LPNs are nurses too.

[vbarger28]

So sad to say, but this is a sad post. ;(

I have been an LPN now since 2013, passed my NCLEX with flying colors and landed a dream job in Critical Urgent Care with a large company. Over the course of my short career I often get the 'oh you are not an RN' jab by some patients, and even a few co workers but today really put the icing on a cake.

While dealing with an abuse problem, I was told by a family member, who quickly let me know she was a retired RN, that since I was an LPN, I was too 'incompetent' to understand nursing, and should not have a license, and how she has never worked with what she seemed to be a worthy-of-her-presence LPN in her career. She used words to me like 'stupid' and 'incompetent'. Now, as I am indeed an LPN, I can tell you that I can stick a 16g needle in a superficial vein quicker than you can say 'CODE BLUE' Also, I often get the whole 'you are not a real nurse' because I am licensed and not registered.

This really hit hard to me today, I am currently in a BSN RN program, and should let this go, but I wish there was an actual organization for support for LPNs, like we have things such as the NLN, and the ANA, but something official and specialized for put-down LPNs. Or even if there could be some awareness, like a 'we are nurses too' campaign.

It's just frustrating, I love all my nurse family, lpn or RN. I just wish we didn't get beat up on in particular for being LPNs as much.

[imenid37]

I think it is a shame that we don't let everyone have their piece of the nursing profession. We could make our nursing team so much more efficient if we let everyone work to the top of their license. I am in the CNS role now. I am a nurse. I was a nurse with an AA degree when was first licensed. There are many excellent nurses who are LPN's. I used to work with many LPN's and I was often very grateful that they could take over doing meds, for example, while I dealt with a patient who needed one to one attention. We were a team and valued and respected each other.

We can learn so much from each other and become better nurses ourselves if we get rid of the snobbery and respect one another. Sharing our expertise and experience with each other is one of the great things about nursing. More education helps us to better our knowledge. Education comes in many forms. It isn't just in the form of college credit and formal degrees. I cannot tell you how many great tricks and strategies I have learned from talking to and watching other colleagues who have various credentials. Only a fool passes up an opportunity to learn from another person because he/she believes that person is less than him/her in some way.

This obnoxious family member is misinformed if she does not know LPN's are nurses. If you are competent in the skills you are performing and working within the scope of your license, she has no right to criticize you for what you are doing. Hopefully, your management has a backbone and sets this person straight. You do not deserve to be disrespected like this.

[smartnurse1982]

Y

Honestly, I'd rather be a CNA forever if it payed better and the patient load wasn't so over the top. I do love nursing and I love to learn, but the job I love most is the role of the CNA.

Me too!

I loved talking to the patients when i was a Cna in the nursing home,but the pay was barely above minimum wage.

I did not mind cleaning poo,and doing all the dirty work.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Some of the best nurses I know are LPNs!

I wholeheartedly agree!

[figureskating]

Sadly I think the medical community in some ways encourages the disrespect. I practice in Arkansas and LPNs have been kicked out of a lot of job options. UAMS, Baptist, And St. Vincent no longer hire LPNs to work on any floors in the hospital not even Medical Surgical. When I first graduated in 07 my first job was on a critical care cardiac floor and then I went on to Med Surg. About 3 years after that, all the hospitals started demanding that their LPNs go to RN school or they had to find new jobs. St. Vincent shut down their LPN program. Baptist kept their LPN program even though they don't think LPN's are good enough to work in their hospital anymore. The only hospital in Little Rock that will hire LPNs to work on the floors still is the Veteran's hospital. I am planning on going back to RN school and wish I had sooner. I tell everyone who is planning on going to nursing school to go ahead and get their RN and don't waste time with your LPN. In Arkansas our job options are dwindling. I am tired of not being able to go into the specialty I want, along with not even having the options I once had available. I wanted to be a post partum nurse. LPNs used to be hired on post partum floors and then that was taken away too. The medical community has kicked us out of so much, it's no wonder patient's and families have the false concept that we are not nurses or not as good of a nurse!

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

I probably would have told her that she was welcome to address her concerns about your licensure to your department manager. And then watch her sputter. Beyotch

[Jolenelpn]

Ditto...great responseeing scrubs911. And I too was wondering why dreamgirl hasn't told her family. I love when a nurse goes to school to be an LPN first, then on to an RN. They are the ones who can really tell you the difference. Where I went to school, the first semester for both RNs and LPNs was basically like CNA school, and RNs went one more semester than the LPNs. Mostly to learns more critical thinking and management skills, plus IV meds. Someones got to be the "Chief" and RNs learn to do that. I respect LPNS and RNs, and for that matter CNA equally. The title RN, means nothing if you don't know how to be professiinal. I really wonder sometimes how in the world some nurses I've come across got their licence! And while I'm on the subject, I just want to say to all you CNAs out there, thank you for the wonderful, caring and hard work you do! You are not "Just a CNA" Whatever happened to team nursing? Peace.

[nursesaurus]

I encountered this once as an LPN doing home care visits. A patient told me she had "too many" issues and an LPN just wasn't "qualified" enough to take care of her. I did notify the RN case manager who defended me and Lpns to this patient and many others. Fast forward a year and I end up seeing this patient again for another admission to home care. I end up sending her to the hospital because she had cva symptoms, it ended up being sepsis. But when I saw her following that incident her husband pointed out I was the one who sent her to the hospital and I was ready for some sort of hateful comment. She told me I saved her life that day. I hope she always remember an LPN did that.