LPN = Life's Perfect Nurses

CyndieRN2007 · Aug 6, 2007

i was a LPN for 21 years. i just recieved my RN license. i am glad i went back to school to become a RN. i feel my scope of practice is wider, i can do more for my patients , such as draw blood from picc lines , do iv pushes , hang the TPN , and other things. these things may not seem like much to other people , but to me they mean the world. i hated relying on other people to do these things fo me.i am so glad to finally be a RN , i have a larger choice of jobs in the future and i allready have hospitals calling me for jobs. my hospital told me they will not be hiring any more LPN's , but will keep the other 2 LPN's that are on staff . i loved being a LPN , but grateful i went back to school for 5 long years and recieved my degree. i want to thank you all for the great posts i love reading them.

I agree so much!!! Although I was an LVN for only a year, I do see the differences between RN and LVN. However, that doesnt mean LVNs arent valuable.

I'm glad you enjoy reading the posts...so do I.....

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Aug 6, 2007

I agree so much!!! Although I was an LVN for only a year, I do see the differences between RN and LVN. However, that doesnt mean LVNs arent valuable.
I'm glad you enjoy reading the posts...so do I.....[/quo
i would never think LPN's are invaluable... i was one for 21 years and now a RN . i worked my last job as a Team leader ( for 9 years).. and was over 2 LPN's on the floor and a CNA but we had a RN supervisor ( who was in charge). i love LPN's and know you can't do without them.. if a pt's family wanted to speak to the person in charge i would call the RN. now it's funny .. because now they call me.. eeekk..

DeeDee143 · Aug 7, 2007

I needed to hear this--I work in nursing homes as an agency
nurse and by the end of my shift, I'm usually wiped out!!
And, the reason I'm a full time agency nurse???
To avoid all the nasty back-stabbing and "biting" remarks
that nurses want to make to each other!!
Why can't women respect each other??
And how about a day where you don't gossip about
your fellow workers!! :trout:

Amen to that:lol2:. I work @ a LTC/ Rehab and I have co-workers who gossips and snip at each other.Its sad but true.And they wonder why I keep to my self

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 7, 2007

Why can't women respect each other??

I have observed this phenomenon on a daily basis in nursing. I have unscientifically concluded that the field of nursing appeals to countless women who have multiple issues. Many nurses are passive-aggressive people; hence, they'll smother you with kindness while secretly plotting to set you up for failure. Many nurses also entered the field with very low self esteems; thus, they'll overly crave validation from patients, managers, family members, and anyone who can fill that void in their miserable lives.

Nurses gossip, because saying negative things about another person can temporarily boost their low self esteems. Nurses report coworkers to management for petty issues, because they feel validated when another employee has been disciplined.

I'll repeat that this is my unscientific opinion.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Aug 7, 2007

It may be an unscientific hypothosis, but in the real world, it is really true. Nurses have issues. Also, I think it stems from the competitive nature it takes for most of us to enter into nursing programs. People have cheated, told on each other in order for another potential student to fail, or to draw attention away from their own mishaps (because I believe that we all screw up occasionally, intentional or not).

llnesycllne · Aug 11, 2007

To me I could care less what your title is or how many years experience you have. I wanna see if you know your stuff. Thats the only way you get my respect. Ive had supervisors that Id be scared to leave my dog with. So like I said you may have a title ,you may be in a position, you may make 40$ an hour but do you really know what your doing? Im proud to be an LPN and Im sure Ill be proud to be an RN.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 12, 2007

To me I could care less what your title is or how many years experience you have. I wanna see if you know your stuff. Thats the only way you get my respect. Ive had supervisors that Id be scared to leave my dog with. So like I said you may have a title ,you may be in a position, you may make 40$ an hour but do you really know what your doing? Im proud to be an LPN and Im sure Ill be proud to be an RN.

I agree. This is why I became annoyed when a family member requested to speak to an RN to simply ask, "How's my father doing today?"

As courteously as possible, I attempted to explain that there were no RNs present in the facility at that time of evening. In addition, what good would it have done to speak to an RN who knows absolutely NOTHING about the family member's recent condition? Some of these family members are purely disgusting for even believing that an LPN/LVN lacks the capability to report on a patient's condition.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Aug 12, 2007

I have hopes that one day, advertisments on recruiting people to become LPNs becomes a reality. I know this will probably never happen, but it is the image placed on the RN that makes us look like 'less than nurses' or more of nursing assistants with advanced skills.

yessie11604 · Aug 13, 2007

Oh man I dont even know where to start... first of all lvn or lpn we have to have least about the same knowledge as an Rn if we dont know how to catch a sign or symptom a pt is experiencing how are we going to be able to help and make quick decisions ... I think the only thing that separates us from RN is the IV situation... I had a very good RN instructor who only focused us on thinking critically and man she was good by the time I finished her class I was confident in taking any challeng i even saw a pt while being a student going to respiratory acidosis and i caught it in time to save her life so i think LPN can think just the same as any RN... housekeepers do there part to and cna too... I appreciate all who work as a team ... going back to the lvn and Rn thing I was doing my clinicals at Kaiser permanente and There was an LVN floating to the med-surg floor and i heard the RN in charge say this "why the hell did they send an LVN here we dont want them and we dont need them they can't do anything .." right in front of us LVN students and the floating one too... this really made me angry how could she say such a thing in front of all of us and when we were there the Rn students just sat on there ass looking at charts while we gave pt meds changed their linens give them water and basically everything else this was just garbage to me .. i will never set foot in a med surg floor in that hospital or any other hospital what a dam shame to push us of like that :smiley_ab:flamesonb

jjjoy, LPN · Aug 13, 2007

There's no excuse for a person to be so blatantly disrespectful, no matter who they are referring to.

For others, though, there are honest misunderstandings about what LPNs can and can't do and what kind of training they have had. Some RNs may have been told that LPNs should only be allowed to pass routine medications due to the fact that their educational program was considerably shorter than the RN program. I'm not saying that that is the case, but it's understandable an RN might be concerned about what level of care a LPN is qualified to provide.

Notice I say "qualified" - not that they can't do it or don't have the know-how. Many nurses know enough about medical care to diagnose and treat certain conditions but they aren't qualified to do so legally because they aren't MDs. Because the scope of practice of RNs and LPNs overlaps so much and because the differences aren't always clear, it's very easy for misunderstandings to occur in both directions.

I agree with what Pagandeva has noted before. To keep costs down, LPNs are given more and more responsibilities. Then LPNs end up doing almost exactly what RNs are doing, but with less training and less pay. And resentments and confusion set in. If LPN training is sufficient to have almost equal responsibilities then what does the extended RN education provide and why even have two different programs with such different lengths of study?

If the LPN is going to be paid less, then their responsibility should be less. That doesn't mean the LPN doesn't have the capability of doing more. Just that that particular job role won't demand as much as an RN role since the pay is lower and the training requirement is lower. If the LPN is going to have responsibilities so similar to RNs, then in such positions there should be no significant differentiation between RNs and LPNs in such jobs since they have the same capabilities and responsibilities.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Aug 14, 2007

jjjoy, I am so glad that you understood what I meant. Just this week, we had an arguement at one of the magnet status meetings about this. If they choose to not consider us as nurses, that is fine with me; I have no ego about being an LPN or perceiving that RNs and others may consider us to be less than nurses. But, then, there has to be a differentiation or there will be confusion and resentment. Blanketing the skills would make an LPN angry. Most times, the facility will eventually dictate how effectively an LPN will be able to utilize the skills that were taught to us in our nursing courses. There are some that only function as medication nurses, where others will allow us the opportunity to do more. However, it is disrespectful to treat an LPN as though we have not paid our dues to work. It is an honest vocation, it helps people and we are vital members of the team. But adding more skills and not compensating us for it is a grave mistake.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 14, 2007

But adding more skills and not compensating us for it is a grave mistake.

I totally agree. If the facility wants me to function as a glorified aide by doing unskilled tasks such as giving baths and ambulating patients, then so be it. However, I expect to receive more money for nursing skills such as doing IV therapy on patients, initial assessments, and functioning as a "nurse supervisor" or "charge nurse" during the hours when no RN is present in the workplace. After all, the aforesaid duties are typically connected with RN responsibility, yet I must do them at my place of employment (the state of Texas has a very wide LVN/LPN scope of practice).