower than from other healthcare facilities such as the private nursing homes and elderly care facilities. These types of operation generally find it much more difficult to find the sort of staff numbers that they typically need and are therefore forced to offer better levels of salary in order to attract sufficient numbers of LPN candidates.

On a similar theme, LPN’s who work in community facilities, especially when looking after the elderly are in high demand, and as a result LPN salaries tend to be at the higher end of the spectrum here too.

LPN Salaries Vary With The Role

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.