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??
Obviously, LPN salaries will vary across the country. However, around here in southern New Jersey I know LPNs who have started at $18 to $25 per hour. They tell me that is a pretty good salary, especially after 1 year of schooling.
Ok, my cousin is an LPN that makes $24 an hour in LTC working a baylor shift which she works 2 12hr night shifts every wknd, and gets paid an extra 24 hrs for every wknd worked. so thats about $2,300 every 2 wks before taxes about 60,000 per year.
plus she works for a staffing agency during the week for about 2 days and is paid about $300 per 12hr shift, which is another 600 per wk before taxes ($31000 per year).
last year she cleared $87000 and only worked 4days per week!!!
So its definately worth it. I will graduate soon and she's been my role model so far!!!
LPN classes do count toward RN. At my CC a lpn with all prereqs only need 4 additional classes to finish RN. Or for BSN with all prereqs its about 2-3 years from lpn. And a BSN from adn can be done in a little over a year at some schools.
LPN courses do count to some degree. Basically they replace the first year of nursing courses in the Associates RN program. The problem comes when your LPN courses did not give you the same general ed classes that RN school would...and then you have to take additional classes to fill in the gaps.
So I have Intro to Algebra for LPN, but I need College Algebra for my RN, so I need to take Intermediate Algebra and then College Algebra before I can apply for the LPN -> RN transition program. There are a few other courses as well... only taking Eng 1 as part of my LPN and need both Eng 1 and 2 before I can apply for my bridge program, etc.
But it does mean a year less of clinicals. I havent done enough research into the LPN to BSN program, although its on my 'to do list'.
Another bonus, if it wasnt mentioned, is that there are a lot of hospitals willing to pay for your RN portion, in exchange for you working for them for 2 yrs. Every hospital in my area that I've talked to (3 of the 5) offer it, so its a promising opportunity if you need to stretch your dollar.
i think whether its worth it or not (if you just going off pay) depends where you live, i'm from nj and as several people have mentioned LPNs can start making 18-25 dollars an hour, i'm a single mother and 18-25 hour is good enough for me plus on top of that i will have valuable experience if i decide to get or an RN or have enough money and the flexiblity to get a degree in another field if i choose ( i'm thinking of dental hygenist the make about 60,000 with just 2 years of school and the waiting list is way shorter than RN plus still in the health field and no nights or sundays) plus to add my mother is an LPN and she cleared 78,000 (with overtime though, and bounses plus two raises due to her union)
Ok, my cousin is an LPN that makes $24 an hour in LTC working a baylor shift which she works 2 12hr night shifts every wknd, and gets paid an extra 24 hrs for every wknd worked. so thats about $2,300 every 2 wks before taxes about 60,000 per year.
plus she works for a staffing agency during the week for about 2 days and is paid about $300 per 12hr shift, which is another 600 per wk before taxes ($31000 per year).
last year she cleared $87000 and only worked 4days per week!!!
So its definately worth it. I will graduate soon and she's been my role model so far!!!
That is incredible that your cousin made that much, plus she got that sweet deal with the Baylor shift ( and the extra 24 hours). I don't know what part of the country she works in, but in this case, being a LPN is truly worth it. I know people with four-year degrees who don't even come close to earning $87,000 per year.
That is incredible that your cousin made that much, plus she got that sweet deal with the Baylor shift ( and the extra 24 hours). I don't know what part of the country she works in, but in this case, being a LPN is truly worth it. I know people with four-year degrees who don't even come close to earning $87,000 per year.
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??
In your situation I would go to LPN school.
You can look at it this way: it isn't a "long" year, it's just a year. The year will come and go before you know it and you may as well do something with it.
Also, you are going by the salary of one place. I know for a fact in East Tennessee you can get a private duty nursing job (super easy, you just sit there, mostly) making over $200 in a 12 hour shift. Contact StaffCo in Cleveland or CareAll (they have offices all over.) Private duty nursing is big business in Tennessee with the TennCare/Medicare waivers. I did private duty nursing and studied for RN school while I was sitting on the job. It worked out perfectly.
The nursing homes generally start LPN's out at $14+ an hour (I'm in a rural town in Middle Tennessee).
It is not a waste to go to LPN school. If you are making $12 an hour that job and salary is probably limited to the facility where you are working.
Not to mention there are lots more opportunities for LPN's than CNA's.
That is incredible that your cousin made that much, plus she got that sweet deal with the Baylor shift ( and the extra 24 hours). I don't know what part of the country she works in, but in this case, being a LPN is truly worth it. I know people with four-year degrees who don't even come close to earning $87,000 per year.
ALERT: something that sounds too good to be true probably is.
I believe these figures are grossly inflated, but if we could have a resource where we could validate this I would be more than happy to apologize.
OP, if you do decide to get the LPN, remember that you are doing it for the experience as opposed to the pay. It sounds like that IS the reason - to get started sooner rather than later. And that IS a valid reason. Worst case scenario, you HATE it and "wasted" a year of tuition... compared to if you had held off and gone straight for an RN, paid for a couple of years of tuition, and still ended up hating it. I mean if you hate being an LPN *THAT* much, then I don't see that you'd find being a RN that much better.
From a purely financial standpoint, though, from the numbers you give, it doesn't make sense to get the LPN, since you could make the same as a nursing assistant. And if you could start RN school as soon as LPN school, then RN school would make sense.
Since it sounds like you are able to afford working for a low pay and it also sounds like you aren't totally convinced that you will find nursing to be the satisfying and financially rewarding career you hope it will be, you might want to put off starting school for awhile longer and get as much nursing assistant experience as possible, volunteering to float to different departments and taking any extra certification offered by your employer. Maybe you can ask about cross-training as a unit secretary, as they get the opportunity to see the non-direct-patient-care side of nursing... taking off new orders, contacting physicians, coordinating with pharmacy, dietary, social work etc.
Also, If you haven't already, you probably want to check out where the LPN programs you're considering have clinical rotations and what type of LPN positions are likely to be available to a new graduate. If you want to work in a hospital, but the LPN program is almost exclusively in the nursing home environment and hospitals don't hire new grad LPNs, then you might make a different decision than if there are hospital opportunities.
Just some thoughts. It sounds like you are blessed to have many options!
Plagueis
514 Posts
Obviously, LPN salaries will vary across the country. However, around here in southern New Jersey I know LPNs who have started at $18 to $25 per hour. They tell me that is a pretty good salary, especially after 1 year of schooling.