I dont know what to do LPN or RN??

[Mytwokids]

Well I have been out of High School for 9 years.I did not graduate:crying2: but I went back and got my GED. Last year I decided I wanted to do something in the medical field:redpinkhe ...but I have absolutly no experience. I was a school bus driver for 3 years:banghead: and this fall my children will both be in school and I am ready for a change. I've really want to work on the maternity floor of a hospital , helping with babys and new moms and dads. So I enrolled myself in The 1Yr. LPN program and I am just starting my pre reqs. Since I have started, I have heard many things about how hard it is for lpn's to get jobs in hospitals that RN is so much better. I would love to go for RN but i dont know if i should start with babysteps (since i have no experience). Does anyone have any suggestions. I dont know what I should be putting my time into first. Thank You SOOO much for any help you could give me.

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

I agree with everyone else here. Get your CNA and work while going to school. I just passed the NCLEX and am a new LVN myself. I am so proud I went for it. But I am quickly going to get my RN because of all the opportunities afforded them. Plus the pay is so much better. At my hospital a new LVN is offered $15.30/hr while RN's are $30. Eventually I know I want to work in ICU but I need that RN license.

Another thing to consider is that RN students get to apply for externships so they can work in the hospital department of their choice and LVN's don't get that opportunity.

Also, consider the cost of the program. Some can cost upwards of $30,000 My school was considerably cheaper at $2,500. Community college cost of the RN program is estimated at $3,000 plus books. The price alone would give me pause. I would then choose RN over LVN! But as I said mine was publicly funded so it was affordable.

Whether LVN or RN it really depends on what your goals are and what you can handle at this time and as other posters have said what job opportunities there are in your area.

If you are looking for experience in the medical field before starting school, other than CNA, (and of course get your CNA no matter what) there are other options such as medical assistant. The medical assistants in my LVN program were very comfortable chatting with patients and giving injections. We had an EMT too and he worked as a tech in the ER. He knew quite a lot about assessments and codes and such. Any experience you get will be invaluable. :)

The first 10 weeks of my LVN program seemed like a review of CNA class (our semesters were 20 weeks) so I was glad to have the CNA first (it was a pre-req for my school)

Good luck to you! :)