LPN programs and IV certs...

tylerlvn · Sep 9, 2003

I am in a LPN class in Brownwood Texas. We started Aug. 25th. We have three semesters. We will be IV certified when we graduate next year. We will not start learning it until last semester. Hope I make it there!!!

JnJTyson · Sep 9, 2003

Good luck Hargrove!! =0) I just got loaded with paperwork today. We started Drug classifications today! We have a 42 page homework assignment...but thank goodness its not due until October 6! I have a trip to Boston coming up next weekend..plenty of airplane work to do..unless I'm too dopey on Xanax. I can't fly without it. As long as it is a smooth flight I'll be ok. But last flight to Buffalo, I took waaay too many of em cause of how bumpy the flight was. I was a bit wigged out..I hate flying! =0( Oh well..all this nursing classification stuff should keep my mind busy! =0)

Jules

lucy25 · Jan 26, 2005

i'v been an LPN for 6 years and will be an RN in 4 months.I live in new york. The only thing we can NOT do here is push IV meds.Under the RNs I work with i push lasix and simple stuff like that. we hang blood but the phlebotomists only draw blood. not us. I am actually on the IV team in my hospital and am better than 99% of the RNs. :) as far as my class went we had to get an 85% or better. I took it through high school and it was 4 semesters. i will never regret it. Best thing i ever did. plus makes the RN degree simpler cause i know a lot of the material. :)

AdobeRN · Jan 26, 2005

I attend school in North Texas. Our program is 3 semesters...Fall, spring and summer, we will graduate in mid July. All of our classes must be passed with 75% and we have a medication calculation exam each semester. On the med exam we have 3 chances to pass and a passing grade is 90%. At the beginning of the year we started with 62 students, I think we are down to 55 now. We have clinicals 2 days each week and we are split up and sent to different hospitals in the area.

jaimemds · Jan 27, 2005

i went to LPN shool in OHIO, it was 40 straight weeks, had to keep 80% or higher, the class was 5D/week 8-430, two days per week clinical, 2 week preceptorship. IV cert was separate 1 8 hour days for 6 weeks then 1 day externship with 3 sucessful sticks.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Feb 26, 2005

Now that I'm three weeks into the program...I figured I'd give an update....
This semester (2nd) we started off with advanced nursing process (more blah blah blah legal, ethical stuff..common sense) and then got into advanced nursing procedures: sterile technique, inserting caths, dressing changes, documentation, tube feedings, glucometers..that kind of stuff...
2 days a week (Monday and Tuesday) are classroom days...notes, videos, and lab time...
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are all spent at the hospital. 8 of us are on Med/Surge floor and the other 10 are on Oncology. We had 10 and 10...but lost two to grades already.
We just started pharmacology....here's a question...I was speaking with another nursing student from a different school about pharmacology and exams. We have to pass a 100% exam to move on in the program. Meaning, we get a 10 question test, and 5 tries to get a 100% on it. Even if your grade is above an 80% in the general program, if you can't get a 100% on that test..you are booted from the program...anyone else have that in their school? There is also 1 100% in every section you go through after that (Cardio, MS, Resp...)
So..I'm not worried too much. Been studying hard and maintaining my average...came out of advanced nursing with a 98 average! WOOHOO!! =0)
Good luck to everyone! =0)

Hi there!

I'm from PA and just graduated for a 13-month program (Jan-Feb-Yay:balloons: ) and our pass rate in order to stay within the program was 70% ; if below 70% you needed to take a final and pass 70%-for every class, even pharmacology. The only requirement in which a test grade required a 90% in order to pass and complete the program was for nursing math.

Sounds like you are very successful in you studies..Good luck!

no er holds · Feb 26, 2005

1. One Instructor to 15 regular students + 5 alternates that get a regular spot if one of the regulars fails out in the first 8 weeks. After 8 weeks 15 students are placed and ranked.

2. Passing is 75% on everything. Pop quizzes are given out at random, with no advance warning and if the instructor feels like it...and yes, they are counted towards your grades. :angryfire

3. Fail one exam and get placed on academic probation...fail the retest and you are out! Same thing goes for skills. :angryfire

4. Each exam had different subsections for Pharm, Nutrition, Calculations, etc. Each unit is graded separately but all counted towards the final grade for the exam so...you could very easily pass the entire exam but fail a subsection and whamo! academic probation. :stone

5. Traditional nursing dress, white shoes, white stockings, hair in a bun with no pins showing, light makeup, no jewelry, no nail polish, short nails. Inspection every morning at clinicals.

6. Clinicals 3 days a week at a teaching hospital. Be there by 6 am or you have slim pickings and a full care plan for each patient. :crying2:

7. We had everything from basic med/surg patients, to organ transplants, to PICU, NICU, Neuro, OB regular and OB High Risk, and many more. :uhoh21:

8. Any time missed had to be made up in the form of a paper or project. No grace for being 1 minute late! :angryfire

9. IV class was after graduation since there are so many courses to take and all at different price ranges. I work in an ER and start IVs and draw blood and hang anything within my scope. Some of my classmates work Conval. and claim they have lost most of the skills learned at the clinical site. :uhoh21:

10. Was it worth it? You bet! :balloons:

cgizmo10 · Mar 1, 2005

Does anyone know if LPN's in PA draw blood?

merei · Mar 2, 2005

We just started pharmacology....here's a question...I was speaking with another nursing student from a different school about pharmacology and exams. We have to pass a 100% exam to move on in the program. Meaning, we get a 10 question test, and 5 tries to get a 100% on it. Even if your grade is above an 80% in the general program, if you can't get a 100% on that test..you are booted from the program...anyone else have that in their school? There is also 1 100% in every section you go through after that (Cardio, MS, Resp...)
So..I'm not worried too much. Been studying hard and maintaining my average...came out of advanced nursing with a 98 average! WOOHOO!! =0)
Good luck to everyone! =0)

Our pharmacology class, we had 4 competencies that we had 2 tries to pass with a 90 or better on, anything less than that and you were out of the class. You had to try and come back with the next group coming through.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Mar 2, 2005

Does anyone know if LPN's in PA draw blood?

Yes, LPN's in PA are able to draw blood, start IV's....we just can't hang blood, IV med push, and give chemotherapy medication.

nursehippiechik · Mar 5, 2005

i just started lpn classes this semester. we have classes 4 days a week from 8-10:30, 2 internet classes, and clinicals on fridays. we have already learned catheters, ng tubes, sterile tech. and next week we are starting injections. the week after we are starting iv's. :) we are learning alot in the first semester. to pass the course you have to have a 76%. we can only miss one day. in first semester and 3 more days total in last 2 semesters. we have a great lpn course. i love it. i am from arkansas by the way.

LPNer · Mar 6, 2005

Hey guys...just wondering about LPN programs around country to see how different they all are.
First thing I would like to know....I'm in Naples, Florida. Down here, from what I've heard, LPN programs are not allowed to include IV certification classes in the main program. Its a class you have to take after you graduate. Is that the same everywhere else?
How long is your program? Mine is 3 semesters. I went Feb 23-May 28 of this year. Off for summer and go back August 11 (YAY!) and finish up at the end of May.
And last but not least....what is the course of study? And how is it graded?
We have units, must have 80% average or we can't continue. All unit averages are averaged again to get the final...well..average! LOL
First semester was like this. First 3 weeks were Health Science core..the basic of the basic in the health care...insurance, ethnic nursing, communication, legal..that good stuff.
the next 3 weeks were CNA program..1 week was clinicals. the next...oh Lordy..forever, was A&P 1, then a week of nutrition and a week of mental health. End o' semester.
From what I know, next semester we do A&P2 dealing with problems in the system not the basics, pharmocology, MedSurg 1, and a few others...
Final semester is peds, ob/gyn and 2 weeks of clinical comps where we go 6:45a-2:45p and basically work for the hospital..the nurse evaluates us as well as the instructor.
OH! One more thing (I know its getting long..but I'm quite interested in the other programs) How large is your class?? We started out with 32!! Lost 12 during A&P and 2 more at other points in class. The acual limit is 28 in public school. Your classes that big?
Thanks for sharing! I'm quite interested to see the difference in education for the areas in the country! =0)
Jules...11 days to go!!! YIPEE!!

This is a really l-o-n-g thread! Took me quite a while to read and I am amazed at how different LPN education is from state to state! No wonder our scopes of practice are so different.

I went to a hospital based school in Ohio, way back when hospitals were considered to graduate the best nurses. LOL

It was so long ago that pharmacology was optional in some schools, not ours, we were expected to be the best of the best and our rankings on the NCLEX-PN reflected that.

It's been something like 28 years so I can't really remember exactly what we took in each semester, but the program was 12 months long with 2 week vacation at Christmas and Easter) with exams to test out of college level English, math, reading comprehension (seems like there were 4 pre-entrance exams, what was the other?) before we were accepted.

Our pharmacology class did include IVs since at that time, some hospitals allowed LPNs to "do" IVs and others did not. They expected us to be prepared.

I remember our Med-Surg text book was the same one used at The Good Sam hospital school of nursing (RN) and our OB/gyn text was the same one used at the University of Cinti. (RN). I don't know about the other schools using those same text books, but we had to know the information contained cover to cover.

We had clinicals 3 days (I think) a week (after we completed fundamentals 1) with class room work before and or after. The intsructors would give us our assingments early enough on Monday so that we could go over to the hospital and research the pt. Then we had until the next morning to have everything about the pt researched and written up. Oh did we ever love it when just one med card from another pt could be used over!

We were on the floor from 7 - 3:30 and then back to the classroom until 5 or 6 (depending on the day and I don't remember which or why for) - maybe I should take that English test over again! LOL

Seems like we had to have minimum 80% on each subject but had to have overall average of 85% or 86% to graduate, it's been so long ago, hard to remember.