which would you choose?

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Good Afternoon,

I need a little advice from those who know. I am graduating from my LPN program in one month and have started networking. I am enrolled to start my RN program in the fall. In the few months between the two, I have to study hard to pass my NCLEX-PN and wait to find out if I become a nurse.

My question is...would you sugget that I get a job as a tech (making pretty pathetic pay and not even working as a nurse after all my hard work to become one) or should I go the nursing home route while going for my RN. I would make more money and be practicing as a nurse doing med/surg, but I wouldn't have the clout, benefits, tuition reimbursement and many other things that working for a hospital would offer me.

I know it comes down to money, but I'd also like to think ahead and hear from others who have done this before. This is my future and I'd like to know that I am making the smartest decision that will help me the most in the long run.

Thanks in advance for any advice or stories of what worked for you!

Have a good day. :thnkg:

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Where do you live? If it's a rural area you can get a job in med/surg.

Personally, I wouldn't work as a tech. You will find it too furstrating.

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
where do you live? if it's a rural area you can get a job in med/surg.

i was an rn in an inner city working alongside lpns in medsurg. i think it depends on the health care system, not the area.

i do believe that working as a tech after becoming an lpn negates your license in a sense. go the lpn route...even though you might not be working in your favorite environment, you will have more money, you will use your nursing skills, and if you're going for an rn, it's only temporary!

jess

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Yes, it is very unlikely that your BON will allow you to work as a Tech because it is below your scope of practice once you get your LPN.

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
yes, it is very unlikely that your bon will allow you to work as a tech because it is below your scope of practice once you get your lpn.

a friend of mine worked as a tech out of nursing school because she couldn't find any rn jobs. i worked as a unit clerk while i was an rn. both of those situations were in delaware, though...

jess

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Hello,

I live at the jersey shore. I was thinking it might be smart to get in with St. Barnabas (which includes Community Medical Ctr.,Kimbell and many other hospitals and facilities) or Meridian (which has Jersey Shore trauma center, Ocean Medical in Brick, Riverview in Redbank and various sister facilities such as rehab, nursing home, doctors offices, etc.)

I realize it is hard to get in with these groups ...especially as an LPN unless you start at the bottom (they tend to hire within). I have many classmates that are CNA's for them so they have their in. My thought was that I can't work as an LPN until at least Sept or so when (and if) I pass my boards and become licensed. If I worked as some sort of tech until then, I might have an easier time moving up with each degree I get.

The nursing homes seem to be a dead end, really nowhere to go and I hear that many people become very complacent (especially since the money is so much better than the hospitals and you get a little more respect as an LPN) after working there and often just stay.

Maybe I should explain, my ultimate dream is not to work in direct patient care, I'm not quite sure which direction yet, maybe CM or administrative, maybe working for a medical company as a rep, I really don't even know of all the opportunities out there...I'd love to learn though. I met someone the other day that was an RN and just stepped into a wonderful position at a corporation and she travels and is more in an educative/administrative type role.

I know all this is so far away, I just don't want to get off on the wrong foot only to find out that if I had taken another route it could have made such a difference.

Sorry to make this so long, I guess to sum it up, is working for the hospital with all the perks and benefits, tuition reimbursement and the valuable learning experience and the fact that it would look great on my resume worth the lower pay and temporary lower status? Or does it not really matter, will a not well known LTC facility be just as valuable? Jeeze, I wish the hospitals would just hire LPN's right out of school like they used to. :uhoh3:

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
a friend of mine worked as a tech out of nursing school because she couldn't find any rn jobs. i worked as a unit clerk while i was an rn. both of those situations were in delaware, though...

jess

yeah, definitely check with the bon because that really is a conflict of your scope of practice. i wouldn't think a unit clerk would be the same because thats not in a pt. care capacity but the rn that was a tech is unusual.

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Hi All,

Today I was offered an externship at a local/well known Rehab Hospital as an RN Tech. The pay is not great but the Med/Surg skills I will be learning are invaluable and it will look great on my resume. Its only part time, but I think it's the right move until I finish my LPN and while I study for my Boards.

By chance I talked to the woman today and she said everything was supposed to be completed already, but I submitted all my info anyway and she wants to see me again tomorrow. If luck is on my side, then I will just squeak in at the last second. My husband thinks I am crazy to work instead of taking the summer off to relax from a hard year and to study for my boards. I probably am...but something inside tells me this is the right thing to do. :selfbonk:

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Good luck!

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