Here is a question I have been pondering. Is someone who has their license as a LPN/LVN considered to be a real nurse? How do most Helthcare professionals view LPN/LVN? When I get my LVN license will I be a nurse?
I know it says nurse in the title... licensed vocational nurse..... but are you considered by your colleagues to be a nurse? Does hospital administration consider the LPN/LVN to be a nurse? When you go out in public and someone asks what you are, do you say your're a nurse? Or do you say your an LPN/LVN?
Just thought I'd get it straight from the horses mouth :)
I'm attending school right now where they have a LVN program and I am so excited about it. Everyone in my class is striving to get into the program next year. But I keep hearing my mother say about someone else..... "Oh shes just a PRACTICAL nurse." As if the job the woman was doing wasn't important.
Thanks for any replies. You know how hard it is to get those repeating mother tapes out of your head. :chuckle
Hello...this is a sore subject for me. I am just an "LPN" and let me tell you...I have been in the same facility for 7 years. We have agency "RN's" come in and "Supervise". I can tell you that they call me over half the time because they are unsure of a resident's status. I have heard the daytime supervisor when she is orienting an RN agency person, call her, she can answer most of your questions if you should have any!!!!! I often say, I really should become an RN because I myself and others have told me that I am very good in my field. However, we get that from experience. Most RN's are in the office and we are out on the floor. That is the real nursing world. I would rather be paid less to hold the hand of a dying person or laugh with them daily than get paid the "big bucks" in the office to shuffle paper. When I am out, and I tell people that I am a nurse and they ask me "LPN or RN??" My reply is does it matter?????? I do everything an RN does in my LTC facility except push paper and I LOVE it that way. We are the real nurses......and we should be very proud of it. In my LTC facility it is the LPN's that "RUN" the place and the RN's are in the office doing what???? I love my job and want to keep it that way, HANDS ON!!!!:wink2:
Specializes in Family Practice and General Medical.
I've been an LPN for 20 years and have always considered myself a nurse. Some RN's don't care for LPN's and will do their best to make you feel like and aid. Other's are great and treat you with the respect you are due. As an LPN, it is your job to conduct yourself in a manner that leaves no doubt that you are a nurse. When asked what I do, I say I'm a nurse. If I were an RN I'd probably say I was an RN, but at this point I see no reason to point it out unless I'm asked. Some people will ask me what the difference is between an RN and an LPN and I laugh and say, "About $15. an hour!" I'll tell them that LPN's do meds, but I don't do some IV meds and I don't hang blood or manage central lines. I'll let them know that I do most nursing procedures. It is an irritation to me that the nurses association (the union) in my state does not recognize LPN's. If we want to unionize, we have to join with the kitchen and janitorial staff to do so. At my hospital the kitchen and janitorial staff has chosen not to unionize, so I always feel like my position is vulnerable.
I've been an LPN for 20 years and have always considered myself a nurse. Some RN's don't care for LPN's and will do their best to make you feel like and aid. Other's are great and treat you with the respect you are due. As an LPN, it is your job to conduct yourself in a manner that leaves no doubt that you are a nurse. When asked what I do, I say I'm a nurse. If I were an RN I'd probably say I was an RN, but at this point I see no reason to point it out unless I'm asked. Some people will ask me what the difference is between an RN and an LPN and I laugh and say, "About $15. an hour!" I'll tell them that LPN's do meds, but I don't do some IV meds and I don't hang blood or manage central lines. I'll let them know that I do most nursing procedures. It is an irritation to me that the nurses association (the union) in my state does not recognize LPN's. If we want to unionize, we have to join with the kitchen and janitorial staff to do so. At my hospital the kitchen and janitorial staff has chosen not to unionize, so I always feel like my position is vulnerable.
It's not even a matter of "considering" an LPN to be a nurse. LPNs are nurses, period. We have to be licensed by the Board of nursing in each state. I know I'm not struggling through 2 semesters of A&P so I can be a mechanic! There is somethign worng with a Nurses Assoc that doesn't recognize LPNs.
One unfortunate thing that comes up with those who now have advanced degrees is that cattiness so common among a lot of nurses....They figure if they had to struggle through school then everybody else should have to, or isn't quite as good as they are. It is the people that have that mindset who are often in charge of the associations, etc.
Last time I checked, our Board of Nursing had at least 3 LPNs sitting on the board. (Out of maybe 10 or so). That says to me that LPNs are nurses....
This is such a stupid debate. LPN do the base level (and most patient involved) care. Sure, there is a distinction with each new education level achieved, but that doesn't change the fact that LPNs are licensed as nurses. WHy would we have to carry malpractice insurance if we weren't? WHy would we have to be licensed by the state if we weren't? WE aren't out there distributing candy to people...
Where I live, probably half of the RNs started out as LPN. Once they've gotten that new degree, everybody else is not quite as good as they are. Its unfortunate...but another way in whoch nurses "eat their young"....
Recently I volunteered for the local disaster program. When I told them I was a nurse they did not ask if I was an RN of LPN. They were just glad to get a nurse. They needed people to do triage and to pass meds and they were not going to use lay people for that. In most situations it does not matter which license you have only that you are licensed.
I think that RN's, in some cases, could not get along without LPN's. I worked in a hospital where the only RN on the floor was the charge nurse. She could not know anything about the patients that way. We are sometimes their eyes and ears.
I may be an LPN but I am a nurse and PROUD OF IT!:)
am I a real nurse? heck yeah!!! for 10 1/2 years and I have only worked in nursing homes twice, and that was my choice because I was burned out on hospital's. but in my 10 years I have been a case manager, held a position equivalent to ADON(different title, same job), educational coordinator, i've worked er, med/surg, mother baby, tele, you name it I've been there. The state of georgia doesn't limit my license the way some states do.
To all of you that are unable to find hospital work, come down south and play with us! The hospitals here hire lots of LPN's, and many offer great orientation for new grads. I know there is a shortage everywhere, but it seems to be especially bad in southern states (probably because #1- our average salary is lower and #2- a large majority of our population does not receive any form of education past high school), so our hospitals are not as bad about saying "sorry, BSN's only, please". I work in a cardiac stepdown unit as a LPN, and the only things RN's do that I can't is hang blood and give certain meds IV (mostly cardiac meds and a few narcotics). Even the narcotics considered "RN only" for IVP can be given IM by LPN's. Here, a good portion of patient care is handled by the LPN, and the RN does most of the paperwork. I assure you, LPN's are "nurses", the genuine article! I have met many a LPN who could work circles around a RN. We do alot of team nursing where I work, and I think that encourages our RN's to have a close working relationship with the LPN's. That way, both nurses are equal on the team, and noone treats the other like a "lesser" nurse - just two nurses with different responsibilities for the same team.:icon_hug:
here is a question i have been pondering. is someone who has their license as a lpn/lvn considered to be a real nurse? how do most helthcare professionals view lpn/lvn? when i get my lvn license will i be a nurse?
i know it says nurse in the title... licensed vocational nurse..... but are you considered by your colleagues to be a nurse? does hospital administration consider the lpn/lvn to be a nurse? when you go out in public and someone asks what you are, do you say your're a nurse? or do you say your an lpn/lvn?
just thought i'd get it straight from the horses mouth :)
i'm attending school right now where they have a lvn program and i am so excited about it. everyone in my class is striving to get into the program next year. but i keep hearing my mother say about someone else..... "oh shes just a practical nurse." as if the job the woman was doing wasn't important.
thanks for any replies. you know how hard it is to get those repeating mother tapes out of your head. :chuckle
heck yeah, a lvn is a real nurse. and please dont ever ever ever let anyone tell you otherwise. a lot of rn's think that because they have a little bit more responsiblity that they are better than us, but that is not true. alot of rn's have this power trip because they have that title, and in my opinion that's all it is a title! i know alot of lvn's that know a whole lot more than rn's and is 100% better at a job than an rn. i dont know what the big difference is. i hate the pay. at the job i'm at, the lvn's get paid $16-17/hr and the rn's are getting paid $20-22/an hour and we all do the exact same thing!! wtf is that all about?
anyway to answer your question yes you will be a real nurse and dont ever think that you're not.
heck yeah, a lvn is a real nurse. and please dont ever ever ever let anyone tell you otherwise. a lot of rn's think that because they have a little bit more responsiblity that they are better than us, but that is not true. alot of rn's have this power trip because they have that title, and in my opinion that's all it is a title! i know alot of lvn's that know a whole lot more than rn's and is 100% better at a job than an rn. i dont know what the big difference is. i hate the pay. at the job i'm at, the lvn's get paid $16-17/hr and the rn's are getting paid $20-22/an hour and we all do the exact same thing!! wtf is that all about?
anyway to answer your question yes you will be a real nurse and dont ever think that you're not.
i edited this because i may have come across the wrong way...i was just taken aback by the yelling.....and the anger in your "voice".
heck yeah, a lvn is a real nurse. and please dont ever ever ever let anyone tell you otherwise. a lot of rn's think that because they have a little bit more responsiblity that they are better than us, but that is not true. alot of rn's have this power trip because they have that title, and in my opinion that's all it is a title! i know alot of lvn's that know a whole lot more than rn's and is 100% better at a job than an rn. i dont know what the big difference is. i hate the pay. at the job i'm at, the lvn's get paid $16-17/hr and the rn's are getting paid $20-22/an hour and we all do the exact same thing!! wtf is that all about?
anyway to answer your question yes you will be a real nurse and dont ever think that you're not.
actually i had been an rpn/lpn for over 10 years prior to becoming an rn. i was always proud of being an rpn/lpn.
i can also tell you first hand that despite alot of outward similarities, there are some big differences. i learned most of those differences after becoming an rn.
how unfortunate you have such anamosity towards rns. that's something i never had as an rpn/lpn, thank god.
I have met many a LPN who could work circles around a RN. We do alot of team nursing where I work, and I think that encourages our RN's to have a close working relationship with the LPN's. That way, both nurses are equal on the team, and noone treats the other like a "lesser" nurse - just two nurses with different responsibilities for the same team.:icon_hug:
MDSlady
66 Posts
Hello...this is a sore subject for me. I am just an "LPN" and let me tell you...I have been in the same facility for 7 years. We have agency "RN's" come in and "Supervise". I can tell you that they call me over half the time because they are unsure of a resident's status. I have heard the daytime supervisor when she is orienting an RN agency person, call her, she can answer most of your questions if you should have any!!!!! I often say, I really should become an RN because I myself and others have told me that I am very good in my field. However, we get that from experience. Most RN's are in the office and we are out on the floor. That is the real nursing world. I would rather be paid less to hold the hand of a dying person or laugh with them daily than get paid the "big bucks" in the office to shuffle paper. When I am out, and I tell people that I am a nurse and they ask me "LPN or RN??" My reply is does it matter?????? I do everything an RN does in my LTC facility except push paper and I LOVE it that way. We are the real nurses......and we should be very proud of it. In my LTC facility it is the LPN's that "RUN" the place and the RN's are in the office doing what???? I love my job and want to keep it that way, HANDS ON!!!!:wink2: