Just let me be...

[WldChrry]

This is not a rant. This is not meant to cause any trouble. It was just on my heart and I thought I would share. Please feel free to add a line of your own :)

Can't you just let me be happy to be a LPN?

Is that too much to ask?

I went to nursing school too.

I took the NCLEX and became licensed too.

Just because there is no R in my initials, I'm not nurse enough for you?

I served our country...

I have 2 college degrees and my nursing diploma under my belt...

But the pants are still too big for me to fill you say.

Because I don't have RN behind my name.

I didn't learn enough in school, I don't work at a hospital.

I get payed less and chastised more.

And my own state's nursing organization doesn't give me support.

Can't you just let me be proud to be an LPN?

Don't I take care of the sick and make a difference in human lives?

Just because they're old, they don't matter as much as you or I?

I can't do an initial assessment...

I'm not allowed to hang blood ...

I didn't go to nursing school for as long as you.

But at the end of the day, they call me nurse too.

What makes a nurse, really?

Is it in the letters in our title?

Is it in the money in our checks?

Is it in the specialty we choose?

What happened to respect?

We are all nurses...allnurses

I just chose a different path than you.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I'm with the member who talked about LPNs saving the RN's butt.....I know. It's happened to me.

I used to work with this old-school LPN who learned her craft from the ground up and lived it every single day of her life. She's probably forgotten more about basic bedside nursing than I'll ever know. And she bailed my fresh-out-of-RN-school buns out of more jams than I cared to count.

She was always deferential, respecting the status I held as an RN with all sincerity. But she had this wonderful way of guiding my steps, as in, "You're the nurse in charge. I'll do whatever you think is best. But I've noticed this patient's lungs sound wet, and he's a little diaphoretic, and you probably already know his urine output isn't what it should be....." She was also the one who caught it when a new admission began to projectile a black, tacky fluid from both orifices (orifi??) while I was in another room tending to a family member who was in my face demanding a bed bath for his wife RIGHT NOW!

That woman taught me what it really meant to be a NURSE. So I hope no LPN ever feels s/he is less of a nurse than we RNs are. We may have another year or so of education, but what it all boils down to is, we are all on the same team.

[goalienrse]

I don't know about being chastised more than RNs, as an RN you will find your chastised VERY often. so we might be in the same boat there. And more education willl get you paid more, thats why I never complain doctors make more than us, even though we SEEM to do most of the work. lol.

That being said, LPNs were huge in teaching me how to be an RN when I got my first job at a rehab. Very smart, caring, everything a NURSE should be! LPNs should not feel bad or be looked down upon for sure.

[CharlieTaco]

Many times RNs will ask a LPN why don't you get your RN. This will cause the LPN to think that this person is looking down on LPNs. In my experience this is not the case. The reason I would ask this question is because to me it doesn't make any logical sense that someone would choose to do almost the same job as an RN but get paid half the amount with less ability to advance, less job opportunities and sadly less respect. Sometimes LPNs can't go back to school for a miraid of reasons but most often it is a lack of ambition, fear of going back to school or just plain laziness. Then they feel a certain way when the 21 year old who can't even start a IV makes more money than them. Education is what RN's have, and thats why they are paid more and have more responsibilty. Anyone can be taught to insert an IV or put in a foley, not everyone has the discipline to finish their education. Have pride in what you do but strive to be better, don't convince yourself that being an LPN is something to be proud of that you don't go the next step. If you do, you will probably be bitter, I know I would be.

[Sterling-RN]

I don't think they missed the mark at all. I believe that the original post DOES sound "wounded, unhappy, and defensive." And, I'm sorry, but clearly the OP feels that there is no difference between an RN or an LPN besides a letter "R" or a difference in pay, and that is false. More noticeably, it sounds as if there is an attempt to belittle RNs in order to elevate his or her own self-esteem.

Isn't it just as insulting to RNs to make the claim that their education, responsibilities, and experiences are no different? Isn't there just as much lack of respect in that view that the OP is stating RNs show her?

It's okay to acknowledge different tiers in nursing or in the healthcare field in general, isnt it? Or should I post a rant about how there is no difference between me and a nurse practioner just because they have more education, and an "NP" in their title? After all, we are all nurses, right?

It's silly and insulting to assume that different means better or worse...whether it comes from an RN or an LPN. But pretending that there is no difference at all is just as silly and insulting, and shows disdain and dissatisfaction in the choices made.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I learned how to be a nurse by a great LPN who took this fresh faced innocent child and taught her how to be a nurse. She taught me how "forget about all those fancy machines" because "if they we always right......what would they need us for" and showed my how to assess and intervene.....how to look for those subtle clues and to listen to my inner voice that something is just not right. She showed me how to look, listen, and feel to be sure I didn't miss a thing in the care of my patients.

Thank you Louise....:hug: I told you then and I tell you now.....I wouldn't have made it without you.

Of course....that was before all this "advanced" practice hype and push for higher and higher education (BSN entry) "to improve" and "elevate" bedside nurses......for we all know that more college education makes a better bedside nurse (any 4 year college will tell you that) that we have lost the respect for the experienced bedside healthcare professional.

We see this every time the to there is the BSN is superior to the ADN nurse debates.....even if that nurse has been a nurse for 30 years..... it is like nails on a chalk board (which recently made my daughter laugh and roll her eyes because "we don't use chalk boards any more mom.....jeeze" another aging moment...sigh).

Trash talk of "those with lesser education" by the powers that be to rid themselves of the diploma programs (which still exists today....not many but they are out there) and the removal of the LPN from acute care (which still exists today.....not many but they are out there) that started 34 years ago and still irritates me to this very day.....

OP.....while it is frustrating to hear those who need to make themselves feel better by putting others down.....for they have such low self esteem themselves..........it is important to remember a very great lady once said.....

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" Eleanore Roosevelt.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

I like being an LPN because it gives me the opportunity to be hands on--I could and often do spend the day putting in IV's, drawing blood, foleys, NG tubes.....love every moment of it. Theory is nice--in theory--and I will get you access to whatever bell, whistle, test or medication you would like to give or get.....and you can assess, theorize (

Sometimes life happens when one is busy making other plans. Some don't have the means necessary to go back to school. Sometimes one has to put food on the table and not have life be all about them. Some regret choices that seemed like a good idea at the time.

But CNA, LPN, ADN, BSN, or DNP......all a team, all can contribute, doesn't matter how we get there, lets just say the goal is to have everyone alive at the end of the shift, OK?

[amygarside]

Thanks for sharing your point of view. I think we have to vent our frustration once in a while.

[Jeepgrl]

I have Been and LPN for 20 yrs, I love it and unless forced , I will continue to LOVE IT ...Most of the RN's i work with are wonderful and even think the LPNs have way better Clinical skills then the RNs do .....Don't listen to anyone that tells you " you should really go on and get your RN"....Be Proud of your accomplishments:yes:..

[BostonFNP, APRN]

It always amazes me how these threads turn from venting about being belittled by those with more education into posts belittling the role of education in nursing, complete with personal stories about how someone with less education bailed out someone with more education.

[Welsley1969]

Why don't we "just go get our RN and stop complaining"? Lack of ambition? Laziness? Take a moment and really look at why some of us don't. I have applied to 3 different bridge programs. These programs only take 20 or so students a year out of 200 or so applicants with special consideration given to former students of that school and residents of the county the school is in. Saying it is competitive is an understatement. How about the fact that some of us have families and don't have the time in our schedules to attend classes? How about lack of money because we are low man on the totem pole? Please remember, it is not that easy for everyone to "just go get our RN". We are looked down on, it is a fact. It is degrading and the more people encounter it the more it hurts.

[RNFiona]

Sounds like you have a complex about being an LPN

[RNFiona]

So you think an LPN has the exact same job as an RN?