Minnesota Nursing Schools

University of Minnesota School of Nursing Grad Gets Nation's Top Test Score - Again

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (April 2006) - For the second consecutive year, a graduate of the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing obtained the highest score in the nation on the national certification examination administered by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.

Wendy Clagett Kochevar received the top score on the 2005 exam, which had a pass rate of 77 percent among the nearly 600 pediatric nurse practitioners who took it nationwide. Kochevar completed the School of Nursing's pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) graduate program in December 2004. In 1988, Kochevar earned her master's at the University of Minnesota with a specialization in Child-bearing and Child-rearing Family Nursing.

A native of Mason City, Iowa, Kochevar has served in several pediatric nursing positions at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, since 1981, and recently accepted a position as a pediatric nurse practitioner in otolaryngology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio.

"I was thrilled when I got the news," Kochevar said. "The University of Minnesota clearly provided the preparation I needed to be successful."

The top national scorer on last year's exam was Alexis Maciej, also a 2004 graduate of the School of Nursing's PNP program, specializing in the Children with Special Health Care Needs area of studies. Maciej currently works as a PNP in oncology at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, in Minneapolis.

"We're very proud of Alexis and Wendy," said Associate Professor Linda Lindeke, Ph.D., RN, CNP. "Their accomplishment on the PNP exam shows we are truly attracting the best and brightest students to the School of Nursing."

The pediatric nurse practitioner area of study is one of 17 available to students in the School of Nursing's master's program. Read more...

Practical Nurses in Minnesota

Minnesota LPN training lasting about one year is available in over one thousand State-approved programs, mostly in vocational or technical schools. Minnesota LPN job applicants in hospitals may face competition as the number of hospital jobs for licensed practical nurses declines. Rapid employment growth is projected in other health care industries, with the best job opportunities occurring in nursing care facilities and in home health care services. Replacement needs will be a major source of job openings, as many workers leave the occupation permanently.

Most Minnesota licensed practical nurses provide basic care, taking vital signs such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration. LPNs also prepare and give injections and enemas, monitor catheters, apply dressings, treat bedsores, and give alcohol rubs and massages. LPNs monitor their patients and report adverse reactions to medications or treatments. Minnesota LPNs collect samples for testing, perform routine laboratory tests, feed patients, and record food and fluid intake and output.

Licensed practical nurses (LPNs), or licensed vocational nurses (LVNs), care for the sick, injured, convalescent, and disabled under the direction of physicians and registered nurses. To help keep patients comfortable, LPNs assist with bathing, dressing, and personal hygiene. In States where the law allows, they may administer prescribed medicines or start intravenous fluids. Some Minnesota LPNs help to deliver, care for, and feed infants. Experienced licensed practical nurses may supervise nursing assistants and aides.

In addition to providing routine bedside care, licensed practical nurses in nursing care facilities help to evaluate residents' needs, develop care plans, and supervise the care provided by nursing aides. In doctors' offices and clinics, they also may make appointments, keep records, and perform other clerical duties. Licensed practical nurses who work in private homes may prepare meals and teach family members simple nursing tasks.

Minnesota LPN Working Conditions

Most licensed practical nurses in hospitals and nursing care facilities work a 40-hour week, but because patients need round-the-clock care, some work nights, weekends, and holidays. They often stand for long periods and help patients move in bed, stand, or walk.

Licensed practical nurses may face hazards from caustic chemicals, radiation, and infectious diseases such as hepatitis. They are subject to back injuries when moving patients and shock from electrical equipment. They often must deal with the stress of heavy workloads. In addition, the patients they care for may be confused, irrational, agitated, or uncooperative.

Minnesota LPN Training and Advancement

All States and the District of Columbia require LPNs to pass a licensing examination, known as the NCLEX-PN, after completing a State-approved practical nursing program. A high school diploma or its equivalent usually is required for entry, although some programs accept candidates without a diploma, and some are designed as part of a high school curriculum. Most training programs are available from technical and vocational schools, or from community and junior colleges. Other programs are available through high schools, hospitals, and colleges and universities.

Most practical nursing programs last about 1 year and include both classroom study and supervised clinical practice (patient care). Classroom study covers basic nursing concepts and patient care-related subjects, including anatomy, physiology, medical-surgical nursing, pediatrics, obstetrics, psychiatric nursing, the administration of drugs, nutrition, and first aid. Clinical practice usually is in a hospital, but sometimes includes other settings.

In some employment settings, such as nursing homes, licensed practical nurses can advance to become charge nurses who oversee the work of other licensed practical nurses and of nursing aides. Some LPNs also choose to become registered nurses through numerous LPN-to-RN training programs.

Licensed practical nurses should have a caring, sympathetic nature. They should be emotionally stable because working with the sick and injured can be stressful. They also should have keen observational, decision-making, and communication skills. As part of a health care team, they must be able to follow orders and work under close supervision.

Minnesota LPN Employment

LPNs held over 725,000 jobs in 2004. About 27 percent of LPNs worked in hospitals, 25 percent in nursing care facilities, and another 12 percent in offices of physicians. Others worked for home health care services; employment services; community care facilities for the elderly; public and private educational services; outpatient care centers; and Federal, State, and local government agencies. About 1 in 5 licensed practical nurses worked part time.

Minnesota LPN Job Outlook

Employment of licensed practical nurses is expected to grow about as fast as average for all occupations through 2014 in response to the long-term care needs of an increasing elderly population and the general growth of health care services. Replacement needs will be a major source of job openings, as many workers leave the occupation permanently. Applicants for jobs in hospitals may face competition as the number of hospital jobs for LPNs declines; however, rapid employment growth is projected in other health care industries, with the best job opportunities occurring in nursing care facilities and in home health care services.

Employment of LPNs in hospitals is expected to continue to decline. Sophisticated procedures once performed only in hospitals are being performed in physicians' offices and in outpatient care centers such as ambulatory surgical and emergency medical centers, largely because of advances in technology. Consequently, employment of LPNs in most health care industries outside the traditional hospital setting is projected to grow faster than average.

Employment of LPNs is expected to grow much faster than average in home health care services. Home health care agencies also will offer the most new jobs for LPNs because of an increasing number of older persons with functional disabilities, consumer preference for care in the home, and technological advances that make it possible to bring increasingly complex treatments into the home.

Employment of Minnesota LPNs in nursing care facilities is expected to grow about as fast as average because of the growing number of aged and disabled persons in need of long-term care. In addition, Minnesota LPNs in nursing care facilities will be needed to care for the increasing number of patients who have been discharged from the hospital but who have not recovered enough to return home. However, changes in consumer preferences towards less restrictive and more cost-effective care from assisted living facilities and home health care agencies will limit employment growth.

University of Minnesota School of Nursing Receives $1.5 Million Grant

A $1.5 million federal grant will help the University of Minnesota School of Nursing intensify its focus on interventions that protect, maintain, and restore health from infancy to old age. Since nursing focuses on helping people and families stay healthy in the context of their own communities and environments, nurse scientists are leaders in this field of research. The National Institute of Nursing Research, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, made the five-year award.

The grant supports nurse scientists conducting pilot studies that explore new avenues to health, such as the use of acupuncture to maintain regular heartbeat after heart surgery, and meditation and relaxation to help couples cope with breast cancer. Other projects will help school nurses prevent student obesity and assist individuals with mild cognitive impairment and their families. The grant will also enable new scientists to add to their repertoire of research skills, including methods and statistical techniques for conducting longitudinal studies.

The program will be guided by senior faculty in the school's new Center for Health Trajectory Research, directed by Jean Wyman, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN. "The grant means the school can take a major step forward in contributing to the University of Minnesota's goal of becoming one of the world's top three public research universities," said Wyman. "It's exciting time for our research program."

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing, ranked among the nation's top nursing schools, is a leader in improving health care through research, education and service. Its nationally and world-renowned scientists discover practical health care treatments and solutions people can use today to improve their daily lives. The oldest continuing university-based school of nursing in the nation, it now has a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of approximately 850 students. The school produces 55 percent of the faculty in Minnesota's public and private nursing schools, advanced practice nurses and nurses who can assume leadership positions. The School of Nursing is one of seven schools and colleges in the Academic Health Center, one of the most comprehensive facilities for health professionals in the nation, fostering interdisciplinary study, research and education.

Nursing Resources

For questions on the NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN exams visit the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Information about employment opportunities may be obtained from local hospitals, nursing care facilities, home health care agencies, psychiatric facilities, the Minnesota State Board of Nursing, and local offices of the State employment service. For information on nursing schools and lists of accredited programs in other states visit one of the following websites: New Mexico Nursing Degrees, Rhode Island Nursing Schools, Tennessee Nursing Programs, Michigan Nursing Degrees and Missouri Nursing Schools.

The information on Minnesota-Nursing-Schools.com is for general informational and educational purposes only. Minnesota-Nursing-Schools.com makes no representation that the information is accurate, reliable, complete or timely.