LPN Certification: What’s Required?
LPN Certification: What’s Required?
Interest in nursing careers has never been higher than it is right now. There’s a lot of reasons for that. One of the big ones is the uncertain state of the national economy. More and more people are seeking to enter a career where they won’t have to worry about layoffs and outsourcing.
Others have heard about the high pay for nurses (which is getting higher all the time) due to the severe nurse shortage in this country. Some are interested in becoming a registered nurse, but far more are looking at training to become a licensed practical nurse. What’s required in order to get LPN certification?
Well, first you’ll have to enroll in and graduate from an accredited LPN training program. There are an abundance of these all over the country, and most people will have no trouble finding one within easy driving distance. If not, there are also online LPN certification programs you should consider. In the LPN school, you won’t spend a lot of time on typical college courses like history or speech. Everything you learn will be about the nursing profession and how to take care of patients. There’s no fluff. That’s good, because it means you can graduate in a year, instead of four years like a college degree takes.
Once you’ve graduated, the final step in getting your LPN certification is taking the national test that’s required of everyone who wants to become a licensed practical nurse. It’s called the National Council Licensure Examination, or N-CLEX. You’ll take this test on a computer, and it will take quite a while to finish. You should allow up to six hours, although it may not take that long. It’s an adaptive test, which means the better you know your stuff, the quicker you’ll finish the test. As you can see, it’s not difficult to become an LPN, and if you’ve ever thought about it, now’s the perfect time to do it.
