LPN FIRST OR RN???????????????????

ladybugme! · Nov 2, 2009

i am in same boat as you... i was hoping to see someone else respond.. i guess we can keep waiting!! lol i am going to the lvn program but was wondering if i should wait and try again for rn!? im exciting though!!

kcochrane · Nov 2, 2009

I went the LPN route first before attempting my RN. I needed to get back into the job market as quick as possible. I don't regret it at all. I have learned the basics of being a nurse without having to worry about additional duties. It hasn't been easy finishing my RN while working full time, but I will be done in December.

I think it really depends on how fast you need to get to work and if LPNs are being hired in your area. LPNs used to be utilized in all the area hospitals here, but now with the economy, that is not as common. Most jobs are in long term care. But you could get into rehab or a high skilled long term care unit for experience that will help you as a RN.

You will find varying opinions on this issue. But like I said, I'm glad I went the route I did. If I could do it all over again and not have to worry about getting back to work or $$$, I would still do my LPN first.

student1488 · Nov 2, 2009

I went the LPN route first before attempting my RN. I needed to get back into the job market as quick as possible. I don't regret it at all. I have learned the basics of being a nurse without having to worry about additional duties. It hasn't been easy finishing my RN while working full time, but I will be done in December.
I think it really depends on how fast you need to get to work and if LPNs are being hired in your area. LPNs used to be utilized in all the area hospitals here, but now with the economy, that is not as common. Most jobs are in long term care. But you could get into rehab or a high skilled long term care unit for experience that will help you as a RN.
You will find varying opinions on this issue. But like I said, I'm glad I went the route I did. If I could do it all over again and not have to worry about getting back to work or $$$, I would still do my LPN first.

thanks for your answer , right now i dont have to work but like you said i will learn the basics of being a nurse by doing lpn first . thanks

ladybugme! · Nov 2, 2009

thanks soo much!!!

picurn10 · Nov 2, 2009

This is exactly what I did and I'm so glad I did!!!

When it came time to apply to RN I was short one class so I would have had to wait for the next application season, I was so ready to get started so I decided to jump into LPN and bridge straight into RN.

So, I did a 11mo LPN program and graduated in July, took boards, and started RN the next month!!!! I am so thrilled because RN has been a piece of cake (we basically learned all this stuff in LPN, so now its just more paperwork and details) and I'm able to work at a local children's hospital as a nurse! The extra experience in clinicals (LPN clinicals are a lot more than RN school) and at work is giving me a huge advantage compared to my classmates who are only getting clinicals 2x per week, with long breaks for holidays and summer. Personally I think that's really disruptive to learning and retaining the information to take those breaks.

I will say LPN was much harder than I expected (for me it was 5day/wk 8hr/day for 11 solid months) and all the concepts were new, obviously. My RN program is just 2x week clinicals with 2 half-days of classes each week, and everything is a review of stuff we learned last year. About half my classmates are LPN's bridging and the other half are traditional students and all the LPN's are working full time, doing great in class. I'm only going to work about 24hr/wk because I'm a single mom, but the money is really nice (bc my hospital is basically a children's long term care I make what the hospitals are paying new RN's in my area).

Doing it this way shaved 6mo off the whole RN process (assuming I got admitted the first time I applied) but the extra clinical time and confidence that's given me, plus the HUGE advantage of working as a nurse/earning good money during my last year of nursing school has been invaluable! I'll be honest, I almost didn't go this route because of misconceptions about the role of LPN's and I thought the program would be really watered down and easy, but I was wrong on each account and now I have a new appreciation for what LPN's do and the valuable place they have in nursing (and I'm really grateful for that!)

The bottom line is, I wanted to be a nurse, and now I am! Yes, I still have about 6mo until I'm an RN, but I get to care for pts and be in this field I'm so passionate about. I have no regrets!

DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN · Nov 2, 2009

Honestly I wish I had done my LPN first. At the time I thought I would never work as an LPN so why bother. So I waited for 3 years for an RN program. Had I done my LPN first (not as long a wait) I could have done the LPN-RN bridge at the same school and be finished faster. Why? Because they drop like flies out of the 1st semester of the RN program -- so there would have been spaces by the 3rd semester.

Oh well live and learn.

picurn10 · Nov 2, 2009

exactly! It's much easier to get into a bridge program because of that reason! Plus, in my area you get so many extra points for having your LPN when applying.

Since you have a 3.4 I have no doubt you'd get into a bridge right away.

ladybugme! · Nov 3, 2009

omg'sh this is all such great advise... i am thinking that if i do get into the rn program at the other school i applied i am thinkin about just doing the lvn to rn anyways... because where i got accepted for the lvn program is a private school (baptist) and they have very small class sizes and really really care about their students... at the other school i heard they dont care if the students pass or fail.. it just seems not as good... soo.. what do you think?

if i get into both lvn program.. and rn at (sac) than should i still go with lvn first?? or is the a bad idea....?

picurn10 · Nov 3, 2009

For me, I loved the class size and the closeness of our group in LPN. For RN we have new instructors every 8wks, and new classmates. Half have been together since the beginning so they are close, but not like when we were in LPN and together every day all day. I miss that part of school :sniff: Our RN instructors are committed to us passing (I think it depends on the school more than anything) but our two LPN instructors knew us better and were more willing to work with us.

jtmonique · Nov 3, 2009

With your grades go for the RN you can do it!

picurn10 · Nov 3, 2009

she said she didn't get into the two RN programs she applied to