For those who have taken both RPN and RN

World Canada CA Programs

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I am debating between taking RN or RPN..

I was accepted into both but is there really a big difference besides the length of schooling? Is RN really much harder and more stressful?

Thanks in advance!

If you're planning to bridge to RN later you might as well just go RN at the beginning.

I'm nearing the end of the Rpn to rn bridge. Knowing what I know now I wish I'd gone ahead and done the RN from the get go. There is nothing wrong with being an rpn. It's a good job, the scope of practice is getting wider and there's a good demand for RPN's. Of course as you know it's only two years vs four but that's a bit deceiving. The Rpn program is really jam packed with classes. In the RN program I take four or five courses per semester. My first semester of the Rpn program I had nine courses. The Rpn program is hectic, there is very little room for error. I found the program very stressful. The four years of the RN program allows for you to really take the time to review the materials. I find it much less stressful.

The thing to consider is if you do the Rpn program you may find in time a certain level of frustration when you enter the work force and see the difference between the two roles. Both RPN's and RNs perform most of the same tasks, care for many of the same patients and deal with the same levels of stress. As an rpn in Ontario you'll probably top out in hourly pay at about $31. As an rn you'll top out at $45.50 after 8 years. It's a big gap and although money isn't everything it is a consideration. It's about $600,000 over a career.

You also have to consider where you want to work. RPN's work in many of the same units as RNs. You'll find RPN's in the Er, medsurg, long term care, dialysis,ect. But if you want to work in the ICU, management, being a nurse educator then you'll need to be an rn.

It might seem like a lot more time to take the RN over the Rpn but in the end that time is going to pass anyways. Even if you end up wanting to work on a medicine floor for 30 years then retire and never want to go else where just bing an rn opens doors that are currently closed to RPN's.

Plus if one day you want to go back and become a nurse practitioner then you'll need to be an rn.

Lastly if you decide to do the Rpn first and decide down the road you want to go back to school and do the Rpn to rn bridge it's three years. So five years when you add up the Rpn and Rpn to rn bridge to become an rn vs four to go straight through the RN program.

Thanks! yeah that makes sense for sure I think i'll stick with RN.

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