Licensed practical nurses – NOC : 3233

Unit Group

3233 Licensed practical nurses

Licensed practical nurses provide nursing care usually under the direction of medical practitioners, registered nurses or other health team members. They are employed in hospitals, nursing homes, extended care facilities, rehabilitation centres, doctors’ offices, clinics, companies, private homes and community health centres. Operating room technicians are included in this unit group.

Example Titles

graduate nursing assistant

licensed practical nurse (L.P.N.)

operating room technician

registered nursing assistant (R.N.A.)

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Main duties

Licensed practical nurses perform some or all of the following duties:

Provide nursing services, within defined scope of practice, to patients based on patient assessment and care planning procedures
Perform nursing interventions such as taking vital signs, applying aseptic techniques including sterile dressing, ensuring infection control, monitoring nutritional intake and conducting specimen collection
Administer medication and observe and document therapeutic effects
Provide pre-operative and post-operative personal and comfort care
Monitor established respiratory therapy and intravenous therapy
Monitor patients’ progress, evaluate effectiveness of nursing interventions and consult with appropriate members of healthcare team
Provide safety and health education to individuals and their families.

Operating room technicians perform some or all of the following duties:

Prepare patients for surgery by washing, shaving and sterilizing the patients’ operative areas
Assist in surgery by laying out instruments, setting up equipment, assisting surgical teams with gowns and gloves and passing instruments to surgeons
Clean and sterilize the operating room and instruments.

Employment requirements

Completion of a vocational, college or other approved program for licensed practical nurses is required.
Registration with a regulatory body is required in all provinces and territories.
Completion of the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Examination is required in all provinces and territories except Quebec.
Operating room technicians require either additional academic training in operating room techniques or on-the-job training.

Additional information

Working under the direction of a medical practitioner or registered nurse is not required for licensed practical nurses in all jurisdictions.

Classified elsewhere

Home health aides (in 4412 Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations )
Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (3413)