First year RPN student, really REALLY nervous about

[sputnik261]

Hey there, present and future nurses!

I've been accepted to the fall RPN semester at St Lawrence College. I'm a bit older than most of the college crowd now, just turned 27 this August, fully expect to be the only male nurse on this campus. Immunizations, record checks, books and financing are all taken care of, but even though I want to make a career in nursing, I'm worried. I didn't have all the necessary prereqs for a BScN this fall and decided to go the RPN route instead. My reasons for this are mainly that I'm living with my parents while going to school and a year of pre-health combined with the BScN would take me half a decade to finish. My long term goals are to become certified, find a job in one of the major cities, move out and bridge to RN after two or three years because I do NOT want to live with my parents for that long, but I still feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot.

I'm definitely going to give it everything I've got. I'm not trying to put down RPNs in any way, I know any level of nursing requires massive dedication and hard work. It's just that the large majority of job ads I see are for RN positions only, with the few positions for RPNs being casual postings in LTC or occasionally visiting care. I have nothing against taking care of the elderly, but is that ALL RPNs are qualified to do? Is it true I'd just be changing linens, dressings and bedpans if I managed to find work in a hospital? Little to no chance of full time hours/overtime/benefits? I just look at the limited scope of practice and keep thinking "why would anyone hire me for this over a new RN grad looking for their 1st year of hospital experience? Bridging programs in Canada are all but nonexistent right now, what if they're phased out completely in a few years? Can I support myself on RPN wages? What if I get laid off and nobody's hiring? Would I be in a position to finish my prereqs and do ANOTHER 4 years?"

I can't stop myself from thinking like this. Some of my relatives are retired nurses and they try to reassure me that RPNs and RNs basically have the same duties and share the work, that RPNs are more bedside oriented while RNs have more have more to do with the supervisory/administration side of things, but they mainly worked in small town hospitals in a different time. I know I should be looking forward to the opportunity, but I'm terrified of the industry leaving me in the dust no matter how hard I'm willing to work or how well I can do my job just because I don't have my Bachelor's. I'm locked in now, but the brightest part of my future looks like "GOPHER FOR LIFE" in big neon lights.

Have I been grossly misinformed and actually have a shot as a respected hospital nurse if I put in my best effort? Would I just be let go if life throws me a curveball and I don't upgrade later on? Some perspective would be really great on this...

[loriangel14, RN]

ok this will be quick because I gotta go to work.lol

First of all congrats and welcome to nursing. I think that's great that you are taking this step and we need more guys for sure!

I have been an RPN for 4 years after returning to school at 38.Best thing I ever did in my life.I too was worried about being relegated to LTC. I now work in a hospital and I am well satisfied with my role. RPNs work in almost all areas of this hospital except ICU. In my area there are plenty of programs for continuing education for RPNs.Foot care, peri anesthesia unit,OB nursing, OR nursing, and few more I can't think of.RPNs are well respected and you are nobody's "gopher". You make your own nursing practice decisions and are an important part of the team.You will have input into your patient's care and you collaborate with other disciplines such as dietary, physiotherapy and the doctors.

OK gotta run.Best of luck.

[4_Sq]

OK you now are doing one of the best things you have ever done career wise, and you are by no means Over The Hill!!

Have a great nursing career, forget about all those little nagging worries you have right now & enjoy.. You will have many opportunities in your career as loriangel14 said.

As far as gopher for life in big neon lights, your canvas is as vast as you paint it!

Horse shoes to U:hrnsmlys:

[loriangel14, RN]

OK I'm back. I didn't address some of the questions you had about the RPN role.You ask if you will be stuck changing linens, dressings and bedpans.Yes you will those are duties of all nurses, no matter what letters are after their name.No one is "above" doing that. If a call bell rings and you answer it and they need a change or a bedpan you will be the one doing it.It has nothing to do with being an RN or an RPN.The nurses with BSNs wipe bums too. You would be in hot water if you tried to say "it's not my job" or " that's not my patient". In these days of understaffing due to cuts we all rely on teamwork ( at least where I work).Changing dressings is actually something that requires skill and not pawned off as a job for someone "under" you.Knowing how to remove the dressing, clean, assess and redress a wound is something that requires practice and knowledge.

Have you had trouble finding bridging programs in Ontario? I know of several but it may depend on what area you are in.

Please stay in touch let us know you are doing.

[Fiona59]

You will hardly be the "only male on campus". I had four men in my class of 70 students, a decade ago. Two of my son's friends are in PN college.

What do you think nursing is all about? Hospital nursing is hard physical labour involving lots of patient care and contact with wounds (and feces, depends on where you wind up). I've been doing it for over a decade, so I know what I'm talking about.

I don't know what the wages are like in Ontario but as a part timer I made $48K last year and I don't work a lot.

How much research did you do into the role of the Practical Nurse before signing up?

[sputnik261]

You will hardly be the "only male on campus". I had four men in my class of 70 students, a decade ago. Two of my son's friends are in PN college.

What do you think nursing is all about? Hospital nursing is hard physical labour involving lots of patient care and contact with wounds (and feces, depends on where you wind up). I've been doing it for over a decade, so I know what I'm talking about.

I don't know what the wages are like in Ontario but as a part timer I made $48K last year and I don't work a lot.

How much research did you do into the role of the Practical Nurse before signing up?

Yeah, the "only male on campus" line was a joke just because it's a small campus in a small town where the attitude towards male nurses is still "oh, I never would have guessed you were like that. Nothing wrong with it, of course! Nothing you can do about it!" among the older (mostly guys) generation. I'm glad that perception is gradually going the way of disco. I know male students tend to be 6-10% of most nursing classes.

I looked up the scopes of practice on the CNA's website and I'm aware that technically RPNs are only limited in certain areas (can't hang IV bags or work in ICU, etc) but I'm worried about horror stories where their hours and responsibilities are cut to almost nothing simply because management considers them liabilities, RN wannabes. "You have 2 years of college, he/she has 4 of university. Sorry pal, they can do your job and whatever else we need them to do." I'm glad the posts so far have all been positive and that you're able to make a very good salary working only part time. The job boards have me worried that I'll be clocking 15hr weeks at 18.50/hr in LTC forever unless I get really, really lucky.

I didn't mean to come off as considering myself above cleaning up feces, blood, or other fluids. This isn't a job for the squeamish. Nurses do whatever needs doing and I want to be directly involved with patient care. I know I'll be dealing with those scenarios several times a day for the rest of my career. It was just that I assumd the attitude in most hospitals was becoming "RNs do the monitoring, IV and drug admin, and all other aspects of actual patient care, you just make sure they haven't soiled themselves, update the charts, and buzz in the REAL nurses if anything goes slightly wrong. Also, you're fired if we need to shore up our bottom line". I'm worried the trend is going to be that because most new grads are going the RN route, RPNs are slowly being written off as the new Nurse's Aide or orderly with few exceptions despite having almost identical responsibilities on paper. Barely educated holdovers from the bygone days of 2005 when a 2 or 3 year diploma was the entry to practice. That we're to dumb to hack a Bachelor's, basically, even though i know our training is just as challenging and bridging later on is an even heavier workload than going for a BScN out of the gate.

I'm not worried about doing the job itself. I'm worried that I won't be able to find a job at all because it looks like RPNs are being phased out of all settings but the occasional LTC assignment in favor of 4 year grads, even if we're fully capable of doing the same jobs just as competently and take our responsibilities to the patient just as seriously.

[loriangel14, RN]

RPNs are allowed to hang IV meds. We start IVs as well. We can't give push IV meds and we can't hang blood ( but we can monitor the pts and finish the procedure).Other than that we can give most meds and do our own monitoring and assessments.I monitor vitals, communicate with the doctors and families and make decisions regarding medications.I have done dressing changes to a wound that took 2 hours to complete, I have removed stitches, drains, staples, inserted catheters,suctioned patients, irrigated drains,I even can pronounce death. Your patients are your own and YOU are responsible for all their care (within your scope), the RNs have their own patients to care for.

RPNs are far from being written off as aids. Our scope is constantly expanding as is the education it requires and the areas of nursing where we can work is growing all the time.They don't consider us too dumb to do the degree. We are expected to know our stuff and step up to the plate.When I work with new grad RNs they have come to me( and other RPNs) for guidance

[sputnik261]

Thanks loriangel14, that's more info about being an RPN than I've been able to find on my own so far, even on this forum. I've got a lot more confidence now. Sounds like I've made a great decision.

No more drama queen nonsense, no more inferiority complex. Time to work hard and be the best nurse I can be!

[loriangel14, RN]

I know what you mean. I love my job but honestly I really didn't know what to expect, from school or the job.The first time I went into a room to pronounce death I thought I would faint.lol Come back if you have more questions.I think you'll do great.

[Fiona59]

Nah, Lori, the first time I wanted to faint was when I walked into the room, looked at the family, said hello and approached the patient. Comfort measures only, so I attached the oximeter to see how he was doing and he died. Right then and there. The family wanted to know what I did that killed him.

Uhm, his time was up. He couldn't have died 90 seconds earlier? He couldn't have died on the earlier shift? Nah, he waited for me.

Lori: was it a wound vac and involved tunneling? Been there and done that dressing!

[27400]

I didn't mean to come off as considering myself above cleaning up feces, blood, or other fluids. This isn't a job for the squeamish. Nurses do whatever needs doing and I want to be directly involved with patient care. I know I'll be dealing with those scenarios several times a day for the rest of my career. It was just that I assumd the attitude in most hospitals was becoming "RNs do the monitoring, IV and drug admin, and all other aspects of actual patient care, you just make sure they haven't soiled themselves, update the charts, and buzz in the REAL nurses if anything goes slightly wrong. Also, you're fired if we need to shore up our bottom line". I'm worried the trend is going to be that because most new grads are going the RN route, RPNs are slowly being written off as the new Nurse's Aide or orderly with few exceptions despite having almost identical responsibilities on paper. Barely educated holdovers from the bygone days of 2005 when a 2 or 3 year diploma was the entry to practice. That we're to dumb to hack a Bachelor's, basically, even though i know our training is just as challenging and bridging later on is an even heavier workload than going for a BScN out of the gate.

I'm not worried about doing the job itself. I'm worried that I won't be able to find a job at all because it looks like RPNs are being phased out of all settings but the occasional LTC assignment in favor of 4 year grads, even if we're fully capable of doing the same jobs just as competently and take our responsibilities to the patient just as seriously.

I've never heard anyone say that PNs are "too dumb to hack a Bachelor's..." because most people (that I know) chose the PN route because it'll get them into the nursing field faster or for some other financial reason. I've never heard any of my nursing colleagues say those things EVER... or maybe I haven't been exposed to the ways of the nursing world because I'm young and new to the profession.

I actually have a friend (RN) who interviewed for a job with an RPN in a panel interview--and the RPN got the job over him. They simply believed that both nurses were competent enough for the job but decided that the RPN was "cheaper" to hire over the RN. They're both new graduates.

Don't discount working for LTC facilities. I don't know if this is true for PNs but SOME (government owned) LTC's pay a higher RN pay rate than some hospitals in ON. Depending which acute facility you're interested in, SOME hospitals still continue to hire more RNs than RPNs. So if you do take the RPN route, be aware that there are still more jobs in LTC than in acute care for RPNs. We--RNs and RPNs--all get our hands dirty, especially if you're thinking about working in an acute care setting. Everyone has to do their share. I hope you continue with your studies and don't let hearsay dissuade from becoming a nurse. Best of luck.

[OgopogoLPN, LPN, RN]

Lori: was it a wound vac and involved tunneling? Been there and done that dressing!

Yep, done those too. They are the best (not that the patient is in that situation though, of course...)

My most complex one was the entire buttock of a lady who had nectroizing fasciitis. Entire cheek debrided off, to within millimeters of her orifice and almost in the labia. Had to use ostomy paste at the orifice to get the drape to stick. And of course the area in general is so um...moist. Lots of tunnelling. Took well over 2 hours and that was with a 2nd year RN student assisting/observing. But the VAC did wonders and her wound looked SO MUCH better after only 2 weeks of VAC therapy. Never did find out how she did overall though as she was from out of town and transferred back to her own hospital.

Sorry to hijack, OP. . You made a great choice in becoming an RPN.