I'm a recent military retiree, working as a PCT (cna) hourly rate $9.25 with $1.15 night diff + 20% for no benefits, I'm making close to $12 an hour. According to the LPN's on my Cardiac care floor, they only make around $11 an hour, with nurse externs making close to $12 an hour.
My question, is it even worth the hassle of going to school for a long year, to have a very stressful job and only make $11 to $14 an hour? I mean the county starts the street sweepers for that kind of money here in TN. There are easier ways to make low wages, no??
I have 3 years of college money left to spend and I'm slated to start LPN school in the fall, RN school would be for next year anyway due to pre-req, etc. Plus if I graduate LPN and don't like nursing or the low pay, I've only wasted a year of life.
Any thoughts on the issue of pay versus stress and/or bang for the buck of working in health care??
Tony
(retired military)
p.s. If you had 3 years of college money to spend, what would you do with it??
Because of the outrageous waiting list for RN school, I'm pursuing the LVN license because I can take the bridge to RN route and probably not wait as long or at least have something to show for a year of school. :]
Well normally that would apply, but with the current economic downturn, both Hospital systems locally have been laying off people, getting rid of Nurses in non direct patient care and having repeated call offs. Many nurses are losing 2 twelve hour shifts in a pay period. Most are still employed, but hurting due to having less money to pay bills than they are used to.
Now that I'm half way thru school, I'm more inclined to say that LPN pay in east TN is no where near worth the cost of 12 months of school, getting and keeping a license and the responisibility for peoples lives when the starting hospital wage is $11.25 - $11.50 per hour, with Doctors offices paying $8 to $10 an hour, LTC is more.
Here's a butt kicker, I'll use the VA as an example, as a new LPN I'd be making $12.50 to $13.00, ok so far, that's not great but it's a job after going to school, getting a license, etc. Now if I apply for and get the administrative job (greets the patient, gets some info, etc) I'd have a starting wage of $17 and this is in the same facility. Really shows you the value they place on the license and responsibilty doesn't it?
I'm little more than half way thru school and I intend to finish and get my license, this semester ends next month and graduate in August. I'm confident on passing my boards, but who knows until you take them. Assuming I pass them, I'm really going to have to reassess what I'm going to do, depends how I like the job. Makes sense to get my RN or it may be better to welcome that patient and never have to see his butt without clothes on:chuckle
Take care,
Tony
p.s. My complaint is about pay vs responsibility, not about nursing, I actually like the job, but it's scary. Just not sure if I'm going to want to put my neck on the line for nothing. Of course this may explain why there are fewer men in nursing, men usually don't put up with low wages if given a choice.
CNA's in the pugent sound VA system start of @ 36,000/yr. If you started working here in at the VA and then transrered to another state (like where your at) you would still keep your pay but loose senority. One bene for working for gov't.
long thread, only read a few pages off it, but if an lpn is looking for money, it generally ISN'T at hospitals (they favor rn's), it's in ltc/agency work (they favor lpn's).
Because of the outrageous waiting list for RN school, I'm pursuing the LVN license because I can take the bridge to RN route and probably not wait as long or at least have something to show for a year of school. :]
That is a smart move, and that's what I'm doing. I'll graduate from my LPN Program in less than four weeks and many of my classmates are going right into different LPN-RN programs with NO WAITLIST! Every single one who wanted to go on into an LPN-RN bridge program got in right away, bypassing the first year of the RN program. I'll still need some pre-reqs before I can bridge to RN, but the good thing is that I won't have to have the crazy 4.0 GPA in all pre-reqs while competing with hundreds of other eager appliants for a few available openings. For LPNs, they require a 3.0 (not that I won't try for a 4.O anyways, but it's nice to know that you WILL get in for sure as long as you have a 3.0). Can only speak for my part of the country though. Either way, I'll try to find a part time job as an LPN while taking my pre-reqs, getting paid and getting some real-life experience. Beats waiting year after year for a spot in an RN program.
Well this post is a blast from the past. I've been working as an LPN for 2 years now, I'm currently with the VA health care system in the ER, making $16.50, just $1.00 more per hour than my wife, who works at the VA as a CNA for $15.50 hr.
I've worked as a floor nurse med/surg for a year and ER/Urgent Care for a year.
If I had it to do over?? I should have went straight to RN school and bypassed LPN altogether. I like being a LPN, but with most places around here restricting what they will allow the LPN's to do and the pay difference, it would have been better to get my RN straight away.
I am finishing up my pre-req for "nursing school" in August and won't start my BSN until summer 2012 and finish in fall 2013.
Good luck to my fellow LPN's, I'd suggest you get your RN, that's what I'm working on, but I hate having to go back to school again.
Thanks for the info. That's about what I assumed. The "Greed motive" sucks a lot of people in no matter how smart they are, and head of household's feel obliged to take that route. I was delayed 2 or 3 semesters taking classes in ADN route waiting to get accepted, so not to start paying back FASA loans (another school scam), but I figured it would count for BSN (and I enjoy classes I can pick for my career). But you almost have to take extra classes since all schools require different courses, and you never know where you are accepted until 2 weeks before class. So you almost have to take 1.5 x pre-nursing curriculum's for 2 or 3 different schools! LPN's get a break there and are almost guaranteed a spot w/o having to have 3.5 to 3.9 GPA (ie 2.7 gpa) to get in and a semester less. LPN route rocks if you can handle it.
CNA's have a difficult test, and that is quite an overworked and respected accomplishment now. I am a 2 week cram from passing it, but they are changing CNA testing in Aug/11, so I'm going to see what is going on first: the timing is not exactly good. Anyway, I start semester II in ADN in a month now, so my Spider senses are starting to tingle and need to start getting ready for that tough semester (w/pharmacy class in it).
I love TN, but no real good job supply, so you may be near Nashville. I'd love to live in Chattanooga, but... So Greenville, SC is on the other side of paradise and is on my roadmap after I get out of God forsaken FL!
I love TN, but no real good job supply, so you may be near Nashville. I'd love to live in Chattanooga, but... So Greenville, SC is on the other side of paradise and is on my roadmap after I get out of God forsaken FL!
Regards
From the responses to this post, you'll see many income levels, here in East TN they are low, but elsewhere they seem to be high. Your mileage may vary depending on location. Hopefully I'll be done with my BSN in Dec 2013, I'd be done done already if I'd went straight into the BSN program. I actually love being an LPN, but the VA keeps crapping on the LPN's and it makes it just no fun.
From the responses to this post, you'll see many income levels, here in East TN they are low, but elsewhere they seem to be high. Your mileage may vary depending on location. Hopefully I'll be done with my BSN in Dec 2013, I'd be done done already if I'd went straight into the BSN program. I actually love being an LPN, but the VA keeps crapping on the LPN's and it makes it just no fun.
Take care
Tony in TN
Yeah, but East TN is the best and most pristine place in the world, with good roads too (for motorcycling :>) Now all employers are saying 1 yr hospital experience (minimum): not RN, not a certain field, but just HOSPITAL experience. So you are way ahead of the game.
I'm going the ADN route to get RN quicker. I was offered the VA sponsorship, but no money so I could not afford Summers w/o mo' money or FASA loans one. I do security guard so I can study on midnight shifts. It helps me get through school. I am trying for PCT job so I can get my one year timer clock ticking, but the market is tight. So I'll probably try to use my VA preference and get back in the VA program my last semester if possible so I can say I was sponsored!
Once you start your clinical classes, those are tough (or they make them tougher than they should be to learn better). Keep up the good work! I'll have my ADN in Dec, 2012. And then I hope to go to a 2 yr undergrad and graduate combined program BSN/MSN since I already have 2 undergrad and graduate degrees. The RN is the toughest to get from my perspective, and the BSN/MSN is more money (or sponsorship $$ after get RN).
The pressure is on the LPN's to stay employed and pass RN clinical classes. I could only handle a day or two hospital shifts per week going to school (and rest of 40 hr's study job). Hopefully you will see my midnight blue BMW F650 motorcycle flying around the mountain hill corners by 2013, with a big smile on my face under my full coverage helmet face shield.
Yeah, but East TN is the best and most pristine place in the world, with good roads too (for motorcycling :>) Hopefully you will see my midnight blue BMW F650 motorcycle flying around the mountain hill corners by 2013, with a big smile on my face under my full coverage helmet face shield.
Peace.
You'll see me on my Red BMW R1100R flying around these same mountain roads. See ya there.
I live in PA actually not too far from Pittsburgh & I've browsed lpn job listings to kind of figure out the realistic salary for lpn's because I went to school for Dental Assisting and we were lied to about the salary we would be making...the most I've been offered is $10 an hr which is a total joke. Anyway, when I visit upmc's website the least amount they pay an lpn per hr is 14.88 which is pretty good for only going to school for a yr. I only make 8.25 right now working at a gas station...that's about $7 more an hr. It could soooo change my life in a good way & eventually I'll go to be an RN...totally worth it for me.
and many of my classmates are going right into different LPN-RN programs with NO WAITLIST! Every single one who wanted to go on into an LPN-RN bridge program got in right away, bypassing the first year of the RN program. I'll still need some pre-reqs before I can bridge to RN, but the good thing is that I won't have to have the crazy 4.0 GPA in all pre-reqs while competing with hundreds of other eager appliants for a few available openings. For LPNs, they require a 3.0 (not that I won't try for a 4.O anyways, but it's nice to know that you WILL get in for sure as long as you have a 3.0). Can only speak for my part of the country though. Either way, I'll try to find a part time job as an LPN while taking my pre-reqs, getting paid and getting some real-life experience. Beats waiting year after year for a spot in an RN program.
Cyn2school
134 Posts
LVN's in so cal make $20+ hr here.