Top LPN Programs in New Hampshire

New Hampshire LPN Schools and License Requirements, Salary, and Jobs

Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses (LPN/LVN) are the health care professionals who provide basic nursing and medical care to the patients of all age groups. They check the blood pressure of the patients, provide them comfort, insert catheters, etc., and report their condition to the physicians and registered nurses.

New Hampshire is one of the largest states in the United States and the demand for LPNs/LVNs is increasing here. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there would be an increment of 20% in the jobs for a licensed practical nurse by 2020, in New Hampshire. So, aspirants for this profession have great future opportunities. They can apply for an LPN license in the state by undertaking an exam or by endorsement.

Some LPN schools in New Hampshire offer excellent courses for licensed practical and vocational nurses. These institutes can be vocational training centers, community colleges, or private nursing schools. To know in detail about the schools, licensure requirements, salary, and employment outlook of this profession in New Hampshire, read the article.

LPN Programs in New Hampshire

OUR METHODOLOGY +

A nursing school ranks on the top according to the following criteria-

• Higher Passing Rate of Alumni in NCLEX
• Financial Aid that a school provides
• Higher number of students

The nursing schools were then included in the ranking on the basis of following factors-

• Well-developed Architecture
• Better Infrastructure
• Superior Technology
• Ranking in US News and World Report
• Teachings offered by world-class faculty
• Inclusion of world-class facilities
• World-class Opportunities

We hope that the list will help you to opt the best college as per your preferences in the state. The programs available in these colleges will give you an opportunity to begin your journey as a successful nurse.

Top nursing schools in New Hampshire that offer licensed practical nursing programs are as follows-.

License Requirements for LPNs in New Hampshire

Licensure is one of the most important documents to be obtained for working as a licensed practical nurse in any state of the United States. To acquire an LPN license in the state of New Hampshire, it is essential for every student to fulfill certain requirements, as demanded by the New Hampshire Nursing Board.

1. Degree, Certificate, or Diploma in Nursing

First, acquire a diploma, certificate, or degree from an institute approved by the New Hampshire Board of Nursing. There are 4 accredited nursing schools in the state that are providing the LPN course. The candidates are supposed to complete at least 600 hours of classroom education and clinical hours for appearing in the licensure exam. The coursework of the program comprises of medical or surgical nursing, nursing fundamentals, child/parent health, etc.

2. State Exam

Once you are done with your education and training, you are eligible to undertake the NCLEX-PN (National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nursing). Registration for NCLEX-PN costs $200, and candidates are expected to pass it within 4 years of their graduation. At most, 5 attempts are allowed, and after failing in the third attempt, remediation is required. Also, after four years, an individual needs remediation, irrespective of whether the applicant has actually attempted the exam or not.

3. Application to the Board

After passing the state exam, the next thing that an individual needs to do is, apply for a license to the state board. You can even apply for a temporary license while waiting for the exam. Candidates are allowed to practice with a temporary permit, for which, you have to make an additional payment of $20. The temporary permit remains valid for 120 days from the date of the application for license by exam is received, or from the date of issue, or upon notification of failing or qualifying the NCLEX exam.

Other than this, there are some conditions that are required to be satisfied in order to get licensure as an LPN in New Hampshire. They are as follows –

• Submit the criminal background check and fingerprint report. To know about the complete procedure related to criminal background check, click here.

Note-The board of nursing in the state will complete your application process and issue a temporary license only after getting and examining all your criminal records. The board wants the processed reports directly from the police of New Hampshire.

• Submit a completely filled and signed application.
• Submit $120 as the exam application fee.
• Completion of the form of Declaration of Primary State of Residency with a copy of your driving license attached to it.
• An official copy of your transcript from the school you attended, is required to be sent to the board. This report from the school should include the name of your degree type, date of graduation, etc.
• Submit the completed application, fees, and all other essential documents with the form and send them to:

State of New Hampshire
New Hampshire Board of Nursing
121 South Fruit Street
Concord, New Hampshire- 03301

• Soon after submission of the licensure application, you have to register with the agency of testing in order to sit for the test, i.e., NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination). You can register with the agency in any of the following ways –

Online-Pay the registration fee via MasterCard or American Express Visa.
By Mail- In this method, you have to request the office of the board of nursing to send an application form for NCLEX-PN. After getting the form, you have to fill all the required details and send it with a money order or a cashier's check of $200. The check should be payable to the NCSBN (National Council of State Boards of Nursing). Address for mailing is –

NCLEX Operations
Post Office Box 64950
St. Paul, Minnesota- 55164-0950

• After approving all your documents and transcripts, the board will give all the information related to it to Pearson VUE, the testing agency.
• The agency will send an Authorization to Test (ATT) either by email or on the mailing address that you provided at the time of registration. After receiving ATT, schedule your exam.
• If you have gained your degree, certificate, or diploma from any foreign program, submit an official proof that can verify your successful completion of the Commission of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) exam, or a complete course-by-course analysis of credentials and transcripts.
• Your name will be added to the New Hampshire Nurse Aide Registry once you complete the competency evaluation and training program. The name of only those candidates, who are found eligible and competent, are included in this list. Both approved LPN program and state testing decide whether you are able to work as a practical nurse or not.

To download the paper application for licensure by examination, click here.

Licensure By Endorsement or Reciprocity

For reciprocity or endorsement of an LPN licensure, candidates will have to meet the following criteria:

1. You have to properly follow the directives and rules of the nursing board, and abide by the FBI fingerprint and the background check requisites of the state for every first licensure. Do not forget that the New Hampshire Board of Nursing won’t process your license application until and unless they check everything about your criminal records. (If you are not a resident of NH, you have to contact the office and ask them about printing cards that are required for fingerprinting in a state other than NH. If you live in NH, you do not need any such cards).
2. Complete the form for License by Endorsement or Reciprocity.
3. Fill the application form of the Declaration of Primary State of Residency, and attach a copy of your driving license to it. With this, you need to pay the application fee to the NH board of nursing.
4. Give proper verification of your original LPN license by registering with NURSYS. The verification report remains active in the database of the NURSYS just for 90 days.

If your state in not a part of NURSYS, request a paper verification from your recent board of nursing, and send it to the Nursing Board of New Hampshire.

License Renewal

License renewal is of vital importance for licensed practical nurses. The requirements for New Hampshire nursing license renewal are distinct from the other states. The license can be renewed online by visiting the below-given link:
http://www.app-support.nh.gov/licensing

Your license can be either active or inactive, and conditions for renewal is different in both the cases.

Renewal of Active LPN License

If your state license is active, but about to expire and you want to renew it, there are some requirements that you need to fulfill in order to accomplish it.

• Practice for 200 active hours within 2 years as a nursing assistant under the guidance of an APRN, LPN, or RN. With this, the candidate also needs to undertake 12 continuing education hours every year and overall 24 continuing education hours in a period of 2 years.
• Alternatively, you should have cleared clinical and written competency tests in the period of 2 years.

Renewal of Inactive LPN License

If your license is no more active, and you do not fulfill any of the requisites given above, then you need to qualify a written and clinical competency test. For this, you have to send a request via mail or call the board for a reinstatement application. Officials at the board will send you a list of authorized testing facilities along with the reinstatement application. Once you get the results of your test, submit the completely filled application and a copy of the testing results. Along with this, you also have to pay the fee for reinstatement to the state board of nursing.

Note- The New Hampshire Board of Nursing does not notify the candidates via mail or call about the activation of their license. To know about it, you need to check the website of the board, and after complete verification of the activation, get a print out of the information related to the license.

Online License Verification

To get your LPN license verified online in New Hampshire, visit the below-given link.
https://nhlicenses.nh.gov/verification

Name and Address Change

In order to change your name and address on the form, you are required to submit a completely filled application form to the New Hampshire Board of Nursing. For both the address and name change, the applicants need to provide legal proofs. A court order or marriage certificate is required if one wants to change the name.

The form can be downloaded from the link given below –
https://www.nh.gov/nursing/forms/documents/address-name-change-rn.pdf

Salary of a Licensed Practical Nurse in New Hampshire

According to indeed.com, the average salary of an LPN in New Hampshire was $50,000 (as of August 30, 2016). To know more about the salaries of different job titles related to this occupation and in all the cities of New Hampshire, consider the data given below-

Information Source: indeed.com (as of August 30, 2016)

The table shows that the highest paid professionals were Psychiatric Nurses, who made $56,000 per annum, while the lowest salary, i.e. $17,000, was of the Patient Care Technician Students.

Average Annual Salaries of LPNs in Different Cities of New Hampshire

Information Source: salary.com (as of August, 2016)

According to the above data, vocational or practical nursing professionals were paid the least (i.e., $45,785) in Keene. In 7 out of 11 cities, they were paid $47,579.

Job Outlook for Licensed Vocational/Practical Nurses in New Hampshire

Licensed practical or vocational nurses are paid quite high in all the regions of New Hampshire. Also, the chances of employment for these professionals are quite high in the state. The top employers for LPNs were Elliot Hospital, D-H Nashua Southwood Drive, Maxim Healthcare Services, and Favorite Healthcare Staffing.