LPN? RN?

%D#2 · Jan 25, 2016

Hi! I am an Lpn and medic and I absolutely love it! However although I get the same pay as RN at my job and lots of autonomy I had to get extra certifications. I had to get IV certified as Lpn and thankfully being a medic lets me do a lot of things that RNs do but it may be different depending what state and what place you work. If you live bedside care and long term care it home care LPN is a good start but I plan to get my Rn when I finish paying loans and eventually bsn, because it opens more doors to more job positions. LPN generally have limit its scope of practice and sometimes you get the occasional snarky comments from people about nut being an rn but if you are confident and take that with a grain of salt you'll be okay in that respect. Both are great career paths and very rewarding making s difference in people's lives. You vm always do what im doing and get Lpn first and then continue on. Like my uncle said "you can always advance and you'll never be less certified and competent than you are now" [emoji6]

Which ever you choose, you can always go back to school

%D#2 · Jan 25, 2016

Ps sorry for typos my autocorrect is being PIA [emoji23]

muirite · Jan 25, 2016

I wouldn't do LPN again. I did that I had a heck time finding a BSN bridge. I ended up redoing a lot. I wasted a lot of time. I couldn't get a job in an LTC or SNF where I lived as a LVN because it was soooo competitive. I went to a open interview for a LPN position and they stopped letting people in after more than 100.

I ended up working in Dr office and it was great normal hours no weekends or holidays but the job made it almost impossible to take more classes. My hours were 9am to 7pm M-Th the local community colleges only offer limited classes that worked for me.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jan 26, 2016

Here's my take; you have the Associates degree, go for the BSN-at this point if your GPA is intact to apply, you will take your nursing classes and it will be two years and you will be in a far better position careerwise.

I became a LPN because I didn't do well in my ADN program-I had personal issues and undocumented anxiety and mood disorder trait; once I got my anxiety under control, I dusted myself off and went through a PN program. I too, educated myself to have the same scope as an RN and was doing my jobs well; however, I could NEVER be certified in my specialties (Rehab and Peds) as a LPN; my ultimate goal was to have my bachelors, so once I figured out which schools I wanted to get into, I went back to CC (had an AA) took a few classes to satisfy pre-reqs for the universities I was interested in, applied, got in, and did my nursing courses, and had only three required courses to satisfy.

If you can, go for the BSN...you can thank me later.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jan 26, 2016

The scope depends on your board of nursing. In my state, an RN has a broader scope of practice than what a LPN has. The scope of practice doesn't change. Per the nursing act of your state an LPN can do X and an RN can do Y. How much your employer lets you do is dependent on the employer. In my state, an LPN can educate but that is not the case in all states. In my state, an LPN cannot push IV meds but they can hang antibiotics and start IVs. I don't think in any state you can educate yourself to the scope of an RN while a LPN. You can have the same roles in a job but you don't have the same scope of practice in the eyes of the board.

In all honesty, take a look at doing both ADN or BSN. If you get into an ADN program quicker, you can bridge to BSN fairly easy with little hassle. Some people switched to a BSN program because it took them too long to start an ADN program. I did the ADN program because I started quicker and bridged to a BSN immediately after. Saved myself a semester in the time frame.

Belle92 · Jan 26, 2016

Thank you SO SO much everyone! I appreciate all the detailed answers!