Getting An LPN With A Bachelor's?

[RainaLuzon]

Good Morning!

I graduated in 2013 with a degree in human services. To put it simply, it's gotten me nowhere and I have struggled ever since. My mother is a nursing clinical instructor at a university, and told me several times to get into nursing due to my personality. However, young, silly naive me didn't want to stick people or be on my feet for 12-14 hours like I had watched her do when I was younger, despite being fascinated by nursing.

After shadowing a few of her friends and speaking to others, I've decided that nursing is indeed for me. I just wished I hadn't ignored my instincts for this long! Anyway, I have a dilemma:

Because I have yet to find a decent paying position (decent to me being above $13 an hour) My husband (who has no degree and is a 'musician' and waiter at a restaurant :***:) and I have had financial issues pretty much as soon as we got married last year. Unfortunately, this has lead us to have about 40k in debt all together. My undergrad was paid for, thankfully.

I was thinking recently that it might be a smarter idea to pursue my LPN license and work for a year or two to lessen my debt before I decide to apply for the program that I REALLY want to get into at a top private university near me. It's a three year program that leads first to an RN license and then to NP within a specific specialty. My ultimate goal is to be a nurse practitioner.

I've looked into accelerated BSN programs, but the soonest I'd be able to get in is fall of 2017 Versus January '16 for the 12 month LPN program near me.

I'm currently taking one pre-requisite class at a time, because frankly I don't want to rush. But at the same time, I'm sick of barely making it and having more month than money. I know LPNs salaries aren't glamorous......but $15 an hour looks absolutely fabulous at this point, and would help out TREMENDOUSLY.

What are your thoughts? Does this seem silly to do? Also, can LPN's live decently on their salaries with a second income from a spouse? Something that also concerns me is that when I did a mock job search in my state, only about 400 positions came up. That seems incredibly tiny to me! Is this the norm? I live in a large metropolitan area in the south for some perspective.

Thank you!

[AceOfHearts<3]

My concern with what you have said is the program you want to get into. I'm not sure if others could provide more feedback on this topic, but from my understanding an NP with pretty much no clinical experience (meaning work experience as an RN) is not very marketable. I just recently finished a 2nd degree accelerated BSN program myself with the intention of going back to school in a few years to earn my DNP. I've had professors and clinical instructors mention you really need to have experience before becoming an NP. It is one of the things that sets NPs aside from PAs. A clinical instructor who became an NP a few years ago had a classmate who entered into the program straight out of an accelerated BSN program. The classmate had no work experience as an RN and while she knew the material she was extremely weak clinically. I've also heard, at least up in the northeast where I live, that people who have gone straight from BSN to NP have a difficult time getting a job. This is further backed up by my clinical instructor stating her classmate with no clinical experience before becoming an NP had a hard time finding a position. I'm not sure if it is a different story in your area, but I would advise you to contact the university and ask for statistics regarding job placement upon graduation- how many are employed as NPs, how long did it take them to find employment, etc. I would also see if it is possible to get in touch with graduates- maybe some who have finished within the last year and others who have finished maybe within the last 5 years to get their thoughts on the program.

I'm not saying don't do the program or that it is not a good program. I certainly don't know enough about the market, the program, etc. to have an opinion either way. I'm also new to the field myself, so I hope others weigh in and will correct anything I said if it's wrong. I do think the program warrants further investigation and I wish you the best of luck!

[RainaLuzon]

Thanks for that information. It's definitely something that I had planned on doing!