Differences Between Vocational and Registered Nurses

Date: August 2, 2022

Have you wondered what the difference is between Licensed Vocational and Registered Nurses? Or have you asked if the person checking you into the doctor’s office with the blue scrubs and a stethoscope was a medical student, medical assistant, Registered Nurse, or Licensed Vocational Nurse? Or perhaps they all seem the same, and the blue blur of scrubs appears to do similar tasks.

In actuality, nurse types and responsibilities vary greatly. Not everyone in your healthcare center can do the same job, nor is it trained in the same way or for the same procedures. While each represents a different aspect of total care, nurses differ significantly. Below are the critical differences between a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) and a Registered Nurse (RN).

Education

Licensed Vocational Nurses

The most significant difference between a Licensed Vocational Nurse and a Registered Nurse is their educational requirements. Educational options for Licensed Vocational Nurses typically include the following:

• The Diploma Program takes 13 months to complete.^*
• The Associate Degree Program takes eight (8) months or 82 weeks to complete.^✣ (This includes technical courses taken before enrolling in 30 weeks of General Education classes.)

Registered Nurses

The length and coursework are longer and more in-depth for the Registered Nurse program. Educational options for Registered Nurses typically include the following:

• Two-year Registered Nurses with completion of an Associate Degree in Nursing (AAN, ADN, or ASN).
• Four-year Registered Nurses with completion of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.

While a Registered Nursing professional needs only complete an associate degree1 to perform their duties, hospitals increasingly require their Registered Nurses to earn bachelor’s degrees to obtain Magnet Status under the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program.⁴

NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN

Vocational and Registered Nursing programs sufficiently equip students to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Developed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the NCLEX-RN tests Registered Nursing graduates, while the NCLEX-PN tests Practical and Vocational Nursing graduates. Although each state regulates its practices, licensing exams are standardized across the US.³

Fundamental core instruction for Vocational Nursing typically involves an overview of nursing fundamentals, practical care of patients, anatomy and physiology, clinical nutrition, labs, medical and surgical nursing, pharmacology, obstetric nursing, pediatric nursing, and psychiatric nursing.

By contrast, the core of a Registered Nursing program generally consists of nursing principles and clinicals, including anatomy, physiology, psychology, and microbiology.¹

Responsibilities

Both Licensed Vocational and Registered Nurses have patient care responsibilities, yet these can vary significantly in scope. The Nurse Registry concisely lists the core differences between the roles.

Licensed Vocational Nursing Tasks

• Provide patients with basic nursing care, like inserting catheters, changing bandages, and checking blood pressure.
• Perform tasks to make patients comfortable, such as bathing or dressing.
• Talk over a patient’s care with them.
• Keep records and relay information to Registered Nurses.
• Supervise and manage fellow Licensed Vocational Nurses or unlicensed medical staff (CNAs).²

Adding to these responsibilities, a Licensed Vocational Nurse may assist patients with medications, update charting, monitor vital signs, assist registered nurses, and conduct other tasks as required. These may include helping toilet patients, feeding infants within a maternity ward, or doing light therapies like walking patients.

By comparison, a Registered Nursing role is more complex and goes beyond the practical aspects of nursing. With a background in health and medical sciences, this person often directly carries out a physician’s instructions and can be charged with an array of complex and highly skilled responsibilities.

Registered Nursing Tasks

• Dispense medications and give treatments.
• Document medical histories and symptoms. Coordinate healthcare plans.
• Perform diagnostic testing and analyze results.
• Advise patients on the management of illnesses.
• Consult directly with doctors and other healthcare professionals.
• Supervise other nurses, home-care aides, and nursing aides (CNAs).²

Additionally, Registered Nurses regularly specialize in specific core areas, such as pediatric care, senior care, surgical assistance, and patient rehabilitation.

Both are Rewarding

Whichever nursing route you take, you can rest assured that as you put that blue (or orange, red, or yellow) scrub on, you are in a profession that helps care for individuals and contributes significantly to the well-being of others.~

^* 52 Approved Instructional Weeks
^✣ 82 Approved Instructional Weeks 

Citations:
¹ “What Are the Core Courses of Most Two-Year RN Programs?” Learn.org, Learn.org, 2021. (Accessed May 17, 2021.)
^{2 ^a, b} “Difference between an RN and a VN.” NurseRegistry. Inc. February 19, 2019. (Accessed October 21, 2021.)
³ “What Is the Difference between the NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN?” Work–Chron.com. 2021. (Accessed January 14, 2021.)
⁴ “Magnet Hospitals Attract Advanced Practice Nurses.” Nurse.com Digital Guides & Publications. 2018. (Accessed June 10, 2021.)

Categories:

• Vocational Nursing