Is this a good plan or not???

amjowens · May 14, 2008

I also entered LPN school with the hopes of using it as a step to what I really want to do. I'm finished with the first semester of my program.

I still plan to become a RN and go for my ultimate goal of becoming a nurse practitioner. The thing I've learned, though, is that LPN school requires even more energy (at least time-wise) than the RN program. I'm at a school where RN students are on the two floors below mine, and we share a computer lab and one simulator lab. They are able to work and go to school successfully, plus they have a lot more time to learn the basics (though they do go more in depth overall). Us LPN students, if we work, literally, those who work more than 24 hours or so, are flunking out or barely made it this semester.

I start my RN in Jan '09, immediately following the finish of my LPN program. In a way, I want to take some time and be a LPN (it's amazing how much we can make a difference and how much we'll know when we graduate) for a while before going straight for the RN. I have my eye on my goal, so I'm sure I'll go ahead for it, but my view has really changed a lot about the role of the LPN. I have a lot more respect for LPNs than I did a semester ago. I have a completely different perspective-I'm passing meds and learning to start IVs this semester. There's a ton surrounding this to learn in order to do this correctly and without doing something that could make me lose my license to practice nursing period. It's a big deal.

I think I'd do it over again. When I get to where I want to be with my goals, this choice to become an LPN first is going to give me a huge amount more than just the financial side. I know I'll be a better and more competent person overall doing what I do (I know that sounds corny!) because of this experience. So, I say go for it, but the warning is there that it's a huge undertaking, at least the year of learning to do it (all I can speak about so far!)...good luck to you, whatever you decide!!!

MommyBebe · May 14, 2008

Well, I have a lot of respect for LPNs also. Seems like every RN i talk to has been so rude to me! Is it just me or are most RNs really rude to LPNs??? I have a lot of RN friends, but the ones I don't know personally have been very rude when I say LPN! :nurse:

amjowens · May 14, 2008

It seems like every group needs to use another group to make themselves feel better or more important themselves. I've come to the conclusion that RNs tend to be insecure--maybe due to the treatment they sometimes receive from physicians, etc. There's also a lot of different levels of education within the RNs. My clinical instructor is an ADN-educated nurse. She's now going for her BSN. She told me that she feels a lot of judgement/looking down on her by BSN-trained nurses. She'll probably then be looked as "less than" for not having a Masters' degree when she does get her BSN. Somehow we have to make peace with who we are and quit using others to make ourselves feel better. That would be nice.

BTW, to really let you see how perverse this "game" of power is, my boyfriend is a resident-physician. He tells me that family practice docs are seen as not as smart, where you do your residency says a lot about your "level", and specialty is REALLY important as to what kind of respect you'll receive among peers. It's totally insane. I used to think of a doctor as a doctor, but the same kind of stuff goes on within their group. That really hit me, helping me to feel better about being a LPN and not taking the negative from the judgemental types.