Why do so many people insist that LPN'S AREN'T REAL NURSES!!??

Nurses LPN/LVN

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I mean, the title does have "Nurse" in it.So why are so many people insisting that LPN's arent real nurses? When I go to the hospital, I see these people giving medication , care, comfort and other services to their patients, isn't that what nursing is all about? What do you think about this issue? Do you think LPN's aren't real nurses?

I have begun the second year of my ADN program. We have the chance to take our LPN boards at the end of our first year of the program. Last spring in clinicals I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful nurse, an LPN, in a long term care setting. I made the comment that, at the end of my first year, I was "half a nurse." Too late, I realized how that must have sounded to the nurses that were listening to us students. I have since taken my LPN boards and am now working as an LPN while finishing school.

It is HARD work. I have a new respect for all nurses, LPNs or RNs for the jobs they do - no matter what letters they have behind their names. When I was a CNA, I used to think that all the nurses did was to pass a few meds and sit on their butts and chart a little. I thought the nurses aids did ALL the work. And they DO work very hard. But so do the nurses. I have told all the nurses that I used to work with what I used to think and what I think now. LPNs are "whole" nurses, too!

SJW

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I teach LPNs, and quite frankly, when a pt. puts on the NURSE call button, I have never, in over 30 years, heard one of them inquire about what level of educational preparation we have. Instead, they sigh in relief when they hear "I am your nurse" and know we are there to help, because we care.

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Specializes in 20+.

I am in Canada and I am an RPN (LPN equivalent). Where I work, I am the daytime charge nurse for a locked unit. I am the one who runs the unit, I do all the paperwork, vitals, assessments etc etc etc. I also supervise the PSW's (formerly known as health care aids). There is an RN in the building in case of an emergency that is beyond my scope but I also am the one sending someone to ER if I need to and then informing the RN later.

I saw on one post that the LPN's weren't giving narcotics. I give those also. I can also take extra courses to get my license for venipuncture, IM injections, tracheostomy care etc.

I am treated like a 'real nurse' but I've heard the argument before. The families of the people I work with don't even know which one of us are RN's or RPN's and I haven't been asked by one yet.

Why don't I go back and get my RN? I'd love to, not because I'm not 'good enough' as I am but because I love learning, however I cannot afford more loans or to be off work that long as I have two small children. The extra pay would be good but the student loans would eat all that up lol.

Be well everyone, we're all on the same team

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Oh my God! This is so discouraging to me as I am starting my LPN program this Monday!

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i am a practical nursing student at the moment and sometimes feel intimidated by the nursing students but have been learning lately that there's nothing to be intimidated about - i believe that our lessons, pace of learning and curriculum is a little more hectic and stressful that the ones for nursing students. we actually have to squeeze in into 1 or 2 years all the practical knowledge and skills of a nurse that nursing students would normally take few more years. here in the philippines, practical nursing takes 2 years. in other countries i think it only takes a year or even less. practical nurses study for a shorter time but they can handle most of the things that nurses can. also, as "stella -ohio" said - we are really taught to be more compassionate, caring and friendly towards patients. i've had 4 csections and 2 cervical circulage (hope spelling is right!) and these gave me more than enough experience being confined in a hospital - i'd have to say that hte attitude of the nurse makes such a great difference. it is one of the factors that influenced me to go for a nursing course. the friendly, cheerful and caring nurses really did make a difference, they actually made me feel better just by having that positive attitude.

practical nurses are nurses too - real nurses - why the word 'nurse' be there if they' weren't????? but whatever kind of nurse you are - attitude, thoroughness, compassion, effectiveness and efficiency - that's what matters.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Mental Health, Rehab.

practical nurses are nurses too - real nurses - why the word 'nurse' be there if they' weren't????? but whatever kind of nurse you are - attitude, thoroughness, compassion, effectiveness and efficiency - that's what matters.

i agree 100%! i'm a lpn, and i have to say that i have had a lot of negative and positive experiences. but i have to say that i've had a lot of pt's ask me to "see their nurse" if it isn't pill related, i can help, and i tell them so. just because i didn't complete 4 years of training doesn't mean i'm any less qualified to do my job. the floor i worked on in my last job was okay. a lot of the rn's treated me like crap, and increased our workloads on a daily basis, and working on a medical floor, that's not fair. i understand and appreciate what they do, and i understand that i couldn't handle all that responsibility but lpn's need their work appreciated as well, especially now that we're starting to give out medications and take on more and more responsibility on our units.

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Specializes in LTC, Pediatrics.

Well,

I am in LPN school here in Connecticut (I graduate in Jan :) )

I have come across people I worked with (as a Nurse Tech in a hospital), and several RNs at the hospital we do our clinicals in who think LPNs are glorified Nurses Aides.

They seem resentful that we are taking spots away from RN students in the hospital. This belief is enhanced by the restrictions placed on LPNs here by the CT Board of Nurse Examiners. They have banned LPNs from hospitals, where we certainly could work on medical/surgical floors caring for acute patients. They banned us from schools, even though school districts have one or two nurses for 15 or 20 schools, and allow school secretaries and administrators to pass meds, and provide medical care when the nurse is not at the school that particular day. Of course, they are also the ones who are advocating the elimination of two year RN degrees, as we all know BSNs are the only 'real' nurses.

I am taking this program as there is a 3 year waiting list for the state run RN programs (private RN schools are cost prohibitive)... I figured the 18 month LPN program would mean I could learn nursing skills and get paid as an LPN while in RN school.

But, to all of you who say the preception that LPNs are not 'real' nurses is only for those who are not in the medical field, I say it is rather the opposite in my opinion. All my friends know i'm in nursing school... LPN Nursing school... I have only met resistance and disgust from my 'colleagues' in the medical profession.

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Specializes in emergency, psych, ortho, med/surg.

I have just graduated from LPN school, awaiting RN transition program clinicals this Jan., In my experince-I haven't really found any negitive reactions towards the "LPN" title, I have , however, found that NO hospital facilities in my area, west Florida, will hire them! Only a nursing home will even grant an interview to a LPN, especially a new grad! All of the hospitals I have recently interviewed with stated "come back when you complete your RN". I have been around long enough to know that the nursing "tends" go in cycles, with the terrible nursing shortage across the USA as we speak the "cycle" better start including us LPN's! Don't ya think??:mortarboard:

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I was a LPN for 15 years before going back to get my ADN and I know from experience that LPN's are nurses. In fact my schooling as a LPN was much more patient focused than my ADN classes which was more process focused. I know LPN's who are much more experienced and in some cases much better nurses than RN's. The main reason I went back was so I could get paid for what I do. :nurse:

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Specializes in Med/surg, GI, Ortho, Dialysis.
:yawn: :rolleyes:

Where are you that your LPN's only go to school for 9 months? I went for 12 months of intense study crammed into that 12 months. Most LPN's are very capable in what they do and have a real care for the patients. To many times it is the RN that is only concerned with the technical aspects and not the emotional needs of the pts.

I have worked in dialysis for 11yrs, and it amazes me to here RN's views that it is their own fault that they are here.

I do not think that it is all RN's that feel we are not "real nurses", just some. It is mostly the uninformed public.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Are there varying degees of nurses in the UK? Do you have an LPN equivelant in the UK? Do any other countries have LPN equivalents? How are they treated in other countries?

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Oh my God! This is so discouraging to me as I am starting my LPN program this Monday!

That is so sad.

I am in an LPN program at the moment and it is taking like a year and a half to complete. I would love to get my RN but at the moment it just wasn't practical. From these discussions I'm not looking forward to those with such snobby attutudes. I know my sister-in-law is a MA and she does IV's at her dr.s office where she works. I never really even thought about things like this before. Whenever I've been in the hospital I'm always glad that someone is there period.

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