LPN (without being CNA), LPN to RN, saturation.

[tbmfl]

Hey there. Forgive me, as this may be long. I'm thinking of attending a local school to become an LPN, preferably Brewster in Tampa, and then eventually transferring to LPN-RN to either SPC or HCC. I'd really like to go to SPC because I've had an interest in the school for so long just because it's a really good school. I live in Hillsborough though and I learned awhile ago certain counties only take those who live in their counties first. LPN just seems to work best for me in my situation, where I can also get my RN and BSN later on. I think eventually, I'd also like to become a nurse practitioner. I guess it's just the fierce competition which throws me off...

My main and important concern is the competitiveness and saturation of nursing. Most notably the competitiveness these days. The BLS lists there are over 2M nurses. Yet in some areas, there are jobs (and experience definitely plays a role; get experience and it seems like you're okay for the most part; on the other hand, it seems like how can you get experience in a certain field if no one hires you for the experience?)

The graduation programs also list certain fields to be in; where a certain job post has that, it wants another. For example, StaRN programs. And even luckily, they're offered in my area. There are many options to becoming a nurse and LPNs have yet not been phased out, as much as that has been talked about for years, and I don't think nurses will be replaced with technology anytime soon. I'm just concerned about the competitive nature of nursing these days, with the GPAs (getting rejected, wait-listed, school admins telling you you're not going to make it and they have other applicants with more grades) and a lot of people going into nursing, feeling like I'm not good enough (silly to think that).

My plan was to become a licensed optician (Florida is a licensed state for opticians), but I just think soon ... like optometry and pharmacy ... there's a form of replacement in technology taking over especially in eye care, which seems to already be happening. Becoming an optician also is restricted in certain states.... there are only so many states that recognizes the education and licenses. And it seems that the education + the licenses = higher pay in certain states. I also want to care for people/patients in a less "superficial" way if that makes any sense. And an LPN can get equal pay with less school and even more opportunity to advance.

I've also learned that nurses (RN) can work in ophthalmology. Even still, the jobs require or prefer experience. There are limited programs in that.

I'm not sure how the StaRN programs work. There is telemetry and critical care mostly.

My most interest is in psychiatry, pain management and surgery; all which seem to require or prefer at least 2 years experience.

I'm sorry if this has been a very long post and may be overlooked. I've looked into nursing for several years and think I've should've done it sooner. I've also been reading this forum for awhile and searching to bring up posts that I'm interested in reading. And lo and behold, this forum has it. I try to avoid the Indeed forum.

Another concern is for hours. I've only really worked up to 8 hours (retail). Most nurses work at least 12. I wonder how they manage it...especially with certain pets like parrots who require a lot of time. Being gone for 12 hours during the day I'm not sure how they'd be able to live with being apart from their human companion.

I guess another concern was being gay. This is indeed the 21st century, 2016; butI'm a little insecure about working in a "conservative" environment; or having a few gay male co-workers that I've really never worked with besides lesbians in retail; the stereotype of gay men going into nursing, etc. Granted, again, it'd also be nice to work with fellow LGBT. It's almost like having a community; just like in nursing.

Thank you for reading this far! And responding. I appreciate any feedback...

[holly2422]

tbmflor

I made the same decision you are thinking. I went for the LPN first and if I liked it I would proceed to the RN. There were 580 applicants and 50 openings in my program. For those that passed the TEAS, paid for uniforms, ATI package of books and made the program, we lost 20 students due to failure in the first semester. At the end of the curriculum we graduated 15 students (15 out of 50). So, just getting into the program is not the end of the struggle. You can put time and effort into the program and completely blow it also. I'm not sure this is common, but the similar happened to the class before ours. It is not an easy curriculum and I'd suggest having the academic part of the requirements completed before beginning the program (A/P, psych, etc). It is difficult juggling the academic along with the nursing.

For me, I graduated with a scholarship for the highest grades, it means little, finding a job now is terribly difficult where I live. I have been scolded on this forum for working in home / hospice care as I don't have any business in that type of job as a new nurse. However, I cannot find anything in a long term care or rehab, even part time and per diem have already been filled to the max. In either case, be prepared for part time / per diem (no work is predictable or set, never knowing if you have work this week or not, I really don't know how people live like this unless they still live with their parents). Full time positions will not be considered or rarely considered until you have a year of exp. But, getting that is the hard part, unless you want to work for a doctor office for next to min wage for all your hard school work. Working at McDonalds holds more prospect and less headache. So, the first year is going to be brutal in paying your "dues" so to speak.

I also noticed on this forum, some LPNs are not happy with "new" LPNs, kind of makes me laugh since at one time they were new as well. I can't see how this makes for a "good" nurse to have such limited consideration for your own brethren and yet can be good hearted to the client(must be a joy to work with) . Being not so short sighted about what is good for the client could be in the long run to get another LPN trainee up to speed for a little help !! in this regard, be prepared for this type of behavior.

Be prepared for the "nurses eat their young" , I heard this all through my schooling, I never really thought this could be true, but I see it here on the forum !!! and perhaps it's because of competition and saturation of the nursing population. When companies hire more and more LPNs this might limit a "need" for them with more competition / less control and less job security.

Can you consider something else ? this is terribly hard work, for me I had 3 - 15 hr nights, documenting every 15 mins, with treatments, status, etc. no time for a lunch , just straight through work. At the end of 3 days you just want to crash for a week. You can see the others on the forum proudly announce " I do 30 med passes in 3 hrs" type comments, this is everyday for them along with documentation, helping clients and the money is not all that great even getting to an RN.

you will need to get to BSN or MSN to start making anything decent unless you want to pack on hours and hours of per diem. This is a great dedication and a lot of work to achieve.

[Fiona59]

Opthamology employs LPNs in my hospital. Roughly half their nurses are LPNs. We have the regional eye centre for a huge part of Canada. It's very boring according to a friend who works there. They either work in the cataract unit, admit, dilate, educate, discharge, or in the acute care unit. Retinas, glaucoma, strap repairs, and infections. ORTech LPNs work in the theatres as the scuba and circulatos.

it has been described as assembly line nursing because so much of it is repetitive

[tbmfl]

Thanks for the discouraging words.

:)

[holly2422]

Thanks for the discouraging words.

:)

tbmflor

Don't mean to discourage you.

What about an MA ? or surg tech or radiology ? you can work in a nice stable steady job in a hospital with benefits and tuition reimbursement and 401k, you will have a place to go the each day. I wish I put my efforts in one of those fields.

Just reporting my observations as a new nurse... and don't worry about being gay... this doesn't matter in the field.

[Fiona59]

tbmflor

Don't mean to discourage you.

What about an MA ? or surg tech or radiology ? you can work in a nice stable steady job in a hospital with benefits and tuition reimbursement and 401k, you will have a place to go the each day. I wish I put my efforts in one of those fields.

Just reporting my observations as a new nurse... and don't worry about being gay... this doesn't matter in the field.

Why are you even brining your notions of the OPs sexuality into this? Quite mean girl from high school?

i talked both of my sons out of nursing. The disrespect from coworkers and the public is abuse at its best.

healthcare has man, many options. Men entering both levels has tripled since I trained. But look into all areas, sterile processing, X-ray, respiratory.

[tbmfl]

From all walks of life people will be what we have on our butts. No matter what profession, job. Especially these days. I won't let anyone talk me out of doing something I want to do just because it may be boring or hard to them and they wished they've done something else. Just because they're miserable doesn't mean I have to be. Just because I like a certain field doesn't mean they have to either. And isn't that the nice thing about our options? To have options. There are jobs. And there are jobs here. There may be a lot of competition for these jobs, but there are jobs. I search these forums and there are varying posts and as well as opinions. And me posting and getting these replies is totally different from what other threads and posts I've read on here that were more uplifting. Very disconcerting. To probably delve more into this field and have to deal with this would probably raise my blood pressure even more. The world is full of that already and aren't we supposed to be in the healthcare: C A R E.

.

And none of those fields interest me.

What's funny about talking people out of certain professions, is that in other professions people are talking to be out of them.

Yes, I posted and got answers. So thanks anyway.

[l1234567]

Maybe you could be a bit more thankful and less ungrateful. People took the time to actually post indepth answers to your questions. You just want people to tell you what you want to hear. Telling you the reality of the situation as someone sees it is not being mean. Also, you seem quite idealistic.

The world is full of that already and aren't we supposed to be in the healthcare: C A R E.

That doesn't even make sense. Weren't you supposed to be in nursing school in 2013?

Hi, I start nursing school in January but I can't wait for a job

[tbmfl]

I am grateful for the responses even though they're a bit not what I thought. I thought on a forum for nurses would be praising the field.

I don't remember that post that in 2013. . My posts were about becoming a CNA because my uncle who had down syndrome had inspired. But then again...I was only and am still idealistic.

I appreciate your time in posting. I understand the field and the industry is going through changes.

[tbmfl]

I just want to apologize if I was being a little offensive and impertinent with some things said in my post. The one where I mention discouraging was being sarcastic. I haven't really posted much since 2013. I found out how to look at my old posts. It was actually a post made about wanting to become a CNA. Wasn't in nursing school. What I mention about care is how some professions eat their young, like in healthcare and I suppose nursing is known for the reputation. I mean by being in a profession to care for others we could care about our colleagues sometimes.

I think I was jumping a little ahead, mentioning about being an LPN and then thinking of further down the road with RN. I find information on here valuable to read at times and just thought of making a post. Of course I can find things on the search too but just thought I'd post and join in since I haven't been on here in awhile. I do appreciate the posts and the stresses of mentioning certain things as well. Sometimes on the internet things are taken out of place and I know it can happen on here sometimes too. :) Thanks again.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I thought on a forum for nurses would be praising the field.

Have you heard of negativity bias? People are more inclined to vent about the negative occurrences in their lives, including their jobs.

Relatively few people burn their time on an online forum to discuss how much they love their workplaces. This is a safe, anonymous virtual meeting place to vent about all of the negative facets of the job. Good luck to you!