How well are LVN's doing these days?

[angiedhutch]

Excuse me for eavesdropping..new comer here. In your opinion should an older female (50 yr.old) who is having to change carreers at this late time in life...be better off at cna/hha training -phlebotomy -homodialysis---or take on an expensive risky LVN school? Wanted to work on RN pereq's but WIA says if I want their help (couple thousand dollars toward tuition) then off to a vocation school I go ASAP. If they would pay the whole tuition at LVN school (4 d college in victorville,ca.) it would be an easy choice, but they won't. I'd have to go in to debt about 25,000 or so. Afraid cna/hha is for those much,much,younger than I. What do you think? What pays more PCT or cna/hha by the way? How well are LVN's doing these days? If I go this route I will surely not go for the RN as I'm just too damn old and will have to work lots of O.T. to survive on plus pay back school tuition! Thankyou!

[slward]

I certainly don't know your activity and strength level, but CNA and HHA are pretty physically demanding jobs! You are constantly moving and lifting your patient. Consider that...

As far as the LVN market here in CA...I am an LVN (licensed 1 year) and have been having a terrible time finding a job. Most of my classmates are doing CNA work or home health (which is pretty much CNA work). Starting pay for any LVN job is $16/17, but I have lately been seeing LVN positions advertised at $10 and $13/hour!! Unimaginable if you (like me) now have $25000 in student loans to pay back and have wasted $7,000 in retirement savings just to pay rent. That said, if I hear one more friend/family/acquaintance say "but I heard nurses are in high demand", I'm going to scream!