AAS-LPN/ Confused!

[lifelearningrn]

I'm curious about the associate degree LPNs. Don't LPN have a more limited scope and less pay? Isn't an associates degree about the same amount of time in school? I was under the impression that LPN was a one year certificate type thing and associates degrees were RNs... but I know a woman that says she got an associates degree LPN. If the amount of time in school is the same, why would someone take that route? Maybe I'm mistaken about something?

[caliotter3]

You're not mistaken about anything. There are some community college LPN programs that offer an associate's degree to those who complete the LPN program and then continue with the rest of the courses required for a degree. There is absolutely no reason to withhold a degree from someone who has completed that amount of college credit courses and who wants the college diploma that comes with finishing the requirements.

[caliotter3]

I have never heard of an associate degree LPN. But it does not mean that it does not exist. Yes, an LPN has a lesser scope of practice and generally makes less money. I would have to wonder why someone would want to take two years to obtain a degree for LPN when you can get an RN in the same amount of time and make more money. But that is just me.

An individual might do this because they were accepted in the LPN program, but not the RN program. They complete the degree requirements sooner rather than later. If they don't get into the RN program at a later date, they have a college degree, which may or may not be terminal for them. An LPN with an associate's degree can answer yes to the "college graduate" question.

[Fiona59]

I did just that. Pettiness might be a result of the working conditions in Canada's socialized medicine. Who knows? Like a bunch of chickens fighting for pecking order, its noisy and messy. LPN's and RN's were created and identified as useful and necessary or the state boards would have never approved their standards. This bickering does not promote team work, and it takes an entire team to give the best of care.

We don't have "socialized medicine" we have universal healthcare. Big difference.

The PN education up here has in the last decade replaced the two year diploma RN programme in scope and content. BScN holders have a hard time accepting that the PN grads hit the floor with the skills to function independently without a lengthy hospital orientation period, that the LPN new graduate is functioning at the level of a hospital trained/diploma grad. They are worrried about losing positions but they seem to forget that most nurses need hospital experience to advance through the system and into the management positions so many of them crave.

It's different individuals who become PNs. I chose that route because I enjoy patient care. Others chose it because they can't afford four years at Uni.

[mystic2fire]

This has been a trend every time the economy goes south. This creates a "Bertha-better-than-you" attitude within the echelons of nursing. I am amazed folks still promote this. Hospitals may get picky over grade point average, but you do the same work, you take the same RN-BSN exam. Having been thru the cyclical ups and downs of the nursing economy, this is so much horse-hockey. Critical thinking only gets in the way of a code situation. Stop buying into this job sales BS. No BSN grad is better than a 20 yr experienced RN or LPN. In 5 years you will see the truth.

Agree! Same goes for those that like to think that they are smarter than the people that do the RN online. Last time I checked, in class or online, they all take the same boards.