Status of LPNs in IL?

[winniecooper]

In my CNA class, we had a student from a different class sit in for a make-up. During lunch he told us his teacher said Illinois is doing away with LPNs at the end of this year and all LPNs must either become RNs or they will be downgraded to CNA. I can only imagine his teacher misinformed them or he did not understand what she said, but since he is already an EMT, I am not just dismissing this. I researched the web and looked through the state website but didn't see any information that reflected this. It seems to me like all nursing homes would have to close down if they did this, but then again there are some states that have higher levels of CNA that do a lot of what an LPN does, esp. medication dispensing. Anyone else heard anything like this???

[LPNsimbi]

For the RaC-CT one, I did mine through AANAC...and I did it online as I couldn't take 3 days off work for the seminar, not to mention you have to wait around for a seminar to come to an area near you. As for the restorative certification, I did mine through a community college. I am not as certain about which website to recommend for restorative certification, but you can try AANAC for MDS (RAC-CT). Restorative certification bumped up my pay significantly over the years, and by last year I would say I was way outside the LPN pay scale and in the middle-upper RN pay scale...but that's not necessarily the norm. I know I made more than most restorative LPNs. I worked very hard to make sure I was great at my job, so I didn't have much trouble securing jobs in my field. I didn't get a pay raise for certification with MDS, but I did that on the side because I was concerned that the restorative field was going to decline with the new regulation changes that are coming, so it was done as a back-up career. MDS I believe generally makes a bit more than restorative I think, but I'm not certain as I've never been hired as a MDS nurse. MDS certification has better future job security than restorative (in my opinion), but it's a lot of paperwork...so if you hate paperwork and prefer working closely with patients...neither certification is for you. Illinois made it a ***** to receive reimbursement, so the paperwork involved is really intense. The other thing to keep in mind is that MDS and restorative nursing are pretty much nursing home jobs, so if you are not interested in that environment, the certifications probably aren't for you.