What is a Nurse?

What are the Requirements to be a Nurse?

The men and women who provide nursing care in nursing homes - Licensed Vocational Nurses ( LVN ) and Registered Nurses alike ( RN ) - undoubtedly work their hardest to provide the best care possible. Nevertheless, it is important to the families of nursing home residents to know the qualifications of the nursing staff caring for their loved ones. Here is a practical explanation of the various education and/or experience levels required in Texas for those in the nursing profession.

Texas Requirements for a Registered Nurse, or RN

While the Registered Nurse is considered a professional, not all registered nurses, or RN s, have the same level of education or experience. Registered Nurse educational programs are based on two, three or four years of course work and clinical training.

The Most Common Registered Nurse Degrees

Associate Degree Registered Nurse

An Associate Degree Registered Nurse, or RN, is someone with two years of nursing education. With 46 accredited schools in Texas offering Associate Degree Registered Nurse programs, the convenience of finding a program coupled with the relatively short length of the program has made this the most common degree for most of today's new Registered Nurses, or RNs. Many Associate Degree Registered Nurses will complete their education to earn a BSN ( Bachelor of Science in Nursing ) at some point during their careers.

Diploma Registered Nurse Degree

A Diploma Registered Nurse, or RN, has three years of nursing education. Historically, students in a Diploma Registered Nurse program lived in a dormitory affiliated with a hospital and would make up a major part of the hospital's staff. Now, Diploma Registered Nurses are affiliated with teaching hospitals where formal classroom learning is reinforced by side-by-side work with staff doctors and nurses. Because of this, Diploma Registered Nurses have a reputation for having an abundance of "real" experience, however they do not hold an academic degree and the number of these programs have steadily decreased since the 1960s. Currently only two diploma Registered Nurse programs exist in Texas (Lubbock and San Antonio.)

Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree

The Registered Nurse with a four-year degree is referred to as having a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or BSN degree. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or BSN is a university-based program that usually requires the student to complete two years of basic college courses, including many of the same science courses required of all pre-med students, followed by two more years of class work and clinical experience. Though more formally educated than other Registered Nurses, the Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing is sometimes criticized for having more book learning than bedside learning.

Master of Science in Nursing Degree

A very small number of Registered Nurses, or RNs come to the practice with a master's degree or a Ph.D. along with their Registered Nurse license, having earned a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).

Advanced Practice Nurses

Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) are Registered Nurses (RNs) with advanced education and clinical training. They are authorized to prescribe mediations that are not controlled substances uder the delegated authority of a collaborating physician.

Licensed Vocational Nurse

The LVN - Licensed Vocational Nurse typically undertakes 12-18 months of full-time formal nursing education, which includes classroom and hands-on clinical work with a variety of patients in a variety of settings. After completion of their education and passing the state board exams, an LVN - Licensed Vocational Nurse may work in any healthcare facility.

Nurses Aides

The majority of the caregivers at nursing homes today are Certified Nursing Assistants. Also called "Nurses Aides". Nurses Aides must complete a minimum of 80 hours of training to be certified - fewer hours than required by many other states and also less than is required of beauticians in Texas. Nurses Aides are largely unregulated by Texas statutes, except in the cases of long term care, such as nursing homes, and home and community health settings.

Nursing Board Exams

Although there are three different types of Registered Nurse - RN nursing programs - associate degree, diploma or BSN - Bachelor of Science in Nursing, they all take the same written board exam. Licensed Vocational Nurses - LVNs take a different exam.

A Licensed Vocational Nurse student who has finished all their required course work, but has yet to take and pass the boards is called a GVN - Graduate Vocational Nurse. A RN candidate who has yet to pass the boards is termed a GN-Graduate Nurse. Both GVNs and GNs can still work, but only under the direct supervision of a licensed nurse. Until earning a passing score, he or she can accept work in a nursing home, but only under direct supervision of their respective licensed nurse counterparts. So, while a LVN or a RN could supervise a GVN, a RN must supervise a GN. However, after they pass the boards, they are independent practicing nurses and fully responsible for their actions.

Texas Licensing and Regulation of Nurses

Texas is one of only five states that have separate licensing acts and boards for its RNs and LVNs.

RNs are currently licensed under the Nursing Practice Act and regulated by the Board of Nurse Examiners of Texas, a nine-member board appointed by the Governor for six-year terms. It consists of six RNs (including three nursing educators) and three consumers. The BNE was created from the Texas Occupations Code, which lists particular standards that are required for RNs.

The Board of Nurse Examiners can be contacted at 512-305-7400, or via its website: www.bne.state.tx.us.

Texas' approximately 75,000 LVNs, on the other hand, are regulated by the Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners of Texas and licensed under the state's Vocational Nurses Act. This statute does not spell out clinical skills an LVN must possess, instead setting parameters of patient care based on the nurse's preparedness and demonstrated abilities. Regulation is accomplished through education, licensing, continuing education and discipline.

The Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners can be contacted at 512-305-8100, or at its website: www.bvne.state.tx.us.

Jeff Rasansky is licensed to practice before all state courts in Texas, the United States District Courts in the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas and the Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals.

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