DO LVNs GET RESPECT?

Trauma Columnist · Feb 7, 2007

I was an LPN and yes, they get the respect that they give. You do have to realize though that as you procede up the educational ladder, more respect, but also more responsibility are the norm. Good luck in school.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2007

Respect and occupational prestige tend to increase as the educational level increases. RNs generally receive more respect in the workplace than LVNs because they have attained higher levels of education. As an LVN, you will need to be a respectable person in order to receive the respect in return.

If you give respect, you will receive it.

linzz · Feb 7, 2007

Yes I think they do. I have only met one rude RN and the rest have been very supportive and certainly respectful. So I think there are rude people in any profession. I feel that as an LVN, I just want to feel that I am doing a good job and that any patients in my care are safe, along with my licence. I worry more about these things because I am new at this and still nervous.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Feb 8, 2007

I feel that an LPN has to earn respect by being professional, neat and understand the politics of the facility they work for. I am still new myself, but I don't pretend to know more than I know and try to ask intelligent questions as well as continuing to read. There are many RNs that have asked me or have assumed that I will go for the RN. For me, that is a no-no, so, I will just work hard at what I do and learn along the way.

jelorde37 · Feb 9, 2007

i agree with pagan, i had to earn my respect specially because im very young. the way i earned the respect of the RNs and DONs was through my assessment skills. lets just say that i saved the facilty a lot of trouble by catching things that other RNs and older LVNs didnt catch.

postmortem_cowboy · Feb 12, 2007

If you stay an LVN for any amount of time, you will learn, there are RN's that will give you the respect you deserve, and there are some that won't. You can be super LVN, and that one RN will talk smack about you no matter what, you can help that person, start their IV's for them, help put in their foleys and they'll still talk smack.

Personally, it doesn't matter to me what licensing you hold, if your a lazy LVN, your still a lazy nurse, if your a lazy RN, your a lazy nurse that's taken more schooling than me, but your still lazy. I give the respect I get, and I give alot of respect for someone that is an RN, I've seen them run themselves crazy trying to cover PB's for me, and I in turn offer to help them out with something that's in my scope, it's a give/get industry, you'll make more friends offering to help someone else out by taking some of their stress off, and learn alot more from the ones that like you, than being lazy and expecting someone to owe you.

It still doesn't matter whether your an RN or an LVN, you still care for patients, it's to the degree that you care for them that counts. Every patient on the floor you work is one of your patients, you may not have direct responsibility for another RN's patients, but are you seriously going to go hunt down an RN or CNA to get a patient a cup of water when your right there and capable? Will you bail at the first sight of a code brown when a CNA's asking you to hold a patient for them or help bed bath them and you have a couple of minutes to help out? Will you keep all your IV fluids full and ready to go for the next shift by shift change, and make sure all your PB's are ready to grab and hang, or will you make the RN deal with your patients IV's all night long when they have patients of their own to take care of? It's the little things that earn an LVN respect in CNA's and RN's eyes.

In my opinion, most RN's that started out LVN's, like LVN's alot better and associate/relate with them better. It's the ones that usually go RN full through (and i'm not saying all of them do but some of them) that think just because they hold a licensing higher than ours, that we're not capable of and don't deserve the respect they do.

Wayne.

MsLady06 · Feb 13, 2007

Not all RN's respect them. I've seen a few on this board talk down about LPN's...its 50/50

BigB · Feb 16, 2007

"Oh, your just a LVN"

"When are you gonna go back to school to be a real nurse."

Hear the above from RN's in the past. Statements were directed at fellow LVN students.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2007

yeah and it's a shame too....

not all rn's respect them. i've seen a few on this board talk down about lpn's...its 50/50

postmortem_cowboy · Feb 16, 2007

Unfortunately we all hear that... but that should be something to push you on for your RN, the way they're looking at is is that your half an RN, or half a nurse, even though your a whole LVN.

Wayne.

ginger58, ASN, RN · Feb 16, 2007

I think LVNs get respect depending on what you put out there, just like anything else in life. You have to be respectful to get respect. There are some LVNs that are much better nurses than some RNS. There are some RNs that are slackers and don't have my respect. It's the person, not the title.