Is being a CNA better than an lpn

turtle rain · Sep 13, 2008

Gonzo - your reply made me smile!

Like you I am totally changing careers - I initially had a BFA (fine arts) and have made it work until recently. Never have I had the sense of satisfaction as when I completed my nurse aide clinicals. I'm planning on leaving my current place of employment, take a cut in pay and become the best STNA I can be while I finish up LPN school. Best wishes to you on your new path!:yelclap:

EmergencyMedicine · Sep 17, 2008

hey, a cna is an aid to the nurse

an lpn is a legally certified nurse

the others are degrees

lpn is becoming obsolete eventually but pays more.

TSKA08 · Sep 18, 2008

hey, a cna is an aid to the nurse
an lpn is a legally certified nurse
the others are degrees
lpn is becoming obsolete eventually but pays more.

actually CNAs are becoming obsolete....the local hospital here has already gotten rid of them all

baldee · Sep 18, 2008

actually CNAs are becoming obsolete....the local hospital here has already gotten rid of them all

Who's wipin' all the hineys? RN's? That can't be true except in isolated locations. Hospitals did it to themselves by lobbying Congress not to be required to pay OT for CNA's, and now they got turnover every few weeks.

Killing girls backs and knocking them out with funky smells, and then they don't make ends meet by working long hours.

I hope the crap service from high turnover is causing big time problems. CNA's deserve respect for their hard work. Most jobs are low pay now, but none work as hard as most CNA's do.

serge09 · Sep 18, 2008

Good evening all! Thanks for such a wonderful forum! Being a CNA IS better than being an LVN in that, as CNA's, we can spend a great deal of more time with the residents than an LVN. We develop a more interpersonal rapport with the residents, and, from my own personal experience of being a CNA for the past seventeen years now, I find that those residents become like part of MY OWN family!! They look forward to having me care for them on a regular basis. I guess in a sense, LVN's also develop some sort of a rapport with the residents, but it's just not the same as a CNA/resident rapport. If you talk about financial-wise type of "better", then of course being an LVN is better than a CNA ANY DAY!!! I will also say this: Both LVN's and RN's are MORE RESPECTED AND VALUED THAN CNA'S ARE!! I see evidence of that each and every time I see in my newspaper employment classifieds the ads for "new LVN Graduates" or "new RN Graduates" to come and apply for employment with any given hospital, and especially on the educational front with the "step-up" programs for LVN's to become RN's and for RN's to go on and get their Master's or Phd degrees. I don't see ANY educational advancements for us CNA'S AT ALL!! And that's very shameful, as we are the "backbone" of the field of nursing proper. When you attend a nursing school program, albeit a vocational or Registered Nursing program of study, you cover the "grass roots" of nursing, (ie: CNA nursing) before you go farther off into the program. I don't know if this will ever happen in my lifetime, but I hope that the "future and upcoming CNA's" will have the respect, prestige, decent wages per hour and advancement opportunity accessible to them that CNA's in my era were denied.

.:smokin:But from CNA'S you can advance to LVN -LPN. THATSwhat im doing.

AngelaCTC · Sep 18, 2008

hey, a cna is an aid to the nurse
an lpn is a legally certified nurse
the others are degrees
lpn is becoming obsolete eventually but pays more.

That rumor that LPNs are going to be done with has been going around for years now. Yes, some hospitals are trying to reach complete RN status but LPNs will more than likely not become obsolete.

TSKA08 · Sep 18, 2008

who's wipin' all the hineys? rn's? that can't be true except in isolated locations. hospitals did it to themselves by lobbying congress not to be required to pay ot for cna's, and now they got turnover every few weeks.
killing girls backs and knocking them out with funky smells, and then they don't make ends meet by working long hours.
i hope the crap service from high turnover is causing big time problems. cna's deserve respect for their hard work. most jobs are low pay now, but none work as hard as most cna's do.

i agree, cna work is hard, and id never do it again...but lpns are wiping butts at the hospitals here, they dont use cnas anymore. and as i said earlier, god bless those that can do that job, some cant, and im one of em. but as for here, cnas are becoming obsolete in hospitals.theres 3 local hospitals around here, and none use cnas anymore.