18 y/o RN!

[PMFB-RN]

Last week while at work I met a very bright young woman. I noticed how young she looked and that her name badge said RN so I had to ask.

She is 18 years old. She graduated at age 17 from a 2 year LPN program her high school had. She then went directly to one of Wisconsin's technical colleges and got her ADN in 9 months. She currently works in a critical care unit of a large hospital and tells me she is enrolled in an online RN to BSN program. She wants to become a travel nurse after she gets a couple years in critical care and her BSN. By then she should be the ripe old age of 20 with a BSN and two years critical care experience! Her long term goal is to become a CRNA or FNP.

I admire her ambition and wish I had had my act so together at such a young age.

[gt4everpn, BSN, RN]

WERE YOUNG WERE HERE AND WE LOVE NURSING, I AM ALSO 18 BUT I AM A LPN IT GOT MY LICENSE AFTER ATTENDING MY H.S NRSG PROGRAM, I LOVE NURSING AND I AM NOW IN MY 1ST YR OF COLLEGE PURSUING MY RN(BSN) SO I'LL BE 21 AND AN RN BUT 4 NOW I'M AND LPN AND I LOVE IT!, CAN'T WAIT TO START WORKING THIS SUMMER, I WANT 2 BE A CCRN AND A CNS IN THE FUTURE! I ADMIRE ALL U NURSES WHO ARE RIPE WITH EXPERIENCE AND LOVE NURSING AS WELL ! KEEP ON LEADIN THE WAY AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU!

[gt4everpn, BSN, RN]

I am 18. Left high school at 16, getting my associates in liberal arts in May and transferring as a junior to finish up for a BSN as well as a degree in History. I am also a certified EMT and considering going to medic school. So if all goes well I will have my BSN & EMT-P by 20. (I want to be a flight nurse).

I was just lucky because I've known that I wanted to work in healthcare, but starting early has its drawbacks. Sometimes I wish I just mess around and have fun. But I do love what I do.

I KNOW WHAT U MEAN I'M 18, AND I'M AN LPN, USUALLY WHEN U HAVE ACCOMPLISHED A LOT AND R SO DETERMINED 4 OUR AGES PEOPLE ADULTS AND PEERS LOOK AT U IN AWE!, BUT IT'S AN ADVANTAGE TO KNOW WHAT U WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE!, MANY PEOPLE ACROSS ALL AGES DON'T KNOW WHAT TO PURSUE, WELL GOOD LUCK TO YOU, YOU SEEM TO BE A VERY DETERMINED AND SMART PERSON. GOOD LUCK FROM ONE TEEN TO THE NEXT!

[crissrn27, RN]

I was a 18 y/o LPN and 19y/o RN so I really could pass narcs and not drink. That was a while ago and the comments about my age have started tapering off:rolleyes: oh well...........the local high school here offers a CNA program.......I am trying to talk my ds into doing that in high school, great learning exp. for anyone.

[kukukajoo, LPN]

Reading about all these LPN Programs in high school. Can someone explain how this works? I am assuming that it is a vocational education course of some sorts but I really would like to know exactly how it is set up and the coursework, etc.

It just seems like a partial solution to the nursing shortage and I would love to see this brought to our local vocational technical center. I would also love to see hairdressing there too.

[nghtfltguy, BSN, RN]

All I have to say is good for her!! I had a girl in my RN program that was 18, turned 19 right before graduation and she is awesome! She now works in the ICU and loves it.

I wish they had have had an LPN class in my high school as well, that would have been awesome, of course, looking back on myself then, I would have not enrolled in it because I was too busy with my sports car, my girlfriend, and golf....

[SmilingBluEyes]

That is very impressive. I had a good friend who got her RN at 19. She had gone to comm college in afternoons getting all her pre-req's knocked out and was in nursing school the summer after graduation. She finished at 19 and was, I think, quite literally born to be a nurse. She spent her summers "candy striping" while the rest of us jokers were playing at the beaches and pools. I wonder how she is today.

[gt4everpn, BSN, RN]

Reading about all these LPN Programs in high school. Can someone explain how this works? I am assuming that it is a vocational education course of some sorts but I really would like to know exactly how it is set up and the coursework, etc.

It just seems like a partial solution to the nursing shortage and I would love to see this brought to our local vocational technical center. I would also love to see hairdressing there too.

NO I DON'T THINK MOST ARE VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS. YOU COMPLETE REGULAR CLASSES PLUS BASIC HEALTH CLASSES IN YOUR FIRST TWO YEARS OF H.S THEN YOUR 3RD AND 4TH YEAR YOU ARE ACTUALLY LEARNING LPN MATERIAL , WELL ATLEAST THIS IS HOW MY H.S DID IT, MY SCHOOL ALSO HAD E.M.T, MEDICAL ASSISTANT, AND DENTAL.

[melissar121]

I'm currently in an ADN program and one of my classmates turned 18 this semester. when we graduate next year, she'll be 19!!

[allantiques4me]

Wow! I admire her! I also wish I would've had my act together when I was that age! I was too busy partying and goofing off. If I could only do it all over...:smackingf

Me too! I hear Ya!Although I was in the medical field at age 16.

[arciedee]

Reading about all these LPN Programs in high school. Can someone explain how this works? I am assuming that it is a vocational education course of some sorts but I really would like to know exactly how it is set up and the coursework, etc.

It just seems like a partial solution to the nursing shortage and I would love to see this brought to our local vocational technical center. I would also love to see hairdressing there too.

kukukajoo, I know that the voc center at the high school in your town offers a health sciences program that allows the students to become LNAs, but I, too, would like to see they bring the LPN education to that level (perhaps with an agreement with the NHCTCs to bridge to the RN). But I don't know how they would do the coursework in conjunction with the regular HS curriculum, especially for the clinical component.

[raskolnikov]

I love that they have these programs in the high schools. Some people know what they want to do early on and if they can start doing that great. High school, in my opinion, is quite a waste. But of course, I'm biased because I left after 10th grade to begin college because I was bored.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Nice to hear success stories like this. All too often I come across 17, 18, 19 year olds who are SO immature I wonder how they manage to feed themselves....and then I realize they don't, Mommy and Daddy still do, LOL!

Good for her, this young RN. She's what the profession needs.