How are you treated by RNs

Nurses LPN/LVN

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Hello. I am considering attending school to become an LPN. Once on the job, how do RNs treat you? I am afraid they would look down on LPNs and give them all their extra work to do. Is this a correct assumption? Also, where do most LPNs work? Nursing homes? Hospitals? Any information would be great appreciated.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
pagandeva2000, thanks for reading my post and responding. The times I ask/encourgage students new greads to pursue an RN it's not meant to demean the LPN role. In the future I will be mindful of how I ask, if I ask, and how I respond to their answers.

Now, since this thread is not directed towards RNs, I'll step out. I just wanted to address the "it's rude to ask if an LPN is going for an RN" thingie. :)

That ICU nurse is a rude toad. I'm sorry there are RNs like that out there.

Thanks for interacting. I do feel that you personally, have not meant to offend anyone (even on line, sometimes, you can just feel). I think that one of the best ways to do that, is before or after you ask, you can also give suggestions on how to benefit from their current LPN position. I had one woman give me the names of several agencies that would hire me that have sweet day assignments such as drawing blood and PPD readings for about $150 for the day, told me the best days to gain overtime, and basically welcomed me into the fold.

And, I want to thank you for caring, and listening to my rant.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Thanks for interacting. I do feel that you personally, have not meant to offend anyone (even on line, sometimes, you can just feel). I think that one of the best ways to do that, is before or after you ask, you can also give suggestions on how to benefit from their current LPN position. I had one woman give me the names of several agencies that would hire me that have sweet day assignments such as drawing blood and PPD readings for about $150 for the day, told me the best days to gain overtime, and basically welcomed me into the fold.

And, I want to thank you for caring, and listening to my rant.

I love listening to rants. I appreciate the input. There is a lot of opportunity in LTC, and excellent money too, very close to RN new grad hospital salary this area. It's usally when a student expresses an interest in working in a hosptial when they graduate that I give them a reality check. The reality is they will be given too much responsiblity for too little pay. It's never with a demeaning attitude. If it's perceived that way, I apologize.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I love listening to rants. I appreciate the input. There is a lot of opportunity in LTC, and excellent money too, very close to RN new grad hospital salary this area. It's usally when a student expresses an interest in working in a hosptial when they graduate that I give them a reality check. The reality is they will be given too much responsiblity for too little pay. It's never with a demeaning attitude. If it's perceived that way, I apologize.

Nah, I know you didn't mean it that way. And, it is a fact that LPNs may be given too much responsibility for reduced pay. I was in a program where I was on a paid leave of absence for two years from my hospital to become an LPN, and upon my return back to work, I saw that the current trend at my job shifted for practical nurses from primary care to medication nurses. It does not seem that bad to me at the moment, but I will only be in med-surg until my orientation is over on 8/29/06 and then, I will be working in the medical clinic where there will be mostly patient teaching and vaccinations. That may be an advantage from working the floors and being slaved to death; but the disadvantage would be that I would not have acquired many skills.

My current plans are to register with an agency that uses nurses at my job (my hospital does not want to pay overtime, but will take me if I am registered for the agency they use), and to help out the nurses as much as possible. Many RNs wish to teach catherization, wound care, etc to a willing learner. This way, I can then leave after my contract is over and work somewhere else. At this point, I think that I'd rather do home care. It may be easier to give all of my attention to one patient than many, and may not be so overworked.

You have given me food for thought, also, that some of the nurses that make the comments that they do may be because they have witnessed how LPNs can be taken advantage of. Thanks for the insight.

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Personally, I find the ,younger, RNS at the hospital where I am employed to be quite lazy. They complain to the Director that they don't want to be resposible for LPNs IV medications. The LPNs are low censused if there are 2 LPns and 1 RN on duty. If a nurse is pulled to another floor, it will be the LPN even if it is not her time. I have been a LPN for a long time and have never run into this before. There is not RN-LPN teamwork. Even the general public feels there is a difference in RNs and LPNs (nursing skills). I am too old to fool with all this discrimination. It is time for me to go to work at Walmart. I am no longer considered to be an important member of nursing.

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Personally, I find the ,younger, RNS at the hospital where I am employed to be quite lazy. They complain to the Director that they don't want to be resposible for LPNs IV medications. The LPNs are low censused if there are 2 LPns and 1 RN on duty. If a nurse is pulled to another floor, it will be the LPN even if it is not her time. I have been a LPN for a long time and have never run into this before. There is not RN-LPN teamwork. Even the general public feels there is a difference in RNs and LPNs (nursing skills). I am too old to fool with all this discrimination. It is time for me to go to work at Walmart. I am no longer considered to be an important member of nursing.
I am not used to being told I am not important.
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IS that your biggest concern?? How will you be treated?? Why do you care?

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Specializes in ED, MS, CC.

I work as a tech in a local hospital. On my unit there are 3 LPN's that I think are actually BETTER than some of the RN's. I am also an ADN student and those particular nurses take the time to grab me when something cool is going on so I can watch. I love my LPN's! So good luck!

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Specializes in PCU, Home Health.

I am a brand new RN andboth of the nurses that trained me are LVNs (same as LPN- just weird in Texas) On my floor they can do IV meds with additional training- the only thing they dont do is hang blood and draw blood from central lines. It is not fair that i make more than them so i am guilty of asking if they plan to go back to school. Sorry for the poor typing- i am nursing my 2 week old.

But what i wanted to add was this- in our town we have a school that has an LVN and an ADN program and my school had a BSN program. When doing clinicals the LVN students were rude to the BSN students and I heardmore than one of them say that we (bsn students) were lazy and just didnt want to work when we got out of school- It was really crazy- I wonder if they told them that in school- because I heard it from more than one person. I think when we get to the floor we all have to prove ourselves. A great nurse is a great nurse no matter what initials she (or he ) has on her(or his) badge.

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To godsend213... What's the deal with your reply? Why do I care how I am treated? Hmmm.... let's see... Maybe it's because I don't want to go to work 3 days a week for 12 hours at a time and be treated like crap by my co-workers. I don't think it is out of line to try to assess (that means evaluate, in case you don't have your dictionary handy) the work environment that I may be working in. And no. It it not my biggest concern, but it is a valid one, and others belonging to this forum obviously thought so seeing as they took the time to provide their thoughts, insights and experiences. Don't bother replying to my posts unless you have something constructive to say. Otherwise it is a waste of my time to read and send a reply. I'm not saying everyone has to agree with me. I can handle criticism, as long as it's constructive.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
IS that your biggest concern?? How will you be treated?? Why do you care?

I would assume that most people that completed this course attended because they wanted to raise up in their positions and feel like they are contributing to the care of the patient by collaborating with the health care team. If your word is not respected, then, how will you work in the interest of the client? Nursing is a collaborative profession and we need our collagues and superiors to work with us, not against us for the betterment of the patient as well as for the profession. Also, we were taught 'data gathering' skills, and it should not go to waste.

Would you mind clarifying what you mean about why a person should care? Maybe there is something that I am missing, but it seems important to me.:caduceus:

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
IS that your biggest concern?? How will you be treated?? Why do you care?

Most people care because they don't want to work in a living hell and call it their job.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Most people care because they don't want to work in a living hell and call it their job.

Exactly.

Last year they polled the workers in our hospital "why do you stay with us?". The #1 answer was "I like the people I work with".

Naturally other people's opinions of me don't matter to my own self-concept, and I know we are there to work and not socialize and make friends, but I wouldn't work in an environment where I was looked down upon and disrespected. Life is too short.

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