The need for nurses is -- and will continue to be -- high.
"Nursing is one of the few fields where there is more demand at the higher levels of practice than the lower ones," according to NursingLicensure.org, an online reference for those seeking licensure to become registered or licensed practical nurses. "Nationwide [in 2013] there were far more RNs with active licenses than LPNs -- 3,236,288 to 816,687.
"Both fields are growing," the organization's literature states, "but the registered nursing field is growing a little faster. The Bureau of Labor Statistics … predicted 22 percent job growth for LPNs between 2010 and 2020. For RNs, the projection [was] 26 percent."
It was a desire for career advancement and increased patient care that drove Crystal Kincade and Althea Morgan, two Eisenhower Army Medical Center LPNs, to seek the additional education to become RNs.
The medical community and its patients need both LPNs and RNs, and the essentials of nursing are the same for both. In general, however, RNs can diagnose and treat a patient. LPNs work under supervision of RNs or a physician and can't legally diagnose or treat patients.
Kincade and Morgan each came to the medical profession from different paths but with a strong desire to help people.
"When I was a little girl of 6 or 7, "said Morgan, "my great grandmother had a stroke and I would help take care of her while my grandmother went to the store or ran errands."
Morgan enlisted into the Army out of high school in Danville, Virginia, and following boot camp, trained as a field medic. Her first duty assignment was in Nuremberg, Germany.
"I cried when I went over there," Morgan said of leaving the country. "But when I got there they embraced me and I loved it."
She later reenlisted and trained to earn her LPN license. After bouncing around the world … Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Eustis, Virginia; El Paso, Texas; Heidelberg, Germany … caring for soldiers, families and service members, she landed at EAMC in 1992 and eventually retiring as the Ward Master on 9-West in 1999.
She is currently working here in the allergy and immunology clinic while she seeks an opening for a RN's slot.
To meet the educational demands required, Morgan enrolled in a program at Darton State College, an institution of the University System of Georgia. They offered the Health Care Professionals Bridge Program that allowed her use her education and experiences as a LPN and attend classes one day a week for 15 months. She continued working here four days a week. She graduated Dec. 11 and passed the RN boards Jan. 15.
"The team I work with was great," she said and she specifically cited Lt. Col. David Schwartz, Dr. Victor Dewyea, Albertha King, Sherna Lee and Sharon Griffin as covering for her when she attended classes.
"It's a friendly atmosphere," she said of her workplace. "It doesn't seem like work at all."
Kincade's path is similar but instead of enlisting right out of high school, she enrolled in St. Philip's College in San Antonio where she studied nursing, graduating nine years ago as a LPN. Her journey to RN at EAMC began with her marriage to Air Force Technical Sgt. Clint Kincade and includes postings in four states, including Tripler Army Medican Center in Honolulu, Hawaii; San Antonio Military Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas; and Florida.
Kincade a mother of two, works in the Family Medicine Clinic where, she said, helping "patients have a good experience" is her goal. She knows how it feels to be on the other side of the examination table surgeries and believes all active duty service members, family members and retirees have a right to excellent health care.
"I know it sounds like a cliché," she said, "but I want to give back to those who have given so much to me and my family."
Like Morgan, Kincade went back to school part time but, leveraging her experiences as a seasoned LPN, her classroom was largely online through Excelsior College, a fully accredited online nurse training program. Her clinical rotations and experiences were at Southern Regional Medical Center, a part of Emory Healthcare, outside of Atlanta.
She looks to her freshly minted RN license as a key to
advancement.
"I can now provide a higher level of care and I aim for a long career in Army Medicine," she said.
Both Kincade and Morgan appreciate being able to practice more hands-on nursing care the advanced degree and license offer. They both appreciate the increased responsibility that comes with the education.
Being a RN "does give me greater liberty to interact with patients," said Morgan. And, after all, it's direct patient care that drew them both into the health care profession in the first place.
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