I graduated from LPN school and took my NCLEX yesterday. Further down the road, I want to study for an RN. Nursing school is an expensive, hard journey which I am reconsidering due to all the negativity associated with the work environment where nurses are leaving the profession in droves.
I can understand the understaffing can be a problem but is it like this in almost every nursing specialty?
My goal is to work as an operating room RN. Would it still be understaffed?
Are there fields where I wouldn't have to deal with the massive understaffing yet still make great money?
I would really appreciate it if someone experienced can shed some light on what really goes on.
You cannot work as an OR Nurse anywhere without having your RN. It's not an area where LPN scope creep happens. Any experience in the OR can increase your chances of becoming an OR nurse. Yes, it's hard to get into, and with good reason:the OR makes money for the hospital. Pretty much everything else (especially the floors) is a drain.
Ask for a tour, shadow, informational interview, whatever you can do in person, to show your interest. See if it is what you think it is. What you write sounds like desperation to get away from LTC misery (can't say I blame you there). You need hope right now; I understand that. Apply for other OR jobs like scheduler, PCT, transporter, OR Assistant, case picker, or anesthesia tech. Search words like intraoperative, perioperative, and post operative. Look at other things an LPN can do to get procedural type experience or literally anything else than LTC. Personally, I think one can learn a lot in LTC, it is just often an extremely unsupported environment. Take care of yourself. Best of luck to you.
Sono Bello hires LPNs in their ORs. Is the OR competitive to get into?
I'm currently working at an non acute assisted living facility and also home health cases 1 on 1. I can't do nursing homes because I feel like its only a matter of time before I lose my license. Nursing homes are plain illegal businesses from top to bottom. Nurses do so many wrong things in nursing homes just to make sure they get off work on time.
Sono Bello hires LPNs in their ORs. Is the OR competitive to get into?
I'm currently working at a non acute assisted living facility and also home health cases 1 on 1. I can't do nursing homes because I feel like its only a matter of time before I lose my license. Nursing homes are plain illegal businesses from top to bottom. Nurses do so many wrong things in nursing homes just to make sure they get off work on time.
Definitely apply to Sono Bello! Let your enthusiasm for the specialty and eagerness to learn shine! You miss 100% of the shots you don't take! Good luck!
When many patients have surgery that requires a rehab program, they go to rehabilation centers which are also assisted living or full on care. Why not get experience with what the surgical rehab requires. This experience might help you some day when you can actually be involved in patient care upon discharge. I still think taking a surgical tech program will help you to meet your goals. At my college we give extra admission points for a previous AD like surgical tech and in my experience (45 years worth teaching ADN, BSN) we have never had a student fail.
Unfortunately we have had LPNs fail (they usually say they think RN programs are an extension of an LPN - like 2 more chapters in the book)
Specializes in Physiology, CM, consulting, nsg edu, LNC, COB.
I dropped into this thread sorta by accident. I trust that the OP has had some opportunity to figure out that RN is not a mere procedural step above LPN. I hope the concepts that all nurses do is "follow doctor's orders" because doctors know everything and nurses don't need judgment skills has either atrophied or died.
The idea that your health insurance only pays for inpt care is because you need NURSING CARE is not a cutesy joke. More than half of all inpt care has nothing to do with the medical plan of care, but is the result of RN nursing's legal obligation to assess, plan, administer or delegate that care, reevaluate, and make changes. Yes, nursing is legally obligated to implement parts of the medical plan of care. And if that's all you do, you'll be committing nursing malpractice and lose your nursing job.
If you think the NCLEX RN is just a teeny bit different from the NCLEX-PN, you will be in for an extremely rude awakening. Since LPNs cannot assume responsibilities for judgment, delegation, and teaching, those would not appear in the PN exam. Since your posts on this thread reveal that you don't recognize this, you are writing from a position of incomplete information and are therefore not convincing. When you run into situation where discernment and prioritization would be your responsibility, the SATA questions, the question assuming that you know in-depth physiological and behavioral concepts and will apply them without having hints about them mentioned in the scenario... well, it won't work well for you. And do NOT think that working in a SNF will give you enough OJT to fake it.
You might also look at the list of nursing certifications, currently around a hundred, and their various practice prerequisites. Many are not in hands-on patient care, but will require it at a higher level at which you seem to imagine RNs practice. First, this will give you an expanded idea of what nursing means. Second, it may give you pause about some of the rookie opinions you voice.
Good luck, rookie. I'll be interested to see how you do in a BSN program. Students who approach it from the assumption that as LPNs they know everything an RN does and are just in it for the credential get that previously-mentioned rude awakening. Do come back and let us all know.
I dropped into this thread sorta by accident. I trust that the OP has had some opportunity to figure out that RN is not a mere procedural step above LPN. I hope the concepts that all nurses do is "follow doctor's orders" because doctors know everything and nurses don't need judgment skills has either atrophied or died.
The idea that your health insurance only pays for inpt care is because you need NURSING CARE is not a cutesy joke. More than half of all inpt care has nothing to do with the medical plan of care, but is the result of RN nursing's legal obligation to assess, plan, administer or delegate that care, reevaluate, and make changes. Yes, nursing is legally obligated to implement parts of the medical plan of care. And if that's all you do, you'll be committing nursing malpractice and lose your nursing job.
If you think the NCLEX RN is just a teeny bit different from the NCLEX-PN, you will be in for an extremely rude awakening. Since LPNs cannot assume responsibilities for judgment, delegation, and teaching, those would not appear in the PN exam. Since your posts on this thread reveal that you don't recognize this, you are writing from a position of incomplete information and are therefore not convincing. When you run into situation where discernment and prioritization would be your responsibility, the SATA questions, the question assuming that you know in-depth physiological and behavioral concepts and will apply them without having hints about them mentioned in the scenario... well, it won't work well for you. And do NOT think that working in a SNF will give you enough OJT to fake it.
You might also look at the list of nursing certifications, currently around a hundred, and their various practice prerequisites. Many are not in hands-on patient care, but will require it at a higher level at which you seem to imagine RNs practice. First, this will give you an expanded idea of what nursing means. Second, it may give you pause about some of the rookie opinions you voice.
Good luck, rookie. I'll be interested to see how you do in a BSN program. Students who approach it from the assumption that as LPNs they know everything an RN does and are just in it for the credential get that previously-mentioned rude awakening. Do come back and let us all know.
RN jobs do require some sort of judgement but not nearly to the extent of type of extensive judgement that is required by doctors. Very frequently RNs try to over exaggerate their own scope of practice to boost their own egos. Even if you do use your judgement, it will be the docs telling you what to do when you encounter certain types of situations. You really don't have any real decision making power. I have been taught head to toe assessments by my instructors at LPN school, its really not rocket science
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
nursingcand said:
RN jobs do require some sort of judgement but not nearly to the extent of type of extensive judgement that is required by doctors. Very frequently RNs try to over exaggerate their own scope of practice to boost their own egos. Even if you do use your judgement, it will be the docs telling you what to do when you encounter certain types of situations. You really don't have any real decision making power. I have been taught head to toe assessments by my instructors at LPN school, its really not rocket science
You'll want to be sure to buy yourself malpractice insurance after you finish your education and get licensed.
Specializes in Physiology, CM, consulting, nsg edu, LNC, COB.
nursingcand said:
RN jobs do require some sort of judgement but not nearly to the extent of type of extensive judgement that is required by doctors. Very frequently RNs try to over exaggerate their own scope of practice to boost their own egos. Even if you do use your judgement, it will be the docs telling you what to do when you encounter certain types of situations. You really don't have any real decision making power. I have been taught head to toe assessments by my instructors at LPN school, its really not rocket science
You will pardon my replying somewhat curtly to somebody who has less than a year of nursing practice as an LPN who demonstrates so little understanding of the profession and, more to the point, the nurse practice acts of nearly every state in the union. You can be forgiven your ignorance, but not your presumption of my background. Besides my years at bedside, as a clinical specialist with an earned master's degree from a brick and mortar top three university college of nursing, and certifications in several specialties, most apropos at this point would be my experience as a testifying expert in nursing malpractice cases and as a volunteer consultant for my state board of registration in nursing standards of practice.
To coin a phrase, you know nothing, Jon Snow. Quit this line of argument before you find yourself in even deeper.
I think we are all being put on. The OP can't find job deserving his talents and sensitivities, , disses RN roles and education, but acknowledges CPA certification was too hard for him,
Specializes in Physiology, CM, consulting, nsg edu, LNC, COB.
nursingcand said:
I think that it's important for you to accept the fact that there will be exams that are harder than the NCLEX. I don't think it's fair for someone to get harassed by just stating something that is true. I spent a lot of time studying for the CPA. CPA really is not the same as NCLEX in many ways.
That's for sure. As a specialist in nursing practice, I helped write, vet, and validate quite a few of them for advanced certification.
You have no clue about the difference between the LPN role and the RN role, so you can't know the difference in their entry level qualification exams; you're probably one of those LPNs thinking there are no "skills" that an RN can "do" that you couldn't, and you've memorized everything you'd need.
You apparently don't know about what the nurse practice act has to say about the differences in legal standing waaay beynd the psychomotor tasks that everyone masters in the first few months of practice. If you last through those and figure that's all you need to know, then, well, I hope you have really good malpractice isurance, because you're gonna need it.
That's for sure. As a specialist in nursing practice, I helped write, vet, and validate quite a few of them for advanced certification.
You have no clue about the difference between the LPN role and the RN role, so you can't know the difference in their entry level qualification exams; you're probably one of those LPNs thinking there are no "skills" that an RN can "do" that you couldn't, and you've memorized everything you'd need.
You apparently don't know about what the nurse practice act has to say about the differences in legal standing waaay beynd the psychomotor tasks that everyone masters in the first few months of practice. If you last through those and figure that's all you need to know, then, well, I hope you have really good malpractice isurance, because you're gonna need it.
I don't need egotistical RNs looking to toot their own horns to teach me what the differences in scope of practice should be for LPNs versus RNs. Down to earth, realistic, HUMBLE nurses only.
I definitely know the differences between the scope of practice between LPNs versus RNs. thats why I'm here to call you out when you try to over exaggerate your own scope of practice.
nursingcand
82 Posts
Sono Bello hires LPNs in their ORs. Is the OR competitive to get into?
I'm currently working at an non acute assisted living facility and also home health cases 1 on 1. I can't do nursing homes because I feel like its only a matter of time before I lose my license. Nursing homes are plain illegal businesses from top to bottom. Nurses do so many wrong things in nursing homes just to make sure they get off work on time.