Lpn route or RN route?

Nursing Students General Students

Published

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?

I wanted to share with you my experience so that you have some insight, but I do not feel I can offer you guidance with your decision-making because my situation differs greatly from yours. The honest truth is that I somewhat "fell into" nursing (long story) & didn't even really know much about nursing at all when accepted into the program (about 10yrs ago). It wasn't even until the first day of the LVN program that I decided I wanted to pursue an RN license because on that first day the instructors discussed in detail the differences between LVN & RN. I can remember thinking, "LVNs can't do a lot of things! I want to be an RN!" without really knowing what I was getting into.

Do I regret becoming an LVN first? Absolutely not. Without it, I probably wouldn't have acquired all my priceless knowledge of psychiatric nursing. If I could go back in time & change things, would I? If I knew back then that my ultimate goal was to be an RN, I probably would have skipped the LVN program... but that is exactly what got me into the LVN program - lacking an educational goal.

... long story short, I received a course catalog from my local community college & right there on the front page was advertised: "Now accepting LVN program applications". There was no wait list at the time & there were only 2 prerequisite classes I needed to complete before applying, which were easily done in 1 semester. So you see, nursing literally fell into my lap - this was God's way of showing me where He wanted me to go in life.

In terms of wait lists & funny stuff like that, I know that things are TOTALLY different for nursing students these days. My best advice to you would be to take each opportunity that comes your way & to consider that classes are getting more & more expensive as time passes...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I think you should skip the LPN thing and go straight for ur BSN..u could enroll in a community college and take all the basics required for the BSN program at a much cheaper rate..make awesome grades and tx to the university for the BSN then..if u have the time to put in to it...it's just gna b better to do the BSN first..lots of job openings within the hospitals are pushing for BSN nurses...they are forcing a change in what is required for an entry level position..I took lots of extra steps in my career..cna>rn>bsn> now on to dnp...I could have done it quicker and borrowed less money to do so lol...just my thoughts!:)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
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!

How do I find out if the school is on a quarter system? I would love to finish my cores that fast!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

:nono:Don't start at a community college; I almost made the same decision. Look for a college that offers online gen. ed. classes. I was about to take my general education at a community college until I talked with Unitek College and they offer the general education courses to you online if you are enrolling in their rn course. I was happy to see I didn't have to deal with more than 1 school because that would just be more stress on me. And look for a program that doesn't have a wait list where you can get in as soon as you finish up your pre req's. Good luck to you!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Why not start at a community college?

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

For an RN? I went to a community college and took MANY online courses. I disagree with you , but to each their own. I am a lowly community college nurse I guess!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

If you read my post I was just saying that you can do the general education courses at the same place you plan to enroll in, so why bother going to 2 different schools when you can do it all under the same school. :up:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Look into a CC first though. Im a CC student and I took all of my gen ed classes online except the sciences that required labs. We have online, hybrid, fast track. CC doesn't automatically mean face time for all classes. I actually dont know of any CCs in this area that dont offer those options for most classes. Even some bachelors classes can be taken online. We also have no wait list for our program. Every school is different. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment