Originally Posted by swee2000
I don't dispute that nurses, both RN & LPN, make mistakes during medication administration, such as not verifying BPs prior to administering antihypertensive meds. But that is not what the poster said, nor why I responded in the first place and in the way I did. Personally, I didn't appreciate or care for her generalized opinion of LPNs. Even now as I read her comments, she appears to be implying, and in 2 seperate postings(!!), that LPNs don't have the where-with-all to safely administer medications, particularly those requiring
pre-administration assessments such as verifying a patient's HR & BP. That's an unfair assumption to make, in my opinion. Had her comments referred to ALL nurses in general, both RNs and LPNs, then I would've kept quiet. Instead, it seems like she's singling out LPNs just because their LPNs. And I'm not trying to start an RN vs LPN debate on this, as that was not my intention or the point to my post. But I don't think LPNs should be viewed as incompetent, or not competent enough, when they get the same exact info and education that RNs are given. That's all.
I apologize. I truly,
honestly did NOT mean any offense here. It was just a quote based on an experience I had. And...honestly...the emphasis wasn't meant to be towards LPN's specifically...it was on the word
new. I simply forgot how sensitive some people can be. I've learned so much from LPN's on my floor. My point was in not assuming a new nurse will remember to take vitals first. It just happened to have been an LPN. I wasn't saying anything about your education. I learned many things in school...that doesn't mean I remembered them all once I was on the floor. Thank GOODNESS the nurses I worked with in the beginning didn't assume I remembered everything. My point was I should remember the same...not to assume other
new nurses remember everything they learned in school.
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