Lpn route or RN route?

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Ok. So I recently passed my GED after studying my butt off for so long. It's a big accomplishment for me. Now I'm ready for my next goal, to become a nurse. I'm confused on how to start my nursing career. I don't know if I should go to school for Lpn or just go straight for my RN. Should I start at a community school or go straight for my bsn? I heard that community schools are harder to get in their nursing program but it's a lot more cheeper, where in a bsn program it's easier to get in but more expensive. If I go for my Lpn, it will only take 10 months to complete, but I heard that its very intense. What should I do? Where should I start?

That's a great idea, you should get them all out the way so you won't have to take them together with the nursing courses once you enter the program, bc they are a lot of work itself and then have to fit in other classes. And by having them done already especially all your sciences it will help you understand Pharmacology better and learning the mechanism of actions for drugs. You could also look into taking some courses that are prerequisites to get into a bsn program if decide to do that later on atleast you will already have those classes under your belt, and not have to pay so much more for those classes taking it at the university.

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With all the changes coming in 2014 to nursing I'd enroll in a BSN program. More and more hospitals are wanting to go Magnet status and requires a RN/BSN for all front line nurses. I've spent three years getting my RN and now gonna have to go back and get the BSN where as If I'd done BSN to start would have been 4 years and done. The NCLEX test is the same for both btw.

I was just wondering if you were talking about specific changes that I don't know about. Thanks! :-)

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I am in a 10 month LPN and god knows how hard it is already but rn school here is harder to get into and requires a lot of classes either for adn or bsn and in my money situation I couldn't risk taking all those classes to not get in and be stuck so I took a & p 1 & 2 as recommend by my advisor my lpn program had no pre classes just had to score above 50 on teas V in every catergory I made 75 overall I say it's all about your situation I want my masters and I'm starting from the very bottom Home health aide first then CNA and now in LPN school you do what is best for you!

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... totally depends. Also, can you handle taking 2 (PN & RN) NCLEX exams?

During LVN school I was able to focus because I was younger & my parents were helping me financially, so I didn't have to work during the program nor while starting the RN prerequisites (I opted to take the NCLEX-PN only after finishing Anatomy & Physiology because I took both sciences in the same semester immediately after the LVN program, which was intense, to say the least - no way could I have studied for the boards during this time).

A month after passing the LVN boards I started working 32hrs/week. In the following 2 years I was able to finish the RN pre reqs, apply to RN programs & finally get accepted to an LVN-RN bridge program at a nearby community college. To my disappointment, my mom denied my request for her full financial support (in her defense she never demanded a single penny from me & I have 2 younger siblings who were financially dependent at the time).

Not working was NOT an option so instead I cut back to 24hrs/week when I finally started the ADN program. Because I had been working for a few years, there was some accrued PTO at my disposal & every single evening I was scheduled for work I would call staffing & try to get canceled. Mostly I couldn't get canceled so I would just suck it up & go to work (PM shift) after school. Needless to say, with Church obligations, school & work being juggled, sleep became a luxury. How the working mothers managed to keep it together & do well during the program, I have no clue. I seriously bow down to all of you.

One thing I do want to highlight is that when I jumped into the 3rd semester of the ADN program, because I was already an LVN it was assumed that I had a solid med/surg foundation which wasn't the case because I worked in an inpatient psychiatric ward. My psych knowledge & skills were on point but psych is a very, very specialized area of nursing that was studied only at the end of the program. Often times I felt that I was working from scratch compared to the others because everyone had 2 semesters of med/surg knowledge that I just did not have & it was extremely frustrating & scary - in many ways I had to work twice as hard compared to the rest of the class.

In the end, God didn't let me fail & I passed my RN boards on the first attempt. I am eternally grateful for my psych experience because the knowledge & skills acquired during those 3.5yrs are applicable not only to every patient I care for regardless of diagnosis (I currently work in med/tele), but in my everyday life as well. Every nurse I have come across who has worked in psych at some point in their career feels exactly the same way & we know it is truly a great blessing... but during RN school it did appear to be somewhat of a hindrance.

Hope this helps you gain even a tiny bit of perspective. Good luck :)

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Specializes in Post Acute, Home, Inpatient, Hospice/Pall Care.

I say skip LPN and go for your RN, it's a choice I made and I am glad I did it that way. I have 4 kids and had to go the community college ASN and am doing an online BSN, but there are much better jobs (where I am anyway) for an RN than an LPN, it's one more year of school I say GO FOR IT!!!!

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... totally depends. Also, can you handle taking 2 (PN & RN) NCLEX exams?During LVN school I was able to focus because I was younger & my parents were helping me financially, so I didn't have to work during the program nor while starting the RN prerequisites (I opted to take the NCLEX-PN only after finishing Anatomy & Physiology because I took both sciences in the same semester immediately after the LVN program, which was intense, to say the least - no way could I have studied for the boards during this time).A month after passing the LVN boards I started working 32hrs/week. In the following 2 years I was able to finish the RN pre reqs, apply to RN programs & finally get accepted to an LVN-RN bridge program at a nearby community college. To my disappointment, my mom denied my request for her full financial support (in her defense she never demanded a single penny from me & I have 2 younger siblings who were financially dependent at the time).Not working was NOT an option so instead I cut back to 24hrs/week when I finally started the ADN program. Because I had been working for a few years, there was some accrued PTO at my disposal & every single evening I was scheduled for work I would call staffing & try to get canceled. Mostly I couldn't get canceled so I would just suck it up & go to work (PM shift) after school. Needless to say, with Church obligations, school & work being juggled, sleep became a luxury. How the working mothers managed to keep it together & do well during the program, I have no clue. I seriously bow down to all of you.One thing I do want to highlight is that when I jumped into the 3rd semester of the ADN program, because I was already an LVN it was assumed that I had a solid med/surg foundation which wasn't the case because I worked in an inpatient psychiatric ward. My psych knowledge & skills were on point but psych is a very, very specialized area of nursing that was studied only at the end of the program. Often times I felt that I was working from scratch compared to the others because everyone had 2 semesters of med/surg knowledge that I just did not have & it was extremely frustrating & scary - in many ways I had to work twice as hard compared to the rest of the class.In the end, God didn't let me fail & I passed my RN boards on the first attempt. I am eternally grateful for my psych experience because the knowledge & skills acquired during those 3.5yrs are applicable not only to every patient I care for regardless of diagnosis (I currently work in med/tele), but in my everyday life as well. Every nurse I have come across who has worked in psych at some point in their career feels exactly the same way & we know it is truly a great blessing... but during RN school it did appear to be somewhat of a hindrance.Hope this helps you gain even a tiny bit of perspective. Good luck :)
Wow! Thanx! My thoughts are clearer now. I'm going for my Lpn first, for finacial reasons and kids. Do you think I should go to community college to get some rerequirements out the way while I'm waiting to enter an Lpn program. Or should I just wait to finish Lpn program, gain experience, then go for the Lpn-rn bridge?
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I want to thank everyone for their advice. Every bit of information counts. I have no one to guide me through this process. You guys helped me get my thoughts more clearer. Now I am in a more clear state of mind. I am grateful. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!

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I was in the same boat, but knew I wanted RN.

Find a community college that is on quarter system to complete your pre-reqs. Go to the nursing school and get a list of what they require for their pre-reqs. If you are at a school that is on the quarter system to do your core, you can literally get all of your core done in a year (including summer quarter)! I did that while working full-time. Also, I would like to mention that I had been out of high-school for 15 years and was scared to death! I also had to take the math support classes and still did it in one year.

Keep up with the deadlines for applying to whatever nursing school you want to go to, and check with them frequently for changes. I will be starting nursing school on Aug 20, so YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Good luck to you!

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Specializes in Emergency.

Personally, I say skip the LPN, it is hard to find a job, the pay is not that great.

I would Call any school you are interested in attending. Ask to make an appointment with someone who can advise you on admission for the Nursing program.

I did this- and found to great surprise that these people knew about many many scholarships and grants that I qualified for. My BSN education was pretty much paid for- and I would not have known about the programs without that meeting. The more contact you have with schools you want to attend, the more opportunitites you have to get people on your team...

You can do it.

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Hi,

My ultimate goal is to become a NP. I also obtained my GED and then went attended a practical nursing program. I take my boards in a few weeks. Before I graduated I was clear of my goals so I enrolled into a community college and I was accepted for their health care studies program( this is your program until you complete your prerequisites and apply to the actual nursing program). Even though I was accepted into the fall semester which begins Aug.27, I decided to wait. Why? Because if I take my boards and pass I can do the LPN to RN conversion which only take 18 months.

In short just be clear of your goals. If you childern ( I have 2), it would probably be best because while you are climbing the ladder to success you can make money along the way; opposed to you going straight for your RN and struggling to make ends meet. I hope this helped!

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Hi,My ultimate goal is to become a NP. I also obtained my GED and then went attended a practical nursing program. I take my boards in a few weeks. Before I graduated I was clear of my goals so I enrolled into a community college and I was accepted for their health care studies program( this is your program until you complete your prerequisites and apply to the actual nursing program). Even though I was accepted into the fall semester which begins Aug.27, I decided to wait. Why? Because if I take my boards and pass I can do the LPN to RN conversion which only take 18 months.In short just be clear of your goals. If you childern ( I have 2), it would probably be best because while you are climbing the ladder to success you can make money along the way; opposed to you going straight for your RN and struggling to make ends meet. I hope this helped!
Thanx! That's what I'm going to do, since I have kids and no money to afford a bsn right now. I'm going to take it step by step until I reach my ultimate goal. Do you think i should enroll in community college while im waiting to enter an lpn program, since the lpn program im interested is all ready full, so i have to wait until next year. I still need to work to be able to support my kids and i and bills. Thanx for your advice.
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Hi,My ultimate goal is to become a NP. I also obtained my GED and then went attended a practical nursing program. I take my boards in a few weeks. Before I graduated I was clear of my goals so I enrolled into a community college and I was accepted for their health care studies program( this is your program until you complete your prerequisites and apply to the actual nursing program). Even though I was accepted into the fall semester which begins Aug.27, I decided to wait. Why? Because if I take my boards and pass I can do the LPN to RN conversion which only take 18 months.In short just be clear of your goals. If you childern ( I have 2), it would probably be best because while you are climbing the ladder to success you can make money along the way; opposed to you going straight for your RN and struggling to make ends meet. I hope this helped!
And congrats on graduating! I hope u kick butt on the boards!
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