Virginia gets to claim the title “Mother of Presidents” because the most U.S. presidents have been born in Virginia. It is also home to the town of Smithfield, which is considered the ham capital of the world because the state legislature decided to prohibit production of a country ham, known as the Smithfield ham, outside the borders of the actual town itself. If you come from Virginia and trying to locate information about becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse in Virginia, you may find what you are looking for here. Virginia LPN information is provided in several sections on this page: LPN schooling description, LPN job duties description, Virginia LPN licensing, and Virginia schools that potentially offer LPN schooling.

General Information About LPN Schooling

LPN education tends to be fairly similar across state lines; most schools include practical and theoretical education in their programs. Theoretical education involves two types of classes: general education (i.e. psychology and English) and nursing (i.e. mental health nursing, pharmacology, nutrition, medical dosage, and maternal-child nursing). Practical education occurs beside the theoretical education and tends to consists of laboratories (as in a college lab, not a medical lab) and clinicals. In labs that accompany nursing classes, students may be allowed to practice techniques on other students and/or on mannequins under close supervision. These skills can then be transferred by the student to clinicals in various medical settings. Clinical experience gives students the chance to take on actual LPN work by caring for real patients; the students’ work responsibilities usually start out lighter, and as students gain more knowledge and experience through the course, they gain more responsibility.

Typical Job Duties/Tasks of Virginia LPNs

LPN jobs tend to resemble one another, but job tasks may still vary from employer to employer and location to location. For example, LPNs who work in a NICU will perform some different job duties, such as bottle-feeding babies, from LPNs in a nursing home for the elderly. Other locations that LPNs may be employed include children’s homes, in-home healthcare services, hospitals, medical clinics, and doctors’ offices. General duties for LPNs include attending to patients and caring for them at their bedside, keeping track of the general health status of patients, and job duties requiring more education and/or licensing. These duties may be divided further into specific tasks. Bedside care, for example, can include the tasks of bathing patients, dressing patients, cleaning wounds, changing bandages, and helping patients with personal hygiene. While attending to patients, LPNs may perform some tasks like taking and recording vital signs (weight, blood oxygen levels, blood pressure, blood sugar, temperature, etc.) as well as conferring with the doctor and patient about any concerns or comments the patient has standard of care he or she has received. LPNs may also be asked to do certain duties if they have special certification or education, such as assisting with dialysis and performing IV therapy.
Virginia LPN Licensing Requirements.

Basic Information About LPN Licensing in Virginia

There is a specific process and specific requirements that LPN applicants in Virginia must go through to be licensed as a practical nurse in Virginia. Some explanation of the process and requirements follows, but for fully comprehensive info and details on fee amounts (including information on special scenarios, such as graduating from a foreign nursing school) visit the Virginia Board of Nursing’s website. Virginia is a compact state, which means that all that out-of-state nurses (who reside outside of Virginia) need to practice in Virginia is their own state nursing license. The opposite is true for Virginia nurses, as well. To practice nursing in a Compact state, the Virginia nurses need only their Virginia nursing license.

Applicants for practical nursing license through the Virginia Board of Nursing must fill out an online application and pay an application fee. Additional documents may be required, such as court orders, criminal history records, and other documents. Applicants must also register for the NCLEX and pass it.

The NCLEX Practical Nursing exam is a comprehensive, fully computerized nursing exam. It may be offered for both practical nurses and registered nurses. Examinees are given six hours to finish the exam, and they may be asked anywhere from more than 200 questions to less than 100 questions on one test. The next question to ask the examinee is based on his or her response to the previous question; thus, each exam is very unique. Exams are graded according to a preset standard that the examinee is constantly being measured up against by the program, not by percentage or number of correct answers.

Virginia LPN Schools

These schools may have practical nursing educational programs or courses.

Northern Virginia Community College
6699 Springfield Center Dr, Springfield, VA 22150
(703) 323-3000

Danville Community College
1008 S Main St, Danville, VA 24541
(434) 797-2222

Virginia Western Community College
3094 Colonial Ave, Roanoke, VA 24015
(540) 857-8922

New River Community College
5251 State Road 373, Dublin, VA 24084
(540) 674-3600

Central Virginia Community College
3506 Wards Rd, Lynchburg, VA 24502
(434) 832-7600

Dabney S. Lancaster Community College
1000 Dabney Dr, Clifton Forge, VA 24422
(540) 863-2800

Lord Fairfax Community College
6480 College St, Warrenton, VA 20187
(540) 351-1505

Massanutten Technical Center
325 Pleasant Valley Rd, Harrisonburg, VA 22801
(540) 434-5961

Page County Technical Center
525 Middleburg Rd, Luray, VA 22835
(540) 778-7282

Rappahannock Community College
12745 College Dr, Saluda, VA 23149
(804) 758-6700

Southwest Virginia Community College
724 Community College Rd, Cedar Bluff, VA 24609
(276) 964-2555

Virginia Beach Technical Center
2925 North Landing Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23456
(757) 648-5850

Valley Technical Center
49 Hornet Rd, Fishersville, VA 22939
(540) 943-5511

Wytheville Community College
1000 E Main St, Wytheville, VA 24382
(276) 223-4700

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