Is LPN school just as hard as RN school?

dollbw · Mar 31, 2009

try this website, it has all of the schools in ny with the lpn-rn programs.

cpnpnys.org

also, helen fuld has this program.

gt4everpn, BSN, RN · Apr 21, 2009

HI, So to answer the original question is LPN or RN harder? My RN program is harder due to school I chose. HIndsight is 20/20. At this point I don't care about my GPA (was always on dean's list) I just want to forfill the schools requirements and take the NCLEX. I also have to do an electronic portfollio that had the 6 core values of the school. OH pleeze..more useless "busy work" that has no purpose...I'm also sick of 10 page care plans...I work in the "real" world...Yeah we do care plans but they are just check off sheets that go in the back of the chart..Dr. orders, kardex and the M.A.R. are the main plan of care..(well at my hosp anyway). Thanks for letting me vent...Only 86 days to go...spent thousands and deep in debt to get where I'm at...i just wanna pass at this point...When I started this progam in May -08 there were 5 LPN's who started with me from the hosp..I'm the last one left. Only because I took a leave of absence the other LPN's need the full time job. In the total program 18 LPN's and 20 second yr rn students now about 20 students all together..I probably can't legally name the school however, northern IN students beware! I'm so proud of nurses....We all have "our" story and it took us all a lot of hard work and dedication to get where we are...Keep on Keepin' on.

---- So true, I'm an LPN and I see no differnce between LPN and RN programs, atleast not my own, but according to my professor, I need to stop thinking like a LPN and starting thinking like an RN, so I guess I could be wrong! I actually liked my LPN program better than my RN program. Like I always say, there LPN, ADN, BSN, MSN RN's all work at the same facilities, same patients, same situations so being an LPN isn't at all different from being an RN, the only difference is the money, the paperwork, and a foot in the door and up the career ladder!! :twocents:

pinkiepie_RN · Apr 21, 2009

I want to know the real difference between a greaduate nurse and a registered nurse. Which one ia better?

A graduate nurse is someone who has graduated from a nursing program. A registered nurse is someone who graduated from a nursing program and has passed the NCLEX.

Faeriewand, ASN, RN · Apr 26, 2009

---- So true, I'm an LPN and I see no differnce between LPN and RN programs, atleast not my own, but according to my professor, I need to stop thinking like a LPN and starting thinking like an RN, so I guess I could be wrong!

Perhaps your instructor is biased against LPN's:angryfire Does she explain what she means by that? Is she assuming that LPN's do the hands on bedside care and RN's sit at the station charting and using their brains?

someone step up and set me straight :icon_roll

Faeriewand, ASN, RN · Apr 26, 2009

HI, I'm in a LPN-RN bridge program..I"ve been a LPN since 2-07 and work med/surg at the local hospital for 2 years..

Wow you are really strong and good for you! And that assignment with the 6 core values of the school... sounds like a pat on the back for the school! That IS ridiculous. Thanks for posting your experience :heartbeat (love your name btw) I didn't want to quote your entire post but posters can go back to read what you said. It's just a few posts above this one :)

JMDRN09 · Apr 28, 2009

I found LPN school to be challenging during the course of it but now going into the second half of the RN portion of it the LPN aspect of it was much less challenging. Word of advise-do your readings and really listen during lecture and get a job on a Med-Surg floor. Doing those few things will really help you with the transition between each section. For me it was like a huge slap in the face! I had a really hard time with the inital transition and the increased base of knowledge was almost overwhelming. You can do it though, keep your chin up and think of how much better you will feel about yourself and the confidence you will have. It is worth it. Wish me luck graduation is around the corner!!

picurn10 · May 6, 2009

I can't speak to the RN part yet (start in august) but I'm just finishing my 10 1/2 mo LPN program and it has been intense. From other people who've gone the LPN route, they say that LPN should really be done in like 18mo, not 10.5 like we're doing. It's been a marathon.

I'll be totally honest: I never planned to be an LPN but did so for the bridge because it shaved 6mo off the whole application process for me. I didn't expect that LPN school would be academically challenging, and so far it really hasn't been, but it's been a ton of work and stress and far harder than any undergrad semester I had previously including ones when I was taking 20 credit hours. The pace is just so intense and all the concepts are new and some weeks I had 5-6 exams plus modules and paper/projects.

RN school seems like it's going to be "easy" in terms of the schedule: 2 class days (as short as 2hrs) and 2 8hr clinical. In my LPN program it's been 5 days a week of 8hr/day since August.

I've talked with probably a dozen students either currently doing their bridge or those who've recently finished and they all said that they found RN school to be very doable along with working. Most of those people were working 3 12's in med surg.

So my strategy is going to be the same as for LPN: assume it's going to absolutely kick my butt, work really hard to get ahead in the beginning so that if my grade falls I still have some wiggle room, and pray for the best!

SCprincess08 · May 6, 2009

Both programs are hard. I will be attend my last semester at a community college, and I will be entering the BSN program in 2010. I don't know that much about the LPN program at the school that I attend because Im studying science, but the LPN and BSN program look the same.

gt4everpn, BSN, RN · May 6, 2009

they really are just about the same, the only difference i've found is that rn schools at least mine requires alot of paper work.. the dreaded careplans and journals, ugh!. it also may vary from school to school, lpn's and rn's we're really all the same, people try to establish a difference but i don't think there are any, except for 1 or 2 things here or there.

mwdw04 · May 25, 2009

I would like to know the same thing! I am graduating from LPN in two weeks and plan on going right on for my RN

RossayRN · May 25, 2009

I haven't been to LPN school to compare but I can say that there were about 7 LPNs join our class after the first year and now there are only 3 left (in a BSN 5 semester program). Every school is different and I am sure some schools are also harder than others. I have been in both an ADN and a BSN and the BSN goes into much more detail about disease processes. These are also 2 different schools though so who knows.

Lpn2Rn10 · Jun 2, 2009

I just finished my LPN program and took my NCLEX test today and awaiting results....anyway...I start the RN part or Level II in the fall and from what I hear the RN part is not as hard because it is basically a repeat of the LPN with a little more in depth along with some clinical stuff that LPNs cannot do like starting IV's. I also think it was harder for me because the nursing program is a whole new world. I had to get used to all the studying and eat, breath and sleep nursing whereas you are already used to it by the time you get to the RN part. You know what to expect. Good luck!!