Where LPN Careers Are Headed, and Why It Matters
Understanding where LPNs actually work helps paint a realistic and encouraging picture of what your career could look like, and where the greatest opportunities lie.
Here's a snapshot of where Kansas LPNs actually work:
| Primary Practice Setting | 2015 | 2017 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambulatory Care Setting | 8.4% | 9.9% | 8.6% | 8.7% | 10.4% |
| Assisted Living Facility | 8.8% | 7.7% | 8.1% | 5.8% | 5.0% |
| Community Health | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4.1% | 2.6% | 3.2% |
| Correctional Facility | 1.2% | 2.8% | 1.5% | 2.3% | 1.7% |
| Dialysis Center | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Home Health | 10.1% | 9.7% | 7.5% | 10.6% | 11.1% |
| Hospice | 0.0% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 1.2% | 2.3% |
| Hospital | 16.4% | 12.9% | 15.8% | 14.4% | 12.5% |
| Insurance Claims/Benefits | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 0.6% |
| Nursing Home/Extended Care | 28.5% | 29.3% | 27.8% | 29.2% | 28.4% |
| Occupational Health | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| Policy/Planning/Regulatory/ Licensing Agency |
0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Public Health | 3.8% | 2.9% | 1.8% | 3.0% | 4.9% |
| School Health Service | 1.4% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 2.5% | 2.5% |
| School of Nursing | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Other | 15.2% | 16.0% | 18.6% | 18.0% | 16.1% |
In Kansas, the top practice setting for LPNs is nursing home and extended care, accounting for more than 28% of LPN positions, a share that has remained remarkably stable over the past decade. Home health employs about 11% of Kansas LPNs, and ambulatory care another 10%. Hospitals, once a more common setting for LPNs, have seen a gradual decline in LPN employment, reflecting a broader national shift toward deploying LPNs in long-term care and community settings where they are especially well-suited.
And here are the primary titles they hold:
| Title | 2015 | 2017 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case Manager | 1.2% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 0.4% |
| Clinical Nurse Leader | 4.2% | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Consultant | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| Nurse Executive | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Nurse Faculty/Educator | 5.0% | 0.3% | 1.4% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| Nurse Manager | 8.2% | 7.9% | 5.0% | 8.5% | 8.1% |
| Nurse Researcher | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 0.2% |
| Staff Nurse | 69.1% | 75.0% | 75.7% | 72.2% | 76.7% |
| Other - Health Related | 9.5% | 14.2% | 14.9% | 13.7% | 12.5% |
| Other - Not Health Related | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 1.6% | 0.6% |
This distribution aligns directly with Kansas's most pressing health care needs. As the state's population ages, demand for care in nursing homes, extended care facilities, and home health is growing, and LPNs are the backbone of care delivery in those environments. The settings where LPNs are most concentrated are precisely the settings that will need the most nurses in the coming years.
Here are the specialties (types of nursing) they practice:
| Primary Practice Specialty | 2015 | 2017 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acute Care/Critical Care | 6.0% | 2.7% | 5.4% | 3.1% | 4.6% |
| Adult Health | 4.5% | 7.1% | 4.7% | 5.3% | 5.1% |
| Anesthesia | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Cardiology | 0.0% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 1.4% |
| Community | 1.2% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.6% | 0.8% |
| Emergency/Trauma | 0.8% | 0.4% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.9% |
| Family Health | 0.0% | 9.7% | 12.5% | 8.5% | 10.0% |
| Genetics | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 1.4% |
| Geriatric/Gerontology | 33.2% | 32.7% | 31.0% | 36.0% | 35.2% |
| Home Health | 5.1% | 6.2% | 5.4% | 7.6% | 6.2% |
| Informatics | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| Information Technology | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Maternal-Child Health/Obstetrics | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.6% | 0.8% |
| Medical Surgical | 5.3% | 4.5% | 3.6% | 4.1% | 4.0% |
| Neonatal | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Nephrology | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| Neurology/Neurosurgical | 1.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.9% |
| Occupational Health | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 1.0% |
| Oncology | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| Orthopedic | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 1.2% |
| Palliative Care/Hospice | 1.0% | 2.2% | 1.9% | 1.8% | 2.8% |
| Pediatrics | 4.6% | 6.9% | 3.9% | 5.3% | 8.3% |
| Perioperative | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.7% | 0.3% |
| Primary Care | 10.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 9.0% | 7.8% |
| Psychiatric/Mental Health/ Substance Abuse |
2.6% | 4.7% | 4.9% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| Public Health | 0.8% | 1.4% | 1.7% | 1.3% | 2.0% |
| Rehabilitation | 3.1% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 2.2% | 1.4% |
| School Health | 1.4% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| Women's Health | 1.2% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| Other | 10.8% | 10.7% | 12.4% | 3.4% | 3.7% |
This means you will enter a profession where the work is stable, the settings are varied across 16 categories, and the need is concentrated in areas of growing demand. Whether your student is drawn to working with elderly patients in a long-term care setting, supporting patients in their homes through home health, or serving in a clinic or ambulatory care environment, the LPN credential opens doors across a genuinely broad range of meaningful workplaces.
The LPN role is not a narrow one, and the communities that need these nurses most are counting on the next generation to fill that gap.
