Akron General Medical Center has terminated all 70 licensed practical nurses who provided inpatient care as part of a decision to move to a more highly trained nursing staff.
The hospital notified the LPNs at a meeting at 7 a.m. Friday that their positions were being eliminated immediately.
Akron General opted to move all of its inpatient nursing duties to registered nurses because patients are requiring care that demands a higher level of education and training, hospital spokesman Jim Gosky said.
“The reality is acute patient care is becoming more complex,” he said. “Duties are being taken over by RNs.”
The hospital employs 1,005 registered nurses and is recruiting additional RNs, Gosky said. About 20 RNs have been hired in the past several weeks as part of the transition.
“Patient care is not going to be compromised at all,” he said. “I don’t think this will add to the workload of the RNs.”
However, several LPNs who lost their jobs disagreed.
Marty Pastor, 64, of Copley Township, had been an LPN at Akron General for 21 years until she was asked to turn in her badge Friday morning.
Licensed practical nurses at Akron General gave medications, changed dressings, took vital signs, helped patients out of bed and performed numerous other hands-on duties, she said.
“I don’t know how they’re going to run the hospital,” she said. “We do it all.”
Under state law, LPNs must be supervised by an RN, doctor, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist or chiropractor. They typically complete one year of training, while RNs must earn a bachelor’s degree or associate’s degree or diploma from a certified RN program.
LPN duties can include basic bedside care, taking vital signs, changing dressings, preparing and giving injections and medications, collecting samples for lab tests, feeding patients and keeping them comfortable, according to the Ohio Board of Nursing, the licensing agency for nurses statewide.
Hospitals nationwide have been pushing LPNs out in recent years to cut costs, said Anjeanette Sausedo, membership director of the National Federation of Licensed Practical Nurses.
“It’s happened in the past and then it kind of cycles back once the RNs get tired of working in that capacity and say, ‘Hey, we need our LPNs back,’ ” Sausedo said. “It’s unfortunate in this economy, in the last couple years it’s been a big issue, moving out the LPNs.”
Sausedo said an LPN in the hospital setting “is the everyday nurse, the basis of everyday maintenance and care provided to the patient, as well as specialty care.”
Nevertheless, she said, LPNs are losing hospital jobs and moving to positions in long-term care and nursing homes.
Akron General’s Gosky said the decision to eliminate LPNs in the inpatient units is not being driven by money. Although the LPN jobs were cut, he pointed out additional RNs continue to be hired.
The move follows a national trend in which hospitals are switching to an all-RN nursing staff for inpatient care, he said. A total of 82 LPNs in outpatient units and other areas continue to work within the Akron General Health System.
“It’s got nothing economic behind it,” Gosky said.
Hospital-based LPNs nationwide make an average of $19.35 an hour, compared to an average hourly rate of $32.99 for RNs who work in hospitals, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Summa Health System in Akron no longer hires licensed practical nurses for inpatient units, spokesman Mike Bernstein said.
“We have no plans at this time to institute a policy eliminating inpatient LPNs,’’ he said.
Akron General is providing severance to the nurses who lost their jobs and working with them individually to help them find new employment, Gosky said.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
