LPN is attainable w/out Experience?

Nursing Students LPN/LVN Students

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Hello all,

Just thought I would come here and visit and see what is going on. I have been reading various posts about people who were CNA's and MA's prior to the LPN or the RN programs. I am a bit discouraged not having any experience what so ever in the nursing field.....(I used to work on electronics...not people..lol).

Is it really possible to get my LPN without knowing anything before hand? I feel soooo innocent, am I going to have a rude awakening????

Feeling Helpless,

Tree

Start LVN school in Jan. 2005. :uhoh21:

12 years ago I got my GED at the age of 43 and went directly to school to become an LPN and graduated with honors...not bad for a sassy brat who dropped out at 15...haha...it was the BEST experience!!!...HARD yes but well worth the effort...if you want something badly enough you can do it no matter what your previous experience might have been...so GOOD LUCK!!!...you won't regret it...

Of course it is. Yes, some background is a good thing. But then they also say "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing". I've seen some NA's go onto LPN school who were perfect examples of that saying. Thought they could skip all the patient care stuff and go straight to wound care, meds, etc.

Good Luck.

I just had my orientation last week. Our first class is Fundamentals in Nursing, which basically teaches you how to make beds, turn patients, etc. Basically all the first steps of patient care. I have been working as a unit secretary in a hospital, but no hands on patient care, and yes, I am scared to death, but I know I will learn all that. Good luck!

Twelve years ago I was in the same position, I had worked in a factory right out of high school before deciding to go for my LPN. I was scared too, afraid that my fellow students with CNA experience would be way ahead of me.

It was a little harder, I certainly had to work harder in Nursing 101 (my program's name for the nursing assistant course which was also prerequist for LPN). After that, I was just plain hard work for all of us. I do also remember that the dropout rate for those with NA experience was just as high as those of us coming in with no previous health care work.

Best of luck to you! :)

Is it really possible to get my LPN without knowing anything before hand? I feel soooo innocent, am I going to have a rude awakening????

Feeling Helpless,

Tree

Start LVN school in Jan. 2005. :uhoh21:

There were alot of girls in my nursing school class that never had any medical background and did great in school. I was fortunate to have worked in some part of the medical field for 22 years before I entered nursing school, but there was still alot that I learned that I didn't know before. Just study, study, study and you will be fine. Good luck to you :)

At 42 I needed a change. I was tired of working as a Chemical Plant Manager, wanted to get out of the "toxic" world of chemicals. I had NO experience with any med. field. And honestly can't imagine what ever possessed me to even apply to the LVN program. So it is possible to do. The only time I felt overwhelmed was one month before my date to take the NCLEX. Other than that, I enjoyed being in the nursing program better than I do working a nurse! LOL! GOOD LUCK!!

LOL@enjoying studying more than working. Something about that word, "work" gives me the shivers. So it better be fun or I'm not gonna do it. Hey, my son is an MD and he is now doing his residency in Orthopedic Surgery. He says surgery is so interesting and advised me to get a job as an OR nurse. I am 52, and should finish the LPN program in Aug, IF I PASS. Can LPN's even work in the OR? Maybe I'm too flippin old to do all that standing, but it sounds really interesting. Where do you work?

Specializes in LPN.

I went through LPN without being an aide in a facility. I worked for a year as a home health aide. - A whole different world from which aides face in a facility.

I got my first job in a the hospital for which I did homecare. I wished I had done aide work, but got hang of it pretty quick. We didn't have aides at the hospital I worked in. The nurses did everything. Actually it turns out I liked it that way. You learn a lot doing total cares and assessments. Otherwise you have to depend on the aides who don't always see the nuances we need to know about. So, my advice, get out and get some experience now, work part-time in a long term facility, you'll learn a lot quickly. If you can't do that, hang around with the students who are aides, ask them a lot of questions.

LTC Skilled Nursing Unit. Nice facility, I have 36 "residents", 2 CNA's, 1 CMA, 2 trachs, 4 in isolation, 6 g-tubes, 2 many wound Tx. to count, BUT I did not like it. It is not the facility or my co-workers, I thought it was my 2-10 shift, so I changed to doing 2 - 16 hour shifts Sat & Sun. That wasn't it either. Then I realized it was the "residents". Any way, maybe it is just me. I have an interview with a Home Health Agency this week, maybe I can do that. OR maybe I've had a really bad weekend. Too many Incident Reports this w/e! GOOD LUCK!

Harley, some of just aren't meant to be LTC nurses. I actually satid that at an interview for a position in Acute Care and wound up getting the job. I need patients that have a good outcome. That will be going home. I found the "me" focus of the residents in LTC to much after a while. I'm a nurse not a maid and no I don't want to have to beg and grovel to get you to take your meds just because the "other nurses play along" with you. I don't want to be shouted at in the dining room because your coffee, soup, knife is missing. I don't want to be your families punching bag anymore, I don't want to be the one to tell you that you can't go home for Sunday dinner this weekend because your family don't want to change your incontinence products and you scare the neighbours dog. (These are all true examples of things I have had to do)

Guess you can see why I left LTC>

Fiona59:

That's it! I know that it sounds crazy that I have not been able to figure out what about LTC that bothers me, but That's it! As I read your reply I knew that it wasn't me! I do want to be a nurse, but I need to see improvement, I want to be a part of a patient's improvement, I want to help people "get better" and then move on to the next. I'm not kidding that by Friday I am getting sick to my stomach at the idea of having to go back there, even for only 2 - 16's. And don't misunderstand this is a very nice facility. I would estimate that 95% of our residents should be at home with either family or some type of part time aide. Forgive me for saying this but: You could almost compare it to going to the local SPCA where you see all the unwanted pets that families have thrown away with the exception that those of us who provide care to these residents really care and they do not see or appreciate that. They are hateful, mean and sometimes verbally abusive. And then there are the "family" member (RP) that shows up every so often for 30 min. wanting to know why their "loved one" did not get their ice cream a week ago. My heart breaks for these lonely elderly people, and I understand that they have lost control over every aspect of their lives therefore they complain about the knife or ice cream they did not get, but come on, give us a break! Do they even realize that they eventually "run off" some of THEIR nurses that really do care? Or maybe their family sent them here because they treated them the same way and can't stand them either? Anyway sorry for the rant but THAT'S IT! Thanks for reminding me, and I still can't believe that I have not been able to figure out what was REALLY bothering me about my situation. Thanks again!:) I will be getting out ASAP!

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