HEY, all you RNs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the end of their training RN's have to know the nursing process quite intimately. You might have been exposed to it in LPN school, but in RN school you really go into depth with it because it involves critical thinking. It includes incorporating assessment, knowledge of pathophysiology, knowledge of various sciences, knowledge of common medical treatment for diseases, nursing theory, prioritizing, delegation and overall management of the patient's care. You will be challenged to continually ask yourself "why" this or that is being done for the patient. The answers to those "why" questions is extremely important to know and it, in part, involves the critical thinking process. As an LPN if you have a question about a patient's care, you can go to an RN and ask; as an RN the buck pretty much stops with you and you need to know the answer. I was told by an RN before I even went to nursing school, "RNs are supervisors and managers of patient care." She was so right. RNs have to make decisions on a regular basis. RNs are leaders not followers. They have to be able to think and process what is happening during any given situation and act appropriately.