Do you like being a LPN?

[sillysallie]

Hey I am new here and my question to you is Do you like Being a LPN/LVN?

If you had the chance to do it over would you become one again?

Whats your pay like?

Is it a good job?

I am thinking about going to scool at pacific pioneer(a vocational school) they have a certificate program and it is done in about a year. How realistic and likely is it for me to get a job after finishing a program like this? Have any of you actually finished a program like this?

I want to maybe become a RN later and I was wondering how to do that and if I can even do that with only a certificate?

Pretty much I am so cunfused on all this and Would like as much advice as I can get because I am not sure where to go from here... I dont know anybody who has done this before and was hoping to get some answers from people who have done this before...

[sillysallie]

Oh yeah... also I really want to work in ahospital.

[nursel56]

Here is my experience. It's only mine, and I know it will be different for every person.

If you go to school for a year and graduate from an LVN/LPN school, you take a test called the NCLEX (sorry if you knew that already!). If you pass the test, you will have a license as an LVN issued by the state that (in California) has to be renewed every 2 years. You will be asked to show a license to a potential employer, not a certificate. Programs that give out certificates (ie CNA and Medical Assistant) aren't the same as a license.

If you decide to get an RN, you have many more options than you would if you were starting from scratch.

The pay is not bad, but it varies greatly from state to state. You can check salary.com if you are curious about specific areas. I like being an LVN, but there are many more opportunities with an RN. If you need to get working quickly because of financial issues, it may make more sense to do it a step at a time.

Again, other states differ, but when I graduated LVNs commonly worked in acute care hospitals. Not anymore here. Most of the job openings here are for long-term care facilities. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably go for the RN, especially since you mention wanting to work in a hospital.

You can learn alot of first-hand experiences on the Discussion Boards for students, distance learning opportunities and bridge to RN programs offered in various areas.

Hope this helps a little anyway-- past my bedtime, :) Good luck whatever you decide!

[guest2210]

More and more vocational schools are offering LPN programs. You finish the course with a certificate but that usually enables you to sit for state boards (NCLEX).

I have been an LPN for 28 years and have never wanted to go further and have had no problems finding jobs in the past. However, with the increased number of schools and new grads flooding the workforce, it is much more difficult to find a good LPN job than it used to be. I've always been a people person and being an LPN enables me to have more contact with patients and their families, more so when I worked in hospitals.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[belgarion]

I'm an LVN in a small, rural hospital and I enjoy it. I am currently checking out the different paths to becoming an RN but that's because I am never really satisfied to sit still.

The job market is very regional right now. If you read this forum you will see all kinds of stories about LVNs and RNs who can't find work with or without experience. On the other hand, where I am in northern/west Texas, most new grads I know can find something, maybe not their "dream" job, but something to get that first "golden year" of experience.