LPN's just glorified nurse aids in LTC? Huh?

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I recently had a couple of nurses tell me that LPN's are just basically glorified aids in LTC settings.

I though that LPN's did mostly the same work as RN's in the LTC setting.

I know that everyone needs to be a team and pitch in and get whatever needs to be done, done. But LPN's as glorified aids? Why go to LPN school then?

What are typical LPN duties in a LTC setting?

What I mean is: she stated she is planning on becoming an RN soon after anyway, why go through school twice. That seems like a waste of time and money to me.

I don't know what the LVN program is like where you are but here it's an 18 month program at a community college. The RN program is a 2 yr program (with a year of prereqs). Why go through 18 months + 2 yrs (2nd year plus prereqs) when simply doing the 3 yrs would get her to her end goal = RN? Does that not make sense to you? They even have accelerated RN programs here that are 14-18 months in length!

As far as "working as a nurse" after the first semester of RN school, you can work as a CNA, after the 3rd semester you can challenge LVN boards and work as an LVN or work as a nurse extern which affords the same opportunity to "work as a nurse", after attending school approximately the same period of time, costing you less money and giving you approximately the same pay? That's what I did. After the first semester I worked as a CNA, in the third semester I worked as a nurse extern. Same progression as if I had paid for and attended CNA training (12 weeks and $$$), LVN school (18 months and $$$$) but I only paid for and attended one school.

If someone aspires to be an LVN (a fine goal) I think it's great. If someone knows they want to be an RN and has the time/resources available to attend RN school then yes, I think it's a waste of time/money to get the LVN license.

Melissa

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Ok...while there may be differences between LPN and RN...schooling, things that they are licensed to do...they are both NURSES. Now I am starting school this fall to pursue my ADN and later in life a BSN completion program, I will say that in my years of being is settings where I have worked with both LPN's and RN's...some of the LPN's that I have worked with ran CIRCLES around the RN's. Overglorified CNA...hardly. I have worked with RN's that had such a Florence Nightingale complex that they couldnt do their job correctly and guess who cleaned up the mess...an LPN. So give credit where credit is due...sometimes it's all in the life experiences following graduation and licenture that makes the nurse...not the letters behind the name. Maybe the RN's that made that comment need to take a good harl look at themselves and see why the feel the need to belittle a co-worker based on the letters. :nono: :banghead:

Gotta agree with that.

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Ok...while there may be differences between LPN and RN...schooling, things that they are licensed to do...they are both NURSES. Now I am starting school this fall to pursue my ADN and later in life a BSN completion program, I will say that in my years of being is settings where I have worked with both LPN's and RN's...some of the LPN's that I have worked with ran CIRCLES around the RN's. Overglorified CNA...hardly. I have worked with RN's that had such a Florence Nightingale complex that they couldnt do their job correctly and guess who cleaned up the mess...an LPN. So give credit where credit is due...sometimes it's all in the life experiences following graduation and licenture that makes the nurse...not the letters behind the name. Maybe the RN's that made that comment need to take a good harl look at themselves and see why the feel the need to belittle a co-worker based on the letters. :nono: :banghead:

Ummm...I have seen cna's who can "work circles" around LPN's for that matter. It isn't a matter of who is a better nurse--the facts are simple the RN has more training and is held to a higher accountability standard than the LPN. You will ALWAYS have good and bad nurses at both levels. I tire of hearing the LPN "works circles" around the RN...geez I see many RN's that have a greater knowledge base and work more effeciently than many LPN's....it's on both sides of the fence. Some LPN's know their stuff and some Rn's know their stuff--and some of both know a lot of nothing. I can vouch for that having also been an LPN for many years!

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Naa, I don't agree with that statment. At the nursing home I work at we only have 1 RN charge nurse and the rest are LPN's. Whenever I'm not charging and I'm the medication/treatment nurse she treats me as an equal. We are not treated as nurses aides and we don't have the same job responsibilities... I have heard that in the local hospitals around here that LPN's aren't respected like they are in LTC. THat's just hearsay though, never been there....

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
What I mean is: she stated she is planning on becoming an RN soon after anyway, why go through school twice. That seems like a waste of time and money to me.

People are going to do what works for them, no matter if others think it makes sense or not. I don't question why someone chooses a particular path, it's not my life to live.

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I work in LTC and we only have a RN on call at night not even one in the building. Of course we don't hang blood in the facility, but after a LPN is certified we can do IV pushes. It is the same in the local teaching hospital in town only there once the RN checks off the blood the LPN will hang blood also. Lpn's in the hospital can do an initial assessment which the RN will sign. The major difference is the pay so this is a great deal for the facility

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

At the bottom of my screen is an ad which reads "LPN, accredited in 3-12 months"...sorry. I don't want anyone with that little training taking care of me. The hospital here has almost phased out all LPN's. We have them at my SNF but not usually on the subacute/rehab floor. Licensed PRACTICAL nurse....read your state nurse practice act...in my state at least, an LPN can't really be in charge of an RN...the RN always "outranks" the LPN.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Well, i've looked over this thread twice, i'm still not finding where someone said that an LPN is in charge of/over an RN.

We're well aware that the RN "outranks" LPN, and we're also well aware that the P in LPN stand for practical. Some of us learned this in the first week of school, after hearing "and there's always people there to point this out to you".

None of this means that LPNs are glorified aides (the Orig. Topic).

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.

I was an LPN in LTC for nearly 19 years and I never felt like I was "just a glorified aide". I was a charge nurse for several years, a unit manager for 4, staff development manager for 4 and MDS nurse for 6 (in other words I held management jobs normally held by an RN). I did recently become an RN though. I always felt like I had the respect of 90% of the other nurses, but there was always someone desperate to remind me that I was "just and LPN". Now with my ASN degree only 3 months old, I have already been informed that I'm just an ASN grad, not a BSN grad. :banghead: :banghead: . So I guess the moral of the story is, you have to feel good about who you are and what you're doing, because someones always willing to shoot you down. To h___ with them!

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It's really sad, I don't understand why LVNs and CNAs are treated the same at our hospital, it's a tremendous waste of nursing staff.

Melissa

:uhoh21: I think we should all be treated equal. If it weren't for our CNA's we would get nothing done. If it weren't for the RN's we would never get our IV pushes done and if it weren't for the LVN's, they would ALL be running around not having a clue what is going on. :chuckle

Just so you know, LVN's are way more then that. Hold that License proud!!!!

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
In my experience locally in acute care this is the trend...It's alarming to me that instead of paying an LPN the higher wage they would rather hire and train techs in a few days to carry out these tasks....LPN's seemed to be the first to go when the budget got tight...But patient satisfaction dropped into the toilet....Generally speaking many of the newer RN's seem to have the attitude that they don't have to give a bed bath or empty a bedside commode.These duties are left for the few techs on the floor and they are spread thin with all the ekg's,finger sticks ,vital signs and such........I'm not slamming anyone-this is what happened at the hospital down the road....My duties have varied greatly everywhere I've worked-that's part of the problem for us....Our scope of practice varies so much from state to state and many have no idea of the extent of our education.....We all have a place in heath care...LPN is a good stepping stone to RN-or if you stop there it is a good way to make a living.
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Specializes in ACNP-BC.

I am an RN & work in a med/surg floor in a hospital that employs both LPNs & RNs (& CNAs too). The only things the LPNs on my floor cannot do that the RNs can are the following: initially assess a new patient from the ER/direct admit, IV pushes, hang blood, act as charge nurse, & take telephone orders from physicians. I think it's crazy that my hospital doesn't allow our LPNs to take TOs! I don't know who made up that rule.

-Christine

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