Are these true or false rumors about LPN

ixchel · Nov 3, 2013

Everyone I talked to all said skip your the LPN and go for the RN. They said for one a lot of hospitals no longer hire LPNs and said that cnas and medical assistants are doing LPN jobs more and more and will eventually replace them. There is not even that many lPN schools around anymore I don't think. I would really like to be an RN someday.

I imagine this is largely dictated state by state. Where I am, a CNA goes to a class for 6 weeks to learn how to be respectful, take vitals, and do ADLs for people. That's it. LPNs are in school (real school) for a year learning the nursing process and how to do skills. In terms of function, the difference between LPN and RN is delegation, push meds, assessments, and ability to move up the ladder. A CNA not only lacks the skills to perform an LPNs job, but she/he also lacks the education for it. I don't mean that in an insulting way by any means. CNAs are worth their weight in gold. I truly believe that. But to believe a CNA will perform the job of an LPN is to assume the year (plus) of education they go through to get licensed was pointless and did not increase their knowledge base beyond that which they could have obtained in a 6-week CNA course learning to properly wash hands and give a bed bath.

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Nov 3, 2013

I don't hire LPNs and I run a skilled facility. We are expected to take care of very sick people and our 5 star rating system is based in part on how many RNs we have. I know some very smart LPNs, but the regs are the regs.

NurseDirtyBird · Nov 3, 2013

Depends on what you want to do. If you want to work in acute care - anything in a hospital, then you might as well skip LPN. If you want to work in home health, LTC/SNF, hospice, clinics, etc., then LPN is worth it.

If you don't know what you want to do, go for RN, and all of these options will be open to you.

Everline · Nov 3, 2013

Last time I went to the doctor, a woman I thought was a nurse gave me an injection, irrigated one of my ears and told me she gives meds. It was only later that I found out she was a medical assistant. Apparently, they can do everything a nurse does working under a doctor's license? I have no idea. I was quite shocked. So I don't know what to say about that particular part of your question.

I think whether or not becoming an LPN is a waste of times depends on your ultimate goals. I have known nurses that were quite happen being an LPN. They were not working in a hospital and had no desire to. So for each person, the answer will be different.

AZ_LPN_8_26_13 · Nov 3, 2013

In my experience some people have been able to maintain themselves as an LPN while others have not. I would never advise someone to go the LPN/LVN route with the thought of it being a terminal career choice. As a minimum, I advise anyone interested in nursing to pursue a BSN and to get the RN license in order to have a better chance at obtaining and maintaining employment. With that as a goal, it may be wise to get an LPN license in order to better one's chance at RN school admission, but even that opportunity is becoming limited in some areas. You have to do informed investigation in the area where you intend to make a living at nursing.

This is basically why I became an LPN - to be able to enroll in an LPN to BSN program where I live. I have been looking in the big-city area where I happen to live and doing a job search for the past couple of months, and there isn't much for new grad LPNs. A few job openings IF you have prior experience as an LPN. I am willing to do clinic, home care, nursing home, and correctional facilities and I have applied to all of those. But I am also enrolled in an LPN to BSN program. I may end up not getting an LPN job before I graduate as an RN BSN, but we'll see. I will keep looking and applying.

CloudySue · Nov 4, 2013

I went for LPN because I was approaching 40 and switching careers, and with two small children, it was not possible for me to quit working full time for at least two years. The plan was to get my LPN and be able to work part time for decent money while taking the bridge to RN. But something happened on the way, and I got working overnights doing private duty. I love it, and with overtime I make a pretty good living, plus I take summers off to be w my kids, being a PRN. I don't know if I can do this forever, and someday I might want to go back for my RN, but right now in my life I am in NO mood to go through another year of the horrible boot camp that is nursing school again.

prettymica, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 4, 2013

1. Depends on your area but most places yes besides rural hospitals will normally hired LPN's

2. I don't think anytime in the near future, but I would guess probably not.

3. Yes, its would give you better pay and more opportunities(LTC,HH, Hospice, Dr. office, Urgent care, Private duty, school nurse).

4. Question for you.... Was becoming a CNA worth it?

RNlove17 · Nov 4, 2013

I would personally just go for the RN. It opens up a lot more opportunities. LPN is just a limited position. Most hospitals here do not hire them; they mainly work in nursing homes, dr's offices, and do private duty around here. They are also paid a lot less. my first RN job was on a rehab unit, affiliated with the LTC/SNF side of a large hospital - so they hired a couple LPNs too. I started at $22.50 as an RN, and the LPNs were started at $15.50. That's a big difference and they honestly do much of the same work that I do!

The LPNS can't do things like work with PICCs, or technically do nursing assessments; they technically "data collect" and report their findings to an RN. But it's essentially the same thing in the real world. So really they are underpaid for what they do! Plus they are so limited and stuck, as an RN I was able to quickly move to another job that was a lot better, while my old LPN coworkers are still stuck at that crappy place because they're limited to the types of nursing they can do, since a lot of places won't hire them. So try to go for the RN if you can. If you don't have the extra time or energy for the RN right now, need money faster, etc then an LPN is better than nothing and you CAN definitely find work as one.

mcclot1993 · Nov 4, 2013

why does the LPN have to report their findings to an RN. What does the RN do after that

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2013

why does the LPN have to report their findings to an RN. What does the RN do after that

Because the RN is in charge, has the more detailed/in depth education, and has the higher license.

As you have yet to begin your career in nursing school.....and you are having trouble deciding... I would look up nurse practice acts in your state to see what the difference is between the two professions.

Each nurse has their own responsibilities each laid out carefully in each states nurse practice acts. Some states have a very liberal description of the LPN responsibilities but even in those states she is under the supervision/direction of the RN......who holds the higher license.

In many parts of the country...many acute care facilities/hospitals have moved the LPN responsibilities outside of the hospital and into LTC, clinics, and physician offices.

This my state....http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/regs/244cmr003.pdf

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2013

I believe from previous threads you are in PA.......here is the nursing legislation Pennsylvania Code and http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/049/chapter21/s21.145.html

If I am wrong.....

Find Your Nurse Practice Act

HazelLPN, LPN · Nov 6, 2013

I'm a retired LPN who had a wonderful career in critical care nursing that lasted more than 50 years.

In my day, an LPN could work anywhere in the hospital. These days, the job opportunities for LPNs are often limited to LTC and ambulatory settings and acute care jobs for LPNs are scarce in many areas.

Even worse, veteran LPNs in many parts of the country who have 20+ years of experience are thrown out like yesterday's garbage because all of a sudden, "patients are sicker and more complex" and these poor LPNs just aren't capable of thinking critically to be anything more than mindless automatons who are constantly putting the license of the RN in jeopardy. Some are laid off, other are forced to work for less pay in roles like nursing assistant, patient care tech or unit clerk. What an insult to their training and life experience! What it boils down to is ideology vs reality and money. Its cheaper to eliminate the LPN and hire more techs to do some of the work that the LPN used to do, and then give the rest of work that the LPN would do to the already overworked RNs.

Get that BSN. Skip the LPN. It will give you the most opportunities and it is likely that it will became the entry into nursing in the future. All positions now require more formal education than they once did. LPNs who were once staff nurses are replaced with RNs when they retire. Nurse managers and supervisors used to be diploma RNs and then were replaced with BSNs and now they prefer MSNs. Nursing faculty members of colleges and universities now must have the PhD to be tenured faculty while not that long ago the MSN was enough.

However, we must remember that more formal education does not mean a better nurse. Case in point. The burn unit at the childrens' hospital were I worked had a burn specialist who was an LPN who was one of the original burn unit nurses when the burn unit opened at that hospital back in the 60s. She had her own office and ordered burn supplies and kept up on the latest developments in burn care. Every new burn unit nurse was trained by her. If you had a bad burn in the PICU, she came down to help you do the dressing change. She regularly took shifts in both the burn unit and the PICU to maintain her skills. She would round with the surgeons every morning and write orders, just like we did in the old days and every word that she spoke was listened to by the docs and they always took her suggestions. They referred to her as "Mrs. R" as she had know many of them as med students. She was a genius, pure and simple. When she retired to take a part time job in the clinic, her job was posted with a BSN requirement. They got that BSN, and she was unremarkable. She could talk the talk. Her theory was rock solid. Her work ethic and technique wasn't. If she came down to help you with a dressing change she would say "okay, that's how its done....you're good...I have to get back to the office" and left you to finish on your own. I found her dressings to be no better than my own, even a bit more slow and quite a bit more sloppy. I never saw her round with the docs. I never saw her take a patient assignment. Sometimes when we got a burn kiddo, she would send another burn nurse to do the dressing change from the burn unit and her role became largely administrative in nature. When we got a REALLY nasty 80+% burn....Mrs. R herself came over from the clinic and took charge while the current specialist looked on from under her mask with a mixture of awe and envy. While the current specialist headed back to her office after a lengthy dressing change that she contributed little to, Mrs. R. told the charge nurse "I'm not working in the clinic tomorrow, so sign me up to take this kiddo on days with one of your nurses....how about a newer nurse who needs to learn about burns....."

They don't make 'em like that anymore. No amount of formal education can create nurses like Mrs R. That is a combination of natural intelligence, work ethic, experience and a love for what you do. Formal education is important, but in the end its the informal education and experience that makes the nurse, as a formal education eventually becomes dated and in my case completely obsolete.