Austin LPN/LVN job outlook

Trophywife81 · Mar 27, 2007

Anyone? Please?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2007

It might be a long while before you'll get anyone from Austin to respond, as most of the people who post on the Texas forum are from the DFW area or Houston.

jessica<3RN · Mar 30, 2007

The trick is to get accepted into a nursing program in Austin!! ACC has a long waiting list, and was pretty much a waste of time. I'm going to apply to UT next spring.

Kiya · Mar 30, 2007

Nursing, like teaching, can be a very stressful profession no matter what specialty you may be in. Having the desire and ability to take care of people is very important in the nursing field but it's also a lot like the feeling you had when you first wanted to be a teacher. I see so many nursing students who are so geared up to "take care of people and please everyone" that they can hardly stand to sleep at night!! I appreciate their motivation but when they finally get some good 'ole experience under their belt it wears off after awhile. Agree or disagree seasoned nurses? There are "drama, politics, impossible-to-please 'patients' and administrators, and the work that followed me home every day" or if you are lucky the work that keeps you there several hours after your shift was supposed to end. I'm not trying to detour you from pursuing a nursing career but I'm also not going to sugar-coat it and make it a luxurious career choice because it really isn't. It's emotional, hard, stressful, difficult, complicated but can be very rewarding.

Just out of curiousity.... have you ever thought of starting your own business by becoming a private home-school teacher? :monkeydance:

Hi everyone!
I've been a regular reader for some time now, and decided it was time to jump in...
I'm strongly considering attending school to become an LVN (already accepted, can start in June), but I keep having second thoughts! Is this normal? I was a high school English teacher for three years, but I got so fed up with the incessant drama, politics, impossible-to-please parents and administrators, and the work that followed me home every day (grading and lesson-planning) that I threw in the towel last May. Anyway, on to my nursing questions.
1. I live in Austin, TX, which seems to have a really tough job market--everybody seems to want to live here, which makes wages low; yet we also have the highest cost of living in Texas. Go figure. Can anyone comment on the job market for LVNs in Austin? Is it fairly easy to find work? What are wages like for a new grad?
2. Since I left teaching because of the stress, am I crazy for even thinking about nursing? I've talked myself out of nursing school multiple times after reading some of the posts here! :) I really love the "taking care of people" aspect, but my hubby fears that I'm just jumping from one high-stress job to another, like a moth drawn to a flame...
3. Are LVNs a "dying breed"? If I go through with this, I plan to eventually earn my RN, but I would really like to be earning a paycheck sooner rather than later. Thus my question earlier, of whether it's hard to find work for LVNs, especially in a city that pumps out RNs like they're goin' out of style...
I know this has been long and rambling--thanks for reading! Any advice is very appreciated.

austin heart, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2007

It will be VERY difficult for you to find work as an LVN in Austin. Like you said the job market is pretty tough for RNs let alone LVNs. The hospital that I work for does not hire LVNs period. I believe that there are some of the other hospitals may hire LVNs in their Adult Acute Care units which is the inpt equivalent of a nursing home. You would also be able to find a job in an actual nursing home, a doctor's office or at the State (mental) Hospital. I honestly do not know what the pay would be as I am an RN but when I was an LVN I could have made more money working at the mall full time than what I was making as an LVN.

As far as the stress goes all you have to do is read some of the posts on this forum to tell how stressful our jobs are. Nursing is more than "taking care of people". My husband, an IT guy, is always coming home saying "you just don't understand how stressful my job is" and I am like I am sure it is stressful but the worst you can do is screw up someones computer. I can kill somebody if I screw up. You just have to remeber that someone's life is in your hands everytime you clock in.

niteshiftlvn07 · May 9, 2007

:monkeydance: I hope you decide to go to nursing school. it's worth the sacrifice and hard work. All nurses(lvn's/rn's) have a hard job and we have to deal with families, management,lack of adequate staff,etc..I won't lie to you I've sometimes wondered why I chose to be a nurse. But I'm grateful I did!!!What has helped me since I've graduated has been keeping in touch with other student nurses I graduated with and seeking advice from other long term nurses.There are some who believe that there's only one way to do things, but you will make the ultimate decision about your career goals.If you truly detest the idea of remaining a teacher, then follow your dreams.I dont know where you plan on going to nursing school, but ACC has a great lvn program. Be prepared for tough clinicals and late night study sessions.Austin's job market for lvn's is somewhat tight right now. By that I mean there aren't alot of LVN hospital jobs. LVN's are always needed in LTC/assisted living, home health, temp agencies, state facilities.Most LTC jobs pay $18-23/hr DOE. Temp agency $18-26/hr.If you want to work at clincs/ MD's office there are opportunities but they pay less.If you like an 8-5, no holidays or weekends you should apply at clinics/md's offices.Nursing is stressful and thankless, so if you're looking for a stressfree, high paying job then:uhoh21: ....well don't hold your breathe!?!

hookem05 · May 10, 2007

Not sure if this helps, but here goes. My lab partner worked in a OBGYN office in central Austin and said that LVNs in the office had told her the job market for LVNs is bleak. One LVN said if she left her current job, she wouldn't be able to find another. (I don't know if she meant another nursing job period, or another similar position.)

I also considered applying to the LVN program at ACC because I talked to other students who seemed to get into the program quickly, and I'd heard about the long waits for RN programs. However, I decided to forge ahead and just apply to the RN program since that's what I really want to do and I got in right away. At the CAP session I went to in January, the nursing dept. talked about adding many more seats to their program, possibly as early as this fall. It sounds like the hospitals are putting pressure on the schools (both UT and ACC) to add more seats, and the hospitals seem to be willing to do their part by funding these seats and offering more space in the hospitals for nursing clinicals. With the three new hospitals opening in North Austin/Williamson county in the next couple years, I suspect the hospitals are feeling the pinch of the nursing shortage, even here where there are two RN programs graduating nurses 2-3 times a year.

hookem05 · May 10, 2007

Forgot to add...I think recently there have been about 90 seats for the RN program each semester. It sounds like that could increase to anywhere between 110 and 200 seats total per semester, with the goal of eliminating the waiting period to begin the RN program (or at least capping the wait period at one semester, max).

mama_in_atx · May 26, 2007

Forgot to add...I think recently there have been about 90 seats for the RN program each semester. It sounds like that could increase to anywhere between 110 and 200 seats total per semester, with the goal of eliminating the waiting period to begin the RN program (or at least capping the wait period at one semester, max).

I believe this is true, but the problem seems to be with finding the faculty to teach all these additional students!