LPN or RN?

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I am going to start LPN school next year and I dont know if I want to stop at LPN or go all the way to Rn.... My goal is to work in L&D. One reason why I am having trouble making up my mind, is that I stink at math and I dont know if I can go all the way to RN... Thanks for your help:wink2: If i knew that LPN could go into the room with t he women in delivery, I would stop at LPN

KIM:wink2:

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I am going to start LPN school next year and I dont know if I want to stop at LPN or go all the way to Rn.... My goal is to work in L&D. One reason why I am having trouble making up my mind, is that I stink at math and I dont know if I can go all the way to RN... Thanks for your help:wink2: If i knew that LPN could go into the room with t he women in delivery, I would stop at LPN

KIM:wink2:

Kim,

It depends on where you live and the hospitals around you whether you can work in L&D. I know around here some nurses (LPNs and very experienced PCTs) manage to get into L&D. However, the problem is around here a lot of hospitals are trying to "phase-out" LPNs. The RN program I'm in right now has a lot of LPNs in it because of phasing out. It's one of the reasons I went the RN path instead of LPN (not knocking the LPNs so don't everyone get defensive :wink2: ). If you can't find a suitable job as a LPN you could always bridge over to RN. As for the math part, I wouldn't let that stop you from being a RN if that's what you want. There's a lot of places you can get extra math help from. If you want it badly enough you'll find a way to make it through an RN program. Mel

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Thank you Mel

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Yes, don't let your fear of math hinder your dreams there are even free peer tutoring on most campus'. You could always get your feet wet with your LPN and then start working toward your RN. There are still some hospitals that have LPNs in L&D or the other thing you could consider is doing a surg tech program to do C-sections. They have the coolest job in the OR.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, LTC.

I'm an LPN and my opinion is keep going if you can, I was supposed to and I didn't and now I find it hard to go back. Get with a counseler at the school and get a tutor for what classes trouble you. But keep going....you can do this. Good luck! :)

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

I would certainly check with your local hospitals. Most of the departments in our hospital will take LPN's but mainly for Med/Surge and not first choice for specialties.

If you like L/D it is a pretty tough spot to get into anyway in most places (around here it is tooth and nail...LOL!), so consider what paths you will take if you can't get into it right away either way.

Also remember that it isn't all happy bundles of joy with happy parents either...usually it is frantic parents/family LOL! And not all babies are healthy when they are born...and that is traumatic to the family in a way very unique and intense...can you or do you wish to work in that type of a very emotional situation? Something to consider...I found I was not up for that challenge and when things went wrong...I was so very upset and crying that I was useless....but I rock with older folks and adults!

A while ago I was working in a facility where the baby was born c-section and all was fine, but the next day the mother crashed and even after the most advanced surgeons and MD's in the house...she didn't make it. She was only 19! I knew things were bad (I was on a totally different floor) when I went to get blood products at the lab for my patient, and a frantic nurse was running in getting bag 12 and 13 of PRBC and bag 9-10 of plasma! My heart fell out of my chest and I felt the horror and tension of the situation throughout the hospital after that...I felt so horribly, and worse off...nothing I could do to help :(. If I had been in L/D at that time...I would have been an emotional wreck! Good thing I don't go there, and know this about myself!

Good luck with your choices!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

It is highly unlikely that you'll ever be able to land a job as a nurse in L&D with an LPN license. You will definitely need to become an RN if your dream is to work in L&D, because most opportunities for LPNs are limited to nursing homes, rehab, home health, some med-surg, outpatient clinics, and hospice. I'm just trying to assist in getting you to make an informed decision.

RNs have extreme difficulty landing L&D jobs since they're at such a premium, so it will be nearly impossible for LPNs to do L&D.

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I am going to start LPN school next year and I dont know if I want to stop at LPN or go all the way to Rn.... My goal is to work in L&D. One reason why I am having trouble making up my mind, is that I stink at math and I dont know if I can go all the way to RN... Thanks for your help:wink2: If i knew that LPN could go into the room with t he women in delivery, I would stop at LPN

KIM:wink2:

Do whatyou feel is best for you at this time, Iam an LPN and have worked in every dept of our hospital, ER ICCU and MED SURG, I could work up in L&D but for me my choice is not to the girls who do love it, but its not my cup of tea and i know that, I can work the Codes on the floors , but when I hear that code Pink over head my heart just stops. You will learn alot as an LPN, but if your heart is to go for your RN then dont let the math stop you its just a small part and quess what you have the same math in LPN school as I did when I started my RN it was all the same stuff I did 9 years ago.

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THANKS YOU ALL...... :thankya: I may go all the way to be a RN and talk to someone about working in the L&D so i know exactly what to take ... Thanks again

KIM

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