Heeeeeelp!!!!!!!

CHATSDALE · Dec 17, 2006

if you are in a rn program stay where you are..lpn program can be good to be step but i agree that to stop the rn program and go to lpn program would not benefit you in any way

qaqueen · Dec 17, 2006

Take a CNA class instead. Six weeks, and you will feel more comfortable. PLUS, you will learn important things like how to move patients without wrecking your back.

Sounds goofy I know, but many of the best nurses I know were CNAs first. They never forget to appreciate their aides and are always ready to lend a hand when needed.

AND DO NOT GIVE UP YOUR SPOT IN THE RN PROGRAM!

I dont know about your location, but out here, it takes a while to get in!

BrnEyedGirl, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · Dec 17, 2006

Stay in the RN program,...maybe you could work very part time at a hospital?? I had lots of fresh out of highschool "kids" in my class when I was in school,..they made it,.you will too!!!!

RNfromMN, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2006

I don't have hospital experience either & am in an ADN program right now. This is definitely not the end of the world :)

Your classes will teach you what you need to know...you don't necessarily need to have hospital experience, but I do think that some of the students I'm in school with know a few more things off the top of their heads than I do. For example, I actually have to study the treatment/medications associated with COPD, whereas another student may just know it off the top of their head b/c they took care of someone in a hospital with it. My first semester, there were a lot of conversations between students that I couldn't keep up with, but I'm used to that.

You've gotta figure...you've also got life experience. I think I saw somewhere that you have kids, right? I don't have kids & I actually think that holds me back more than not having hospital experience. A lot of moms (& probably dads, too) are already pretty familiar with tonsillitis, anti-biotics, asthma, etc. & I'm clueless until I go to lecture & do the reading.

I absolutely would not recommend going through the LPN program to soften the blow of the RN program. I think it's a huge price to pay, especially seeing as how you already know you want to be an RN.

I honestly think you'll do fine.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2006

Stay in the RN program. Most RN students have no nursing experience.

The point of on-the-job orientations is to train the employee on how to work in the particular facility. Your nursing program will bestow the skills and education upon you. Your place of employment will orient you. Nobody knows everything about nursing upon completing school because it is a lifeling learning process. Stay in the RN program and you'll do fine.

moongirl · Dec 17, 2006

one semester left before I graduate from RN- never set foot in a hospital before cept as a visitor or to have a baby. Doing just fine. Dont quit now. LPN will not help you, because you learn the same as RN, only without a few of the skills, like IVP and blood transfusions. It will get easier, I promise. hang in there

TrudyRN · Dec 17, 2006

Have anyone did well in ADN school without any previous hospital experience? I'm lost and I feel as if I try to get in LPN school it will help me, but I had several teachers say it's a waist. I want to be an RN and is in a RN program now. I'm scared that with no experience in working in the hospital hurts me.
I'm scared to loose my spot in the RN program, but i've heard some LPN's say that it helps them out alot by going into the LPN program first.
Need help, PLEASE!!!!!!

What is your status? Are you in RN school and having trouble keeping up? What exactly is the problem? Or are you just not sure which level of Nursing to start with?

One thing you might want to consider is reading the medical dictionary. It will increase your knowledge greatly in the area of the new language you need to learn. Read one page per day or even just 4 or 5 words each day if you can and you will learn so very much.

Something else to do is take a remedial English course and just brush up some on spelling and grammar. This will help any student going into any school. Take a remedial math course, too, if you are weak in math. In Nursing, you need addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, ratio, and proportion.

I think you should do CNA or LPN first if you think you need to. You can always go back for your RN later if you feel you can't do it now. I wish you the best, whatever you decide.

dmarie (GA) · Dec 17, 2006

I think the LPN program is a great stepping stone for some students. LPN program focuses on basic nursing skills and gives you the confidence to go forward with the RN.

Some students do just fine with the RN program, but some students start with the LPN program and it helps them prepare for the RN program.

And with all of the LPN-RN bridge programs available, getting your LPN isn't a waste of time by any stretch of the imagination. It's a great starting point.

This is not to say that those starting with RN are going the wrong route. But for some students, it helps to see the basic nursing skills covered in LPN school before taking on the RN program.

climberrn · Dec 17, 2006

If your question is do you need the LPN as a stepping stone then the answer is no. I had no hospital experience, tried to do the CNA thing before but it never worked out so when I actually was a nurse it was as a brand newbie. One thing I did was do an externship. This let me follow a nurse, get paid for it and learn some of the things that aren't necessarily nursing but more procedural while under someone's supervision. Helped a great deal.

SCRN1 · Dec 17, 2006

I'm another one who went straight to getting my ADN without any previous hospital experience or being an LPN. If I had to do it over again, I'd still do it the same way.

How do the LPNs know they wouldn't have done just as well if they'd gone the ADN or BSN route the first time around? I'm sure it did help because they were already exposed to a lot of what they were learning in an RN program. But whether you already know the material or not, you still have to hear it all in class and put it into practice in clinicals. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this well or not since I'm kinda sleepy right now, LOL. But it's kinda like if you had to take a class one time and then had to take it over, you're already at least a little familiar with the material. But you can take it the first time and do really well.

If you already know you want to be an RN and can become one without going to school to be an LPN first, why would you want to add the extra time by doing both? Most LPNs I know became an LPN first because of having to start working sooner or couldn't afford going to school longer at the time. Then later, if they wanted to be an RN, went back to school while the hospital helped pay for it. Others are just as happy to be an LPN and have stayed one. Just depends on what you want.

GingerSue · Dec 17, 2006

in my experience, the nursing assistants and the rn students all took the same classes during the first year.

if it's the rn that you want, then stay in the program