Pediatric advanced life support is a course that is designed to prepare and instruct the advanced health care professional to recognize and manage pediatric emergencies at an “advanced level”. For our purposes “advanced” can be defined as those interventions that can only be done by those who are “licensed” to do them. LPN are licensed professional and can administer breathing treatments, medications and provide life saving interventions to children just as a RN or a paramedic.

The LPN scope of practice is smaller then that of an RN, but when working under the supervision of an RN or physician, the LPN can be a significant asset to the health care team. Unintentional emergencies are the leading cause of death for the pediatric population. They are among the most difficult type of emergencies for health care providers to manage. The more advanced providers trained to provide emergency care for the pediatric patient the better. Many of the skills taught in the PALS provider course can be done by an LPN. Those skills that are not within the LPN scope, can be done by the authorized professional BUT there are MANY ways the LPN can assist with the operation. That is, if they understand what is going on in the first place. The only way for them to understand what is going on with pediatric emergencies and why they are different is to take the appropriate training.

Most health care professionals that attend a PALS course do so because they need to maintain it for work or they need it to meet an application requirement. Very few take the course to simply to broaden their understanding or for CE credits. Licensed practical nurses are one class of professionals that should take the PALS course if they want to broaden their opportunities and their understanding.

I remember meeting an LPN working in and emergency room and was amazed at the level of understand that he had regarding ECG interpretation and cardiology. I personally have never met another LPN like him. It was obvious that he wanted to have understanding his environment and what he was doing and was willing put in the work to get it. He was not just a license holder, he was a professional. In my opinion that is why he was employed in an environment where everyone else was either an RN or physician.