LPN Alternatives to patient care

[Jeepers92]

I've been an LPN for 20 years now. I've mostly worked in LTC but have some MedSurge under my belt. I've been working now for an EHR company as a Trainer, Support, Consultant, etc.

I have a pretty well-rounded resume as far as the things I can do in the health care industry as far as nursing and software goes together.

The problem I'm having is that I'm ready for a new job. The place I'm working no longer suits me. I no longer believe in their vision or success. The problem I'm finding is that with all of this experience it's getting me nowhere.

Here's the meat of it. I am an LPN trained in the US Army. This means I have a vocational certificate, not a degree. Though the jobs I'm qualified for are requiring a BN or BA, I don't even have an AA or AS. This keeps quite a lot of employers from looking at me. It seems at this point of the game, they care more for the degree than for the experience I bring with me.

I'd like to move more into a business analyst position, however, they require a little higher technical savvy than I have presently.

I could use some advice on ways to overcome the hurdle of the degree. Unfortunately, I'm not in a place where I have the time nor funds to go get a degree. I won't trouble you with why. Life choices aside, there has to be something accounted for experience.

Are there other areas I'm missing out on considering?

It appears to be very difficult to change into another title you are qualified for because of the degree or even simply because the title of one job doesn't match the one on your resume.

[blue0714, LVN, RN]

I too had fell into the same situation as you. I was an LVN of 20+ yrs with a wealth of experience in all types of nursing A-Z. Back when we started nursing, being an LVN really didn't hold us back, and that's how we got all the experience we do have in the first place. In answer to your question however, these days there is just NO getting around having that degree. You're absolutely right, employers are more concerned with your formal education. For example; lets take a hospital...I believe they have to employ X amt of degreed folks to be considered a "Magnet" facility> Magnet status is an award given by the American Nurses' Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing. Employers strive to achieve magnet status because employers equate higher degree = higher care; and then they (hosp) can market their facilities as being above average $$. This is my best assumption of whats happened. Of course I'm not absolutely sure. But I personally gave up trying to move forward in my career without a degree, I found it impossible just like you're describing in your post. So I went back to school for my RN, but it took me quitting my job of 15 yrs, taking out loans, withdrawing from 401k, and borrowing from friends to do it (still paying them back), so I basically had to start all over again when I was done. Thing is that I STILL have all that nursing experience I did as an LVN, but now as an RN I have boosted my marketability as well! So if you look at it that way, you have everything to gain by going ahead and biting the bullet and getting that degree. Wish you the best of luck!