Do you say you're a nurse...

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

or do you say you're an LPN when talking to people? Is it common to make a distinction? I know I have friends who say "I'm and RN" when people ask what they do for a living, but it is standard to distinguish between the two, or do most people just say "I'm a nurse"?

When I start LPN school in August, will I say "I'm in nursing school" or does that imply I'm in RN school?

Sorry, probably a dumb question but I just wondered what is normal.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
i've given up on this conversation.

evidently you guys feel that nursing = caring

and i feel like nursing = knowledge

It can be a combination of both, this is why I can agree with you and them. You have to care to take the time to know because there would be better outcomes.

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It can be a combination of both, this is why I can agree with you and them. You have to care to take the time to know because there would be better outcomes.

:yeah:

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So do you say I am in a associates degree nursing program or in a BS nursing program all nursing schools are just that nursing regardless if its LVN or Associates RN or BSN RN.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I think we are beating a dead horse, over and over. If we as professional adults can not get along, then it is a real shame. I am a nurse. A LPN. I have co-workers that are also nurses, RN's. We are a team. I guess there are always going to be those that can not or will not have anything to do with "team work". I pity those people, because in the long run, they will suffer and so will the ones they care for. We are all needed in this healthcare field, we all make contributions. If someone is on some sort of "high horse" then perhaps they should jump off it before they fall off. We all need each other to do what is best for each and every patient or resident. I guess I am dumb- I am an LPN who did not realize this was some sort of contest of who is better LPN-vs_ RN. WHATEVER. I do not view it as a contest. I view it as team work and what is best in the overall big picture of caring for someone else......

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Specializes in med surg, ldrp, md office.

i agree we are kind of beating a dead horse aren't we? because the answer is quite simple really, an lpn is a nurse. there can be no question about it whatsoever. so if you want to simply call yourself a nurse by all means you have very right under the sun to do. if you want to say lpn fine. you've earned the title!

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Specializes in Women's Specialty, Post-Part, Scrub(cs).

Not wanting a fight here, but, I have been talking with some of the new RN graduates that I work with. We compared notes. Seems that the NCLEXRN and the NCLEXPN was not a great deal different. Both had very similar questions and both was very hard. I, personally, just say I am a nurse. My co-workers who are almost all RN's don't treat me any differently so why should I treat myself differently. I do explain to pt's that I am an LPN if I have to have a RN come in to push morphine or change a PCA. Other than that, I say "HI, I am your nurse tonight" And get on with the business of nursing.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Not wanting a fight here, but, I have been talking with some of the new RN graduates that I work with. We compared notes. Seems that the NCLEXRN and the NCLEXPN was not a great deal different. Both had very similar questions and both was very hard. I, personally, just say I am a nurse. My co-workers who are almost all RN's don't treat me any differently so why should I treat myself differently. I do explain to pt's that I am an LPN if I have to have a RN come in to push morphine or change a PCA. Other than that, I say "HI, I am your nurse tonight" And get on with the business of nursing.

I remember comparing notes about NCLEX-RN-PN with my best friend who is an RN graduate from the same college I attended. She concluded that my questions were a bit harder for her to answer. We know that the test is individualized, though. We both finished with minimal questions-75 for her, 85 for me. When I read the questions in the Saunders RN and LPN, I noticed that the comprehensive review was not that different except for some delegation questions, a few about IV drips...otherwise, I have often wondered if I should have gotten their Saunders book...I liked it better because it was color. I would not say that the coursework is the same, obviously, but the bottom line is that NCLEX is looking for minimal safety based on an entry level nurse.

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Specializes in OB-GYNE and Infection COntrol.

I agree with ellen we are in the same boat :)

well, of course we need to be knowledgeable, i've only been a nurse for 3 years but i make it a point to do things always with RATIONALE. you dont just follow orders but clarify, if in doubt verify and also suggest what you think is needed in handling a case. of course we have to be COMPETENT and what better way to do it than be not just knowledgeable but INTELLIGENT. but even if you are not RN u still must be COMPETENT and INTELLIGENT so ther is no difference. from the Chief Nurse down to the housekeeper, everyone must be COMPETENT and RESPONSIBLE in everything they do. Thus, being a RN is not being SUPERIOR it would not matter. just be COMPETENT and INTELLIGENT and accept that there are also COMPETENT and INTELLIGENt staff who does not carry RN at the end of their names.... :)

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One of the very first classes I took in Nursing school taught me that the first nurses where not trained, they had no skills and just worked under the Dr's orders. The Doctors needed someone to help and found a way to get that help. Nurses!...It has now became a profession and career choice for many of us. But, if any of us get to full of ourselfs to forget our humble starts......it was always about helping sick people get well. No matter how far up the chain we go.. the botton line is...

It is all about the patients. What ever you put behind your name for a title, there is someone else working beside or below you...helping all the way.

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I say I'm an LPN. It's my chosen career. I'm not ashamed of it. I consider myself a nurse, period, but there is a distinction between LPN and RN and that is always everyone's second question, anyway. The third is always "Well, when are you going to become an RN?" I save them the extra effort, tell them I'm an LPN, I love my chosen vocation, and while I will continue my education, I have no desire at this time to pursue RN certfication.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
One of the very first classes I took in Nursing school taught me that the first nurses where not trained, they had no skills and just worked under the Dr's orders. The Doctors needed someone to help and found a way to get that help. Nurses!...It has now became a profession and career choice for many of us. But, if any of us get to full of ourselfs to forget our humble starts......it was always about helping sick people get well. No matter how far up the chain we go.. the botton line is...

It is all about the patients. What ever you put behind your name for a title, there is someone else working beside or below you...helping all the way.

That concept is essentially why I choose to become a practical rather than a registered nurse. I do know that RNs have more schooling and get paid considerably more; however, in my eye, it does not take all of that for me to be a nurse (and I say me...not someone else). I certainly believe that all levels of nurses deserve their place and respect (if they are caring), but I was really interested in being a PRACTICAL nurse, because practical is really who I am. It was before modern technology, before Joint Commission, Magnet, and whatever poltergeist pests interfere with us daily. I am proud of what I do...period.:typing

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Specializes in Telemetry, Case Management.

I have been an LPN for twenty-four years. When I am asked what I do, I say, "I'm a nurse."

I know in some states LPNs are severely curtailed in what they can do. In the two states I am licensed in and work in, there is very little that I cannot do. I cannot hang blood without an RN, however the RN needs another nurse with her, whether Rn or Lpn. I can do IV push drugs. I have worked on just about every unit in the hospital and been charge in an LTC.

I have seen very intelligent RNs and LPNs and I have seen both RNs and LPNs that I wondered how they managed to finish school. I have given help to RNs who thought they were so much more educated than me until they got on the floor in the real world and realized that their broad "book-learnin'" didn't prepare them for everything. I have led codes, I have called MDs and went round and round with them advocating for my patient.

If anyone tells me I am not a nurse, I can only conclude they are very ignorant.

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