LPN Charge Nurse

[JerseyGypsi]

I am a Unit manager on a SNF unit 55 residence. I do IVs wound VAC accordion drains JP drains we start lines DC lines. insert Foley, DC Foley's do admissions, discharges Care plan summaries. I also have a BS in health administration.. I too often see these comments in regards that RNs get paid more money because of their education, but people are yet to realize that there are LPNs that also have associates and bachelors degree and many certifications under their license qualifying them for higher PAY than RNs I have trained hundreds of RNs, who do not even have the basic foundation to take care of some residences, at times I supervise them train them so that they are productive at doing their job the idea that RNs have more education and have more authority over Lpn is more of a hospital practice we need to come to the realization that long-term care facilities are run by LPN's We have no patient to staff ratio. We have LPNs who have 30 residence responsible for their care responsible for notes, admissions, discharges plan of care, treatments, documentation behaviors, yet they are only getting paid a fraction of what RNs are getting paid. This mentality needs to stop because it is affecting our pay. We are highly skilled highly trained, and we need to be placed in situations in which our experience our skill set sets us apart from each other and not our letters LPs on average you're being paid $32-$35 an hour which is an insult to our skill set and our scope of practice. Every state is different in every facility is different in regards to what an LPN does do but maybe it's about time that these facilities start paying nursing period based on skill set experience letters don't save lives experience saves lives. I am a licensed nurse with a compact and I've worked a multitude of different settings, including Drug And Rehab, hospitals, MedSurg, long-term care, and LTAC units prior to magnet status I was a Unit Manager on a MedSurg floor for a level one hospital but they didn't deem LPN as being professional nurses. Matter of fact, LPNs are not even allowed to join certain affiliated societies due to their letters, not being recognized instead of their experience,  it's about time facilities start paying LPNs their worth. There's no reason why LPN should be paid $25-$30 less than if they utilize the LPN's the way they should they wouldn't have such a shortage,  start recognizing an LPN's worth by their  education, history and  experience, and skill set and not by our letters and maybe we wouldn't have a problem with healthcare. I really don't understand why these are hospitals that educate do not have fast track LPNs classes or partnerships into a six month program for the chance to sit for RN boards. especially those who have been nurses over 20 years with experience. These experienced nurses can really help with the shortages in a lot of these hospitals if they start paying them appropriately for their skill set nursing as a whole need to start standing up for LPNs, we are we are not glorified CNA's, we are licensed nurses and we have CEU hours and we also have to maintain our education, and skill set, We should be honored as such and not degraded in society    

[ponderingDNP]

Well! I feel the frustration and anger in your words and I can empathize with them because I was you prior to becoming an RN. My thoughts back then were that I should have been allowed to take the NCLEX-RN and IF I didn't pass, then and only then should I be required to enroll in an RN program. How's that for ingenuity?🤣 But that is seriously how I felt and what I believed. I'd been an LPN for 24 years. You definitely are not a glorified CNA. Depending on the hospital, as an RN (with a MSN, BSN), I've been treated as a glorified maid, jack-of-all-trades, etc. You name it, we play it. Aside from the income, I can truly say that I was happier as an LPN than I am today. The added responsibilities will NEVER parallel the pay we get. But even today after nearly 40 years of combined nursing experience, I am still learning a lot of the 'why's' behind the things we do as nurses; and being able to translate the reasoning to patients in language that they understand is soooo gratifying for me.

My MSN is in care coordination for this very reason. I absolutely love seeing the lightbulb come on when I explain the purpose of an ordered test or approach to care. Some of the things I've learned, I didn't get as an LPN for many of the reasons that you outlined above: we, as LPNs were too busy completing tasks and being subjected (sometimes unintentionally) to a gross lack of respect.

So I get it. But trust and believe that on this side of the tracks, it's is still the same treatment, if not amplified. I've heard all of the statements: you're just an LPN, we want an RN; you're just an ASN, we want a BSN; you have an MSN, when will you get the NP or DNP? Now, in the way of the world, MDs are giving NPs and DNPs a hard time. There are battles being fought and won, but the ones you're enduring were in effect when I bridged from LPN to RN 15 years ago. I didn't forget those battles...just been too busy fighting these over her. I walked through the RN doors ducking and throwing punches.😂

But guess what? This is just my opinion, but I feel that eventually, Artificial Intelligence is going to negate all of our battles against each other; and then it will be 'man against machines'.

I hope some of what I've said helps you to feel better. There are some places that value LPNs, and other places utilizes only RNs to do the work of RNs, LPNs, CNAs, AND housekeepers. I recall a thread on this forum where one hospital required their nurses to strip the beds, and clean the rooms (yes, sweep and mop!) after every patient discharge because they were so short-staffed a few years ago. Hopefully that has changed by now.

Do what you can to keep putting one foot in front of the other and fighting for the profession. It's not just about the letters because I know a nurse who went from LPN to RN when I did, then on to FNP, step by step and still cannot find a job in my state because this person NEVER spent one day working as a nurse, yet felt the need to complete preceptorship hours as pointless. The compensational checks and balances can be improved, yes, but they are slightly better than my LPN days, depending on locale....same as RN.

[Lynker, ASN, RN]

As an LPN of 6 years who recently became an RN, I completely agree! It's absurd that LPNs are not treated the same as RNs. In fact, in my LPN and RN programs, RNs only had one single semester difference: leadership. Which LPNs do every day... Ridiculous.

[Dy-no-mite Nurse1, BSN, LPN, RN]

Lynker said:

As an LPN of 6 years who recently became an RN, I completely agree! It's absurd that LPNs are not treated the same as RNs. In fact, in my LPN and RN programs, RNs only had one single semester difference: leadership. Which LPNs do every day... Ridiculous.

I feel the same way. I just got my BSN and was an LPN for many years, and I still feel no different. Also, the scope of practice has changed for LPNs, allowing them to do things like push certain medications along with other changes. 

[Lynker, ASN, RN]

Dy-no-mite Nurse1 said:

I feel the same way. I just got my BSN and was an LPN for many years, and I still feel no different. Also, the scope of practice has changed for LPNs, allowing them to do things like push certain medications along with other changes. 

Exactly! I'm in my RN-BSN program and see in no way how it'll make me a better nurse tbh. As an LPN I did everything I do now as an RN-- IV medications, diluting and mixing meds, admissions, inserting IVs, the only difference is in what I could push as an LPN compared to RN!