Alabama has a host of cities – Mobile, Birmingham, Huntsville, and Montgomery, to name a few – and quite a few natural landmarks, such as the Wetumpka crater and Natural Bridge rock. If you claim this state as home and are curious on how to be educated and licensed as an LPN in Alabama, continue reading; this page contains four sections of information on this healthcare field. The first portion describes a typical LPN education program in Alabama; the second portion presents a description of what an LPN job may be like. The third portion provides information about Alabama’s LPN licensing standards, and the last portion contains a sampling of schools in Alabama that may offer LPN education programs.

Basic Alabama LPN Schooling Information

LPN schools in Alabama generally resemble a typical pattern containing general education classes, labs, clinicals, and nursing classes. Nursing classes are the main component of LPN programs and schools; students may attend classes such as nutrition, medical dosage, maternal-child nursing, mental health nursing, and pharmacology. Students may also take a few general education courses, examples include English and psychology. Many nursing classes may be come with labs, in which students can attempt and perfect the techniques they learn on a mannequin or on another student as a teacher supervises. Finally, many programs contain a clinical component, where students may work in a real medical setting one to multiple times a week and perform some of the same job duties as an LPN.

General Duties of LPNs in Alabama

LPNs in Alabama perform a variety of duties while working. They may assist the patient with personal hygiene tasks, such as bathing and dressing, or cleanse the patient’s wounds and change bandages. This is known as bedside care. LPNs may also check patients’ blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, temperature or other vital signs, and record them. They may talk with the patient about any concerns he or she has involving his or her health and medical treatment and communicate those concerns with the doctor or nurse in charge of the patient. This is known as patient status monitoring. LPNs may also perform various tasks requiring specialized skills, if the LPN has been educated to perform those duties. Examples include working with IVs, working with catheters, and helping with dialysis. Other job duties an LPN could perform include paperwork (such as billing insurance companies), bottle-feeding infants, administering medication, and supervising nursing aides or assistants. LPNs may work in hospitals, medical clinics, doctor’s offices, in-home healthcare services, and children’s homes, among other medical settings. And LPN duties may vary from location to location; for example, LPNs stationed in a NICU may need to bottle-feed infants whereas LPNs working in a nursing home facility may be required to lift a 120-lb patient from his or her wheelchair into a bed.

Alabama Licensing Info for LPNs

LPNs wishing to work in Alabama must apply for and obtain licensure from the Alabama Board of Nursing (ABN). There are several requirements that applicants must meet; for comprehensive and current information on specific requirements, visit the ABN website at www.abn.alabama.gov. Some requirements follow.

Applicants need to have graduated from an approved, accredited LPN program. They must fill out and send in (or drop off) the application for licensure to the ABN. They must also include the appropriate fees; there is an extra fee if the applicant desires to have a temporary work permit, which permits a person to work as a graduate nurse up to 90 days or until they receive the results of the licensure exam. An official transcript from the school the LPN graduated from must be provided or sent in a sealed envelope from the school to the ABN. Finally, applicants must apply to take and successfully pass the National Council Licensure Exam for Practical Nursing (NCLEX).

The NCLEX is a electronic test, and applicants are allowed six hours to pass it. This exam is unusual in that it measures students in contrast to a preset standard—meaning there is no minimum number of right answers nor a percentage of correct answers that students must reach to pass. Each student receives a different exam than other students; the computer program determines the next question on the exam based off of the student’s answer to the one before it. As a result, the number of questions on the exam may fluctuate from fewer than 100 to over 200. Again, for the most recent and most comprehensive information regarding applying for an LPN license with the Alabama Board of Nursing, visit www.abn.alabama.gov/apply. On their site, you’ll be able to find a wide array of current information relating to what a person needs to do in order to becoming an LPN in Alabama.

Alabama – Local Community Colleges and Technical Schools

Alabama is home to a vast array of colleges and universities. Below are some community colleges and other schools where you might be able to look and find LPN programs.

Alabama Southern Community College
2800 S Alabama Ave, Monroeville, AL 36460
(251) 575-3156

Bevill State Community College
101 State Street, Sumiton, AL 35148
(800) 648-3271

Bishop State Community College
351 North Broad Street, Mobile, AL 36603
(251) 405-7000

Calhoun Community College
6250 Highway 31 North, Tanner, AL 35671
(800) 626-3628

Chattahoochee Valley College
2602 College Drive, Phenix City, AL 36869
(334) 291-4900

Drake College
3421 Meridian Street, North Huntsville, AL 35811
(256) 539-8161

Faulkner State College
1900 U.S. Highway 31, South Bay Minette, AL 36507
(800) 231-3752

Gadsden Community College
1001 George Wallace Drive, Gadsden, AL 35903
(256) 549-8200

Jefferson Davis College
220 Alco Drive, Brewton, AL 36426
(251) 867-4832

LBW College
1000 Dannelly Blvd, Andalusia, AL 36420
(334) 222-6591

Lawson College
3060 Wilson Road, SW Birmingham, AL 35221
(205) 925-2515

Lurleen B. Wallace Community College
1000 Dannelly Boulevard, Andalusia, AL 36420
(334) 222-6591

Northwest Shoals Community College
800 George Wallace Blvd, Muscle Shoals, AL 35661
(256) 331-5200

Reid College
100 Highway 83, Evergreen, AL 36401
(251) 578-1313

Shelton State College
9500 Old Greensboro Road, Tuscaloosa, AL 35405
(205) 391-2211

Southern Union Community College
750 Roberts St, Wadley, AL 36276
(256) 395-2211

Trenholm College
1225 Air Base Boulevard, Montgomery, AL 36108
(334) 420-4200

Wallace Selma College
3000 Earl Goodwin Parkway, Selma, AL 36703
(334) 876-9227

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