RN students can sit for LPN????

Katnip, RN · Nov 12, 2005

I believe it depends on the state AND the nursing progam you're in. To be an LPN you have to have a certain number and type of credits, so an RN program has to be designed that way.

It's just like there are some BSN programs that have you take your NCLEX-RN after 2 years because they grant you an associate's half way through your program.

mitchsmom · Nov 12, 2005

:yeahthat:

My school doesn't have it arranged for either -

Achoo!, LPN · Nov 12, 2005

Last year they changed our cirriculum so we can do this. I am in Wisconsin.

rnwendy23 · Nov 12, 2005

I went through the first year of the RN program and then took an LPN class over the summer (approx 2 months long). I was done at the beginning of July and passed my LPN boards on July 29th. I'm in the state of MD. Hope this helps some.

MIA-RN1, RN · Nov 12, 2005

i'm in NY State and after the third of four semesters in the ADN program we can sit for the LPN exam. Its a hot topic because on the one hand, its great for the practice and also if you are taking the third semester in the spring and have to wait all summer for the final semester to start up again its practical. (My school doesn't offer summer nursing classes) Then others say its a waste of $400 and doesn't do you much good if you take it in January and then graduate in June.

adidas99 · Nov 12, 2005

I think it just depends on your nursing school & probably how the curriculum is set up.

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Nov 13, 2005

I went through the first year of the RN program and then took an LPN class over the summer (approx 2 months long). I was done at the beginning of July and passed my LPN boards on July 29th. I'm in the state of MD. Hope this helps some.

I did the same thing in MD - in 1992, (HCC for ADN, Sikesville for LPN).

They had changed the rules from you can take it after the first year to you have to graduate from an LPN program to take the NCLEX-PN. But they never said how long you had to go to the program, so I was 'grandfathered' into the last 10 wks of the program and actually 'graduated' from that program.

~faith,

Timothy.

EmilyCCRN · Nov 13, 2005

My nursing program used to allow students to sit for the NCLEX-PN at the end of their first year, but they discontinued this practice because they decided (this is all according to the director of my program) that since they teach RN methods from the very beginning, there is not enough "LPN" content to justify letting students take the exam. There are very, very few LPN jobs in my area, anyway, and I believe that there is currently only one LPN program in my state (Oregon).

HowieH RN · Nov 13, 2005

You can do it in NY. It could be done back in 1983, but the nursing instructors discouraged it.

palesarah · Nov 13, 2005

The school I went to had the program set up so RN students could sit for the LPN after the 3rd (of 4) semester. Actually, the timing and laws in my state were right that you could get work as a GPN (graduate Practical Nurse) after your 3rd semester and you had 4 or 6 months to work as a GPN before you HAD to sit for the NCLEX-PN. By that time, you'd have graduated from the program and be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN. But not too many places were hiring LPNs in our area, so I only knew 1 person who did it. And as it happened, she was dismissed from the program in that last semester, so I really don't know how things worked out for her.

oldnurse newnurse · Nov 13, 2005

Can this be done anywhere in Illinois? Chicago.