DO LVNs GET RESPECT?

Nurses LPN/LVN

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]Hello, I'll be attending nursing school this year, and I was curious if LVNs get the respect they deserve or are they looked down upon in the eyes of RNs? Just thought I'd ask...

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Not all RN's respect them. I've seen a few on this board talk down about LPN's...its 50/50
This is true. There's an RN-BSN who posts regularly on these forums. She creates controversial threads and makes belittling comments about LPNs/LVNs, diploma RNs, and ADNs/ASNs. In fact, the vast majority of her 400+ posts are in regards to phasing out all LPNs, ADNs, and diploma RNs in favor of the BSN as the entry-level standard for all nurses.

I have no problem with her opinions, but I have an issue with the manner in which she delivers the message.

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Specializes in ED, ICU/DOU/Tele, M/S, Gero/Psych.

Yeah that'll never happen, we're in a shortage now as it is... I'd love to see that happen overnight and see how long she stays a nurse, get rid of all her help and then we'll see how she likes being a nurse.

Wayne.

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

isn't it something that i know exactly who you are talking about with the very little information you have provided....and i do have a problem with her opinions.

this is true. there's an rn-bsn who posts regularly on these forums. she creates controversial threads and makes belittling comments about lpns/lvns, diploma rns, and adns/asns. in fact, the vast majority of her 400+ posts are in regards to phasing out all lpns, adns, and diploma rns in favor of the bsn as the entry-level standard for all nurses.

i have no problem with her opinions, but i have an issue with the manner in which she delivers the message.

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Specializes in ED, ICU/DOU/Tele, M/S, Gero/Psych.

Wonder how this person would have felt after getting her ADN and finding out she'd spent 2 years plus in an academic program not to be able to pracitce as a nurse.... hmmmm...

Wayne.

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

imagine a big ole fat pregnant woman on the floor with her hands up:eek: praying that the rn-bsn in question does not stumble on this thread...and this is the kind of threads she preys on... otherwise my fellow people we will get a page after page breakdown of how there is no nursing shortage just a shortage of qualified nurses and how us lvn's have so little education and deal with patients lives.....i kid you not!!!!

yeah that'll never happen, we're in a shortage now as it is... i'd love to see that happen overnight and see how long she stays a nurse, get rid of all her help and then we'll see how she likes being a nurse.

wayne.

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Specializes in ED, ICU/DOU/Tele, M/S, Gero/Psych.
imagine a big ole fat pregnant woman on the floor with her hands up:eek: praying that the rn-bsn in question does not stumble on this thread...and this is the kind of threads she preys on... otherwise my fellow people we will get a page after page breakdown of how there is no nursing shortage just a shortage of qualified nurses and how us lvn's have so little education and deal with patients lives.....i kid you not!!!!

oh please... good lord so what she's the cornerstone on nursing as far as opinions go? and who the hell cares what she thinks, i for one could give two tugs of a baby's dick what she thinks. "holier than thou" syndrome doesn't impress me, and just because she's got a bsn, doesn't make her a good nurse, just makes her educated. and even if she is a good nurse, doesn't make her god or the authority on anything other than she's got a stick up her tushy. if we were so incompetent to care for "her patients" then why did the states bother to create and license us all? and i seriously doubt that she stared off popping out of the womb with a bsn, those who don't remember where they came from... let her come and stir up something, big deal, i got thick skin, not afraid of anyone.

and a shortage is a shortage, whether or not is qualified nurses or not, i'd think someone with a bsn would know that it's the same. and i'd think as well, and i'm not a bsn but i can finger this one out on my lonesome.... a shortage is the lack of qualified personnel... duhhhhh....

wayne.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
imagine a big ole fat pregnant woman on the floor with her hands up:eek: praying that the rn-bsn in question does not stumble on this thread...and this is the kind of threads she preys on... otherwise my fellow people we will get a page after page breakdown of how there is no nursing shortage just a shortage of qualified nurses and how us lvn's have so little education and deal with patients lives.....i kid you not!!!!
:roll :chuckle
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I think some of preceptions of LVN's start in nursing school. I am an LVN in an ADN program and there have been a few comments made in class by the instructors regarding LVN's and we have had questions on exams regarding delegation that made LVN's seem like all they can do is bed baths.

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Specializes in med/surg, hospice, L & D.

I think a point needs to be made that not all RN's are taught the same skills as LPN's (LVN's) are. I was an LPN for 10 years and could run circles around most RN's I ever worked with. The focus of their education is on assessment, delegation, and charting. I went through a bridge program and got my ASN....they assumed a LOT of knowledge because we were all LPN's. I agree with the post that said that LPN's make better RN's. I work with new RN's now that have gotten through school and can't start IV's, put down NG tubes, foley's, and can't imagine how to do an enema! Sad, but true!! I would rather work with an LPN any time!!

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
This is true. There's an RN-BSN who posts regularly on these forums. She creates controversial threads and makes belittling comments about LPNs/LVNs, diploma RNs, and ADNs/ASNs. In fact, the vast majority of her 400+ posts are in regards to phasing out all LPNs, ADNs, and diploma RNs in favor of the BSN as the entry-level standard for all nurses.

I have no problem with her opinions, but I have an issue with the manner in which she delivers the message.

I don't know who this person is, but the heck with them. I agree with you, this person is certainly entitled to their opinions, however, if these are the types of comments that are freely thrown around, then, I would like to see how willing any of these nurses would be willing to assist with the implementation of any of the things he/she would attempt to do.

It's interesting...many things that are to be implemented in care plans are not necessarily done by the RN alone. Hope his/her patients are properly cared for...a person with a grudge may not go out of their way to insure patient care.

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I think a point needs to be made that not all RN's are taught the same skills as LPN's (LVN's) are. I was an LPN for 10 years and could run circles around most RN's I ever worked with. The focus of their education is on assessment, delegation, and charting. I went through a bridge program and got my ASN....they assumed a LOT of knowledge because we were all LPN's. I agree with the post that said that LPN's make better RN's. I work with new RN's now that have gotten through school and can't start IV's, put down NG tubes, foley's, and can't imagine how to do an enema! Sad, but true!! I would rather work with an LPN any time!!

I understand what you are saying but I have to say that I think you may be expecting too much from a new grad.

I expect a new grad (RN or LPN) to have a basic working familarity with those skills you mentioned, but very few new grads, if any, are going to be independently proficient with those skills upon graduation.

That is what orientation and internship is for.

Proficiency at putting down NG tubes and starting IV's only comes from repetitive experience. Very few nursing students in American nursing schools will report getting repetitive opportunities in practicing and demonstrating these skills throughout their clinicals to the point where they could start an IV or put down an NG tube independently as a new grad.

Now if the new grad RN was previously an LPN on a med/surg unit for some time or perhaps a paramedic, then I too would have expected proficiency in basic nursing skills (or even more advanced skills for that matter) as new RN's due to their prior professional experience.

But for those who are brand new to nursing who had no prior nursing/healthcare background, most are just not going to be that good in the beginning and we have to be patient with them and walk them through it a few times until they can do it without any help, but even then, they may still move slow as a snail for a while. :chuckle

I know that I had to start a lot of IV's on the floor before I became any good at it.

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I think some of preceptions of LVN's start in nursing school. I am an LVN in an ADN program and there have been a few comments made in class by the instructors regarding LVN's and we have had questions on exams regarding delegation that made LVN's seem like all they can do is bed baths.

I understand what you mean.

When I was studying for the NCLEX-RN, I kept getting the delegation questions wrong in the beginning when the questions were about appropriate assignments for LPN/LVN's.

And I had been an LVN for 7 years at that time!

I couldn't figure out why I kept getting them wrong.

It seemed as if the patient in question had anything so much as a simple saline lock in their left arm that they were supposed to be assigned to an RN and not an LPN/LVN.

Once I shifted gears and basically assumed that LPN/LVN's on board exam questions were little more than nursing assistants who could give Tylenol and insert foleys, I started answering the delegation questions "correctly".

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