CONFUSED...I thought 1 yr into a 2yr RN program, you can b LPN???

[fleurafor]

I was under the impression that after you complete 1 year of a 2 yr RN program, you can take the exam to become an LPN??

I looked it up online and some sites say yes you can but my instructors said they dont do that anymore?? Whats the deal?

[nurse simmy]

My school is a 1+1 program. The first 2 semesters and a summer session are the LPN year. Then we have to pass the NCLEX-PN to continue to the second (RN) year. About 10 years ago, they required everybody to take a year off and get some experience before continuing, but too many never returned.

Many LPN's who didn't continue on back then rejoin the classes now, and it is very difficult for them. The classes build on what we are taught the first year, with the assumption that everybody had the first year last year, not 20 years ago.

~Simmy

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Like others said, it is state & school specific. Just like NY, in NJ the only way to be eligible for NCLEX-PN is graduating from a school of practical nursing. The only exam students are eligible for during RN school is the CNA exam (which can be challenged after fundamentals of nursing is completed & your school signs off on the paperwork).

According to the NJBON, it was determined that the first year of an RN program was NOT equivalent to an LPN education.

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Here, it depends on how the curriclum is set up. If you cover the material in the right order you can take the LPN test after a year. I'd like to challenge it now (and even pay for it) just to see what I'd make on it, lol. Our curriclum isn't set up to allow for that they say, but frankly they've failed to even teach us what an LPN even is, lol.

[CrazziiRN913, ADN, BSN]

i think it depends on the school

[Jonathank]

i think it depends on the school

I'd bet it has even more to do with the laws/rules/regs of the state.

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

i will agree.....

i'd bet it has even more to do with the laws/rules/regs of the state.

[emilia226]

Elkperk, in which state do you live?

[ready2baRN]

Here in Florida the BON will allow you to challenge the boards after 1 year but certain criteria must be met first which are the type of classes and a certain amount of clinical/lab hours you must have completed in order to go that route.

[caliotter3]

i think it depends on the school

Ultimately, it does depend on the school. Just because the state allows the practice, does not mean that the school follows this policy.

[Jen_Loves_Nursing]

Depends on your program limitations... some allow testing out other do not.. ask your director.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Wow this is an old thread! I'd bet a lot of information has changed in three years, but this bit hasn't: the reason why there are States that don't allow this is simply because every area of nursing must have been studied in order to be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-PN; if one is in a typical RN program, you are still covering coursework in your third semester (and fourth) that an LPN needs to have learned prior to testing. The way to be sure someone has met these requirements is to have successfully passed an LPN program. It's not as if all the nursing content is learned in only the first two semesters, it is usually spread out over four. And while it's true that there is more to a RN program in terms of scope, content, etc, the 'extra' isn't all saved until the very end.

In my own RN nursing program, an aeon ago, LOL, I (and others) asked about this and we were told that since OB/maternity was not completed until the end of the third semester, and psych not until the beginning of the 4th, the earliest we could possibly test would be at midterm of our FOURTH semester.....in which case, why bother? We were going to be done with the RN program and studying for THAT exam soon enough.

And even if you were inclined to STILL do that, just imagine the studying time for th NCLEX-PN, taking you away from the final courses you needed to graduate from the RN program. Seems like a recipe for disaster to me!

[lth1123]

At my school, those who could had to complete a summer course in addition to the ADN program then they could sit for the LVN. But, it had a few other requirements for those interested. I found that it took most of nursing III for them to be able to take it. We finish in May.