i don't want my post to be the venue for an LPN-RN debate...this is just my opinion about the topic...
i understand that not EVERYBODY want to be an RN and that NOT everyone stays as an LPN...different situations calls for a different approach...we as nurses should be bonded and not debate amongst ourselves of who has the best career...it's hard enough explaining to the lay person what we do and how important we are and not "just nurses"...that we don't need to badmouth each other...
as i've said...i didn't want my post to be the start of another word war...
to answer some of your questions...i do have a bsn also been an rn and is now an lpn by choice...not because of some misfortune...i've just found out that this is the best place for me right now...
to clear up one thing also...a professional is someone who gets paid for their services...professional wrestler, professional boxer, etc...
same difference to me is that we all have the same career but different roles...you would not see a department being run by all rns do you? everyone put as much effort in studying and working...it does not matter if you studied 4 years or 18 months...it all boils down to, if you are good in what you do.
i've read somewhere...one could not be a good leader if one is not a good follower.
if you are an rn, good for you...an lpn, good for you...a cna, more power...
as long as you're not a professional bum...:)
And then this post? why choose to be an LPN, and not be able to get a job, or say you might as well become a CNA? You are climbing down the corporate later honey, go back up........
I don't get it, I'm sorry.....................
I'm an LPN, I worked as an MDS Coordinator (under an RN) something all of the LPN's need to realize, we can't work anywhere unless we work under an RN, plain and simple. There is more responsibility in a nursing home, but the RN's license is on the line for you there too. Its on the line in the hospital, its on the line anywhere you work, you can't work without an RN over you, so how in the hell do you think there is no difference in the degrees? I respect all RN's and understand the responsibility that they carry...........that is all most of the RN's are trying to tell us as LPN's, they have more knowledge and definately more responsibility, acknowledge it, accept it, own it, its true.........no debate
lvn does NOT mean less than valuable nurse !!! I'am so sick of all the RN's who think they are the only ones who are professional. Give me a break. It says registered nurse not PN professional nurse. I can run circles around most of the rn's I work with some are novice and some are old timers... I think that with all of technology, and advances in medicine the NURSES (both rn and lvn here) have to learn so much more than in previous years in nursing schools.. A lot of the forgein nurses are having problems passing state boards because of the higher standards. Calif has one of the toughest state boards requirments. I know most states will accept calif for resiprosity, but calif won't accecpt out of state unless you pass their standards. This applies to BOTH RN and LVN. I just wanted to voice my opinion. I also get sick of people asking me when am I going on to get my rn.. What is so darn important about getting that rn?? I LOVE being an lvn. That is usually my response.
It's not that I don't have respect for the rn's I do... I 'am honored to work with alot of great nurses, I just get sick of the professional thing being shoved down my throat.. I think alot of rn's don't realize the whole role and capabilities that an lvn has to offer. So it's not a lack of respect, its that some rn's have this you don't know **** attitude because you have a lower education than me. You can teach an old dog new tricks.
what state are you in to allow LVN (LPN here in AL) to triage? Only RN's can triage here, has to do with liability & assessment skills. Until one has been an RN with the responsibility of the RN then one should not say it is the same. It is not.
In nursing you have all these assistive roles. LPN, CNA, PCA, MT, And same with physicians: NP, PA, Surgical techs (the ones that work in the clinics). The fact is it's expensive and time consuming for society to create a doctor or a nurse. Even when only an ADN is considered, it still takes three years (I don't know anyone with any common sense that didn't do the "other" coursework before starting nursing school.). And the ANA considers the professional RN to have a BSN.
Everyone is of value, because modern health care wouldn't work efficiently if all there were were physicians and registered nurses. Let's face it, not everyone is academically inclined, and there isn't anyone who finished nursing school or med school that isn't academically inclined.
There are a lot of people in the medical field. There are two that are foundational: the physician and the registered nurse.
No, the two types are the physician and the nurse. Your statement indicates that you somehow feel LPNs are not nurses. You are, sadly, not alone in that opinion. I know there are quite a few RNs out there who think only RNs qualify as Nurses. Too Bad. Nurses are not just registered nurses, nurses are also licensed practical nurses. Hence the term "Nurse" in the title licensed practical nurse. The Boards Of Nursing in all 50 states consider LPNs to be Nurses, those are the facts. Anything else is opinion.
LPNs do practical tasks, not assessments. That's why they aren't allowed to IV push dangerous drugs like narcotics.
Maybe in YOUR state LPNs don't do assessments or IV Push Narcotics but that is not true in all states. Don't presume to know the scope of practice for all LPNs when your knowledge is based of the scope of practice for LPNs in your state.
To do a physical assessment on a patient, which RNs do, you have to have the knowledge that comes from a college background in the biological and physiological sciences and nursing school.
LPNs do not have the training of a RN, but they do have college training in the physiological sciences, biological sciences, and did in fact attend nursing school. Just what kind of school do you think LPNs attend, carpentry?
But let's not confuse the two types of nursing.
This area is PURE opinion. Yours is listed above, mine follows below. There are NOT two types of Nursing. Nursing is Nursing, it is merely learned and practiced at different levels (LPN, RN-Diploma, RN-ASN, RN-BSN, RN-MSN, RN-PhD, etc...) The fundementals of Nursing are what makes us all Nurses, even if our titles are different and we practice at different levels, and they are the same across the board.
Until the archaic and self centered concepts that only RNs are nurses , or that only BSNs should be nurses, cease to exist we will never be unified as a profession. Until we recognize ourselves as professionals, across the board, nobody else is going to recognize us as professionals. It is not the lack of a single entry point into our profession that makes others not recognize us a professionals. It is the lack of recognition in our own ranks, OF our own ranks, that prevents us from being recognized as professionals.
Until the archaic and self centered concepts that only RNs are nurses , or that only BSNs should be nurses, cease to exist we will never be unified as a profession. Until we recognize ourselves as professionals, across the board, nobody else is going to recognize us as professionals. It is not the lack of a single entry point into our profession that makes others not recognize us a professionals. It is the lack of recognition in our own ranks, OF our own ranks, that prevents us from being recognized as professionals.
No, now hold on a minute. The problems of professionalism don't include LPN issues. I don't mean to be rude, but whether or not LPNs are unified with RNs makes no difference to the profession of nursing at all. And it doesn't matter what anyone else "recognizes" about the profession of nursing, unless they are nurses. The registered nurse is considered a professional person. If joe blow down the street doesn't think so, it doesn't really matter any more than if joe blow doesn't think a CPA is a professional.
Let me ask you this, are LPNs allowed to be members of the ANA? I really don't know, but if they are, perhaps there is something to your argument; if they are not, then I have a stronger position.
Having said all this, you do make a good point about professional low self-esteem with nurses, and that will make an interesting original post.
Nursie30
124 Posts
And then this post? why choose to be an LPN, and not be able to get a job, or say you might as well become a CNA? You are climbing down the corporate later honey, go back up........
I don't get it, I'm sorry.....................
I'm an LPN, I worked as an MDS Coordinator (under an RN) something all of the LPN's need to realize, we can't work anywhere unless we work under an RN, plain and simple. There is more responsibility in a nursing home, but the RN's license is on the line for you there too. Its on the line in the hospital, its on the line anywhere you work, you can't work without an RN over you, so how in the hell do you think there is no difference in the degrees? I respect all RN's and understand the responsibility that they carry...........that is all most of the RN's are trying to tell us as LPN's, they have more knowledge and definately more responsibility, acknowledge it, accept it, own it, its true.........no debate