AMBIGUITY: THE ROLES OF THE REGISTERED NURSE, THE LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE, AND UNLICENSED ASSISTIVE PERSONNEL
According to Kopishke (2003), the shortage of qualified nurses has resulted in the need for more frequent delegation of tasks. Because many of these tasks are repetitive, routine, and involve activities that really do not require the level of medical knowledge and competency expected of a Registered Nurse, more and more medical agencies and institutions are requiring that Registered Nurses delegate certain tasks to either a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or to an unlicensed assistive personnel (UP). The purpose of this paper is compare and contrast the role of the RN and the LPN and UP and the functions each serve in the hospital hierarchy.
O'Neil and Hoffman (1998) state that the registered nurse is a professional who successfully completes either a associate degree or bachelor's program and passes state boards which certify him or her as competent to perform acts requiring substantial specialized education, judgment and skill. The nursing actions which the qualified RN engages in are based on knowledge and application of principles derived from biological, physical, social, and nursing sciences.
O'Neil and Hoffman (1998) further note that RN's typically work in a variety of health care related fields, including surgery, intensive care, pediatrics, obstetrics, home health, public health, school nursing and so forth. Further, their nursing activities are myriad including teaching health promotion and illness prevention, providing care and counseling to the ill, administering medications and treatments, and the coordination of health care providers and procedures. O'Neil et. al also state that in the hospital hierarchy, the Registered Nurse has a place of prestige and respect that is above all other nurse personnel with the single exception of the Advance Practice Nurse.
McLane (2004) reports that the key diff...