LPN...not good enough??

[em1025]

So, I have been an LPN for the last 5 years and I love what I do. But one of my patients that I've had last week was an RN. Now I do not have anything against RN's at all, but she asked me if I was a nurse, and of course I say yes I am, and the next question was LPN or RN and I answer LPN and she said why are you wasting your time..... I thought that I must have misunderstood what she said and asked her to repeat it again, and the same question came out of her mouth. I never thought an LPN was not good enough, I feel confident in what I do and I feel that the title nurse applies to me too but she had me questioning is this what everyone thinks? The whole time I was doing her lab work, EKG, and instructions, she made sure I knew she was a nurse and she knew more than me and wanted the PA to come and go over some additional questions she had about the instructions I gave her, because apparently I sure could not know what I was talking about... WHY???? I have felt so down about this whole situation, I am proud of what I've accomplished even if it's not what others may want, but honestly she ruined my week....

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Let's be honest here. LPN's and CNA's and PCA's are not RN's. Newsflash: LPN's are less than RN's - with formal nursing education and with professional duties.

True, RNs and LPNs are NOT the same thing. LPNs who claim they're "the same" as a RN are only revealing their own ignorance. But, I think most hospital nurses would be shocked by the extent of the role of the LPN in nursing homes. In the majority of these facilities RNs and LPNs are indistinguishable. You could work for *years* as a RN staff nurse in a nursing home and never once do something that was out of the scope of the LPN working down the next hall.

I spoke to an 18 year old CNA who said she is a "nurse". She told me she does what nurses do, and because she works at a nursing home, she feels she has more experience and moreresponsibilities compared to BSN's who work in a hospital. She feels she does the exact same duties as the BSN nurse at a heart hospital.

Well, she was obviously just a silly little girl who doesn't know anything about anything.

[trinitymayy]

I get this a lot too, I am a LPN. People will ask me what I do, I say Nurse, and they say RN, I say no LPN and they say oh your not a RN. Like LPN is not a nurse! Keep your head up, you are not the only one! LPN or RN, WE ARE ALL NURSES and do JUST AS important of a job! :)

[Philly_LPN_Girl, LPN]

I am currently in school for lpn and I feel like a nurse is a nurse. Lpns are smart just like an Rn, help save lives and make a huge difference in them as well and are a big part of tbe nursing world. I even know a few lpns who put rns to shame :).

I plan on going back for my Rn because I dont feel comfortable making lpn my career with all of this talk about phasing them out, etc besides, I have all of my prerequisites for a bsn program and why not do what I love and make even more money at that? I also feel as if rns have more opportunities job and career wise and I dont want to do bedside care my whole life I would love to teach and also become a nurse practicioner. There is nothing wrong with being an lpn and whoever is one should be proud to have a great career.

[angikat]

I have been an LPN for 20 years and am currently back in school. I am working towards my RN but hope to make it as far as I can take it! Lol. Anyway I work with some nurse aides who are currently in an RN program. About 3 weeks ago one of the aides was discussing with me a problem he had with another LPN I work with and he said "she needs to back off because before very much longer I will outrank her" I have heard things like this and "just an LPN" more times than I would like to count! I have seen many LPN's that it would be darn hard to "outrank" even if you had a masters in nursing! The one thing this CNA nursing student doesn't have is experience and the LPN he was talking about has lost of it and happens to be one of the best nurses I have met and far better than most RN's I have met. I think this guy has a lot to learn about being a nurse! I can't wait till he meets an old LPN that has to teach him a thing or two when he messes up!

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

I agree with angikat. In fact, I had care from an LPN when I was seriously ill. She was both caring, compassionate and professional. Yes she was every bit a nurse. She said she was going back to school to get her RN. I wish her well, and hope she is still a staff member at our local hospital. She was that good. I got my LPN and had applied for my RN, but I got very ill after that, so never went further since I became disabled. I still am involved with nurses of all kinds from all different fields, including Pas. I probably will be because I loved caring for people; helping them feel better in any way I am able to help them, because I was always the one in my family who experienced the most illness, injuries etc., and know how I felt.

Even in the area where I live, the local hospital has laid off a lot of LPNs and RNs and is only hiring BSNs and CNAs. The LPNs and RNs are going to physicians offices, homecare agencies, and nursing homes. Some are even into private care.

[NursePelican, ASN, BSN, LPN]

I find it quite amusing that people feel that way about LVN'S. The hospital where I did my clinicals had LVN's and RN's working the E.R. and the RN's would even tell you the LVN'S ran circles around them. They were just as competent if not more so in certain areas than than the RN'S. I feel it is more about ego than skill.[/quote']

Ever so true!

[Jsconce]

I have been an RN since 2003. I do not work with LPN's anymore but when I did I valued them for their clinical insight and ability to care for patients. You are a nurse just like me. We have different levels of education but your experience in your field may rival the knowledge I have from books. We need to work together for the benefit of the patient.

That person who you cared for may have had an inferiority complex. On the other hand, maybe she just had additional questions. I would not assume she thought you did not know what you were talking about. If she knew more she would not need the Physician Assistant to go over anything with her, as RN's we know where to look things up. Maybe she was sick and under stress, not able to process information normally. She needed to hear it from multiple sources to absorb it. Do not beat yourself up.

OTOH, there are plenty of LPN to BSN programs out there. Maybe you should look into one. Then teach us all how to be nurses first. Care for patients first. Put our ego second. You may be on to something here....

Well said.

[T-Bird78]

I work in an ENT office as their allergy nurse, I have over 5 years allergy experience and have more knowledge than the allergy PA (but not quite as much as the NP who runs the allergy department) in this particular situation. The RN, who only works with the otologist and has ZERO allergy background, said to the NP "but she's just an LPN" when the NP was talking about how excited she is to have me. Not only did the RN say that to the NP, she said it behind my back! LPNs are nurses too and we deserve respect! The "N" in our title does stand for NURSE, not NOBODY!

[T-Bird78]

Besides, just tell yourself the following:

I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.

[nurseywifeymommy1]

That's her problem. I'm an LPN and I work with RNs, BSNs & NPs. We all respect eachother. I'm glad we don't hv egos where we work. They promote every is a on the same team.

[basin_and_towel]

I have been an LPN for 26 years, and what you describe is far too common. My first job as a nurse almost ruined me for nursing because I was the only LPN on a specialty floor full of RNs and that was how they treated me. They mocked me and made jokes about me. When I asked questions and sought to learn things, I was told not to bother because I was just an LPN. They treated me like an aide and my duties involved passing out water pitchers and emptying bedpans, and anything else the RNs felt were beneath them. For 26 years I've been degraded, shamed, and humiliated over being an LPN because of the way many RNs and some doctors treat LPNs. It's not an isolated occurrence. It's a very wide-spread attitude.

[Kamilah Coney, ASN, BSN, RN]

@em1025 It's nice to know that there are LPNs out here who still hold firm that LPNs are nurses too. I am sorry that you had to experience that. Unfortunately, I had been told MANY times why are you going to become an LPN, you should become an RN. And that was not just RN students (half of which the LPN students could run circles around :) ), but RNs out there in the field working. When I first began to pursue the Practical Nursing program in 2010, I already knew that LPNs were being replaced by RNs in many facilities in the Central Florida region. My intention was to obtain an RN degree, but I had to go backwards to move forward. I was just like those RN students at one point. But after going through the program, and becoming an LPN, I appreciate what the LPN is and become more offended each day I hear those words "Oh, you're just an LPN." Yes, I am an LPN ( a Licensed Practical NURSE). Sometimes you have to turn that negative situation into a positive situation and ask yourself, "Why did this individual become an RN, was it just for the initials?" or "Job security?" If it had not been for the Practical Nursing program, I could have been just like those RN's, patients, and even physicians who will put a NURSE down just because their name follows with LPN instead of RN. Contrary to belief LPN's are nurses too.