LPNs who continued on to RN....I have a question for you?

[2banurse]

I was just curious:eek: to see if you felt that going through the LPN first was a better choice. Do you feel that in the RN program you received as good a clinical base as when you went to the LPN? I'm sure that you were able to see things differently than some of your RN classmates that have not gone through any clinicals yet.

I'm really contemplating the LPN program over the RN, because I feel that the amount of clinical hours will enable me to become a better RN, if I become an LPN first. I know that there are some ares that RNs have over LPNs, but the LPN program I am looking into seems to be more intensive with about 700 clinical hours over a 11 month period, versus approximately the same, but over 2 years.

Thanks,

Kris

[AntFlip7395]

Being an LPN before becoming an RN definitely helped a lot, because I didn't need to focus so much on skills, I could dedicate time to critical thinking and nursing theory. In addition, working as an LPN on a busy cardiac tele floor for the last six years really helped because I have learned so much in terms of assessment and prioritization than I would have if I had worked in LTC (just my opinion, but I think you lose skills if you work in LTC for an extended period).