LPN's Role in the ICU?

Our hospital employees LPNs but NOT in the ICU. Too many cooks in the kitchen. I find LPNs mostly distracting on the floors.

I am an LPN. I am only an LPN b/cuz it was faster to take this route and do a bridge program to RN than it was to wait on a waiting list. I work in SICU. I followed an RN with "years" of ICU experience the other day and she kindly hung levaquin on a filter "y'ed" into lipids and connected TPN to a completely different port w/o a filter. My **** poor LPN assessment found this. Theres dumb/ignorant/uncompassionate nurses out there~ be it RN or LPN... I know I surely wont be an LPN for long knowing Im smarter than half the RNs I work with, get treated with this horrible stigmatism, and make ten times less $$... please!.. thanks RNs you are my motivation to one day be your boss or perhaps the jackass CRNA or DR that treats you like an ignorant fool!

I think the LPN'S are a Little touchy! But I guess they have just cause. My point is if they went back to school and became an RN, there would not be any discussion about their presence in the ICU unit.

I'm a new member here, I just recently started LVN school here in Texas. I came to the forums to see what kind of wonderful advice I could get from fellow LVN/RN's on how to make my year go a bit easier. I've been here 5 minutes and I have already been offended beyond words. It pains me that I have to read about how horrible LVNs are on the floor, how they jack around or how they don't do their jobs. Of course there are going to be those out there, I understand that. But I REFUSE to be looked down upon simply because I don't have the time or money to go to school for 2 additional years. Critical care is where I want to go. Unfortunately most of the larger CC units in the Texas Medical Center are "wanting" to phase out LVNs. Who knows if it will happen, I don't know. I understand that LVNs can't do certain things. I know that we have to be monitored by a RN. That's fine with me. But when you go throwing your weight around by stereotyping all LVNs, subliminally saying that we aren't as good as RNs, that is going too far. The number one job of the nurse is to be the patient's advocate. Take care of the patient, do anything in your power to protect them. It sounds like the majority of those criticizing are more concerned with their power trip than taking care of the patient. I wont be coming back here, I already have too much to worry about rather than to listen to ignorance. I may not be an RN, but once I get my LVN degree, I will be proud as hell.

I know it gets ugly in here, esp. for someone new and impressionable to nursing. Just a word of advice:
ICU and ER jobs for LVN's are out there in TX but not all that plentiful and they generally will want someone experienced rather than a new grad.
My advice to you upon graduation is to go straight to Telemetry.
It's a great place to start for someone wanting to move eventually to ICU and there are plenty of telemetry units in TX who hire LVN's.