LVN to RN or...ADN?

[LANurseNick]

I've already finished all my science pre-reqs and was not accepted into the local private school for an ADN program as I had received an F (I had to stop attending past the withdrawl period bc of work) in my first attempt at anatomy about 3 years ago. I retook it and got an A+ but that disqualified me from that particular program for having failed initially. Now I am considering just enrolling into a local private LVN/LPN program, maybe get hired somewhere after 1 year, and then go back to a LPN-RN bridge program. Or should I just keep looking for other ADN options. Time is of the essence for me and I don't want to waste any more time than I already have after knocking out all those science pre-reqs the past 2-3 years. I can't wait around in a lottery system at the local jr colleges so Id rather pay privately if possible to expedite it. Do hospitals still offer tuition reimbursement for their vocational nurses to pursue RN certification? What path would you recommend and why? LPN/LVN and then look for an RN bridge program.....OR just try and find an ADN/RN program somewhere? Thanks. I'm in Los Angeles and 35 years old.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Well, the saying goes that you can have something good, fast, cheap, but only TWO of those things: if your schooling is good, it can be fast OR cheap, but not both.

You don't want to wait for a community college program, I understand, but you will be paying through the nose for a private program.....with no guarantee of employment following. You asked if hospitals offer tuition reimbursement for LPNs to become RNs; the quick answer is only if you've already been employed with them for quite awhile and they are essentially forcing you to become an RN or lose your job. But no hospital will hire you as an LPN with the expectation you'll have the opportunity to advance to RN: actually, it's EXTREMELY difficult to find hospitals that hire LPNs at all. That's not what I'd count on at all.

If your goal is to become an RN as quickly as possible, and you know for sure it's more than a year's wait to get into an RN program, AND you have ALL your pre-reqs done, you might consider the LPN route first, work in a nursing home or other place where you can find employment as an LPN, and then get into the core RN nursing program when possible. At least you'd get some nursing experience under your belt, and some income.

My advice? If you still have pre-reqs to do for the RN program, I'd concentrate on them FIRST, and in getting excellent marks in all of them. Save the bundle of cash you'd be spending on the LPN program to use toward the RN one instead. You can't start an RN program without the pre-reqs anyway, so why not do them now? You said "time is of the essence"; you still have to spend the time on the rest of the pre-reqs, regardless of whether you become an LPN or not.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

"Time is of the essence" ....but OP hasn't been back in a week to see the answers to the half-dozen questions broached?

[LANurseNick]

Thank you for your reply RNsRWe!! Sorry for the late response. I greatly appreciate your advice which motivated me to research in a different direction. I agree with you and have decided to avoid the expensive private programs as much as possible. I still have plenty of schooling in the future and don't want to spend so much right away. My focus right now is an ROP LVN program. I took the assessment test recently and just found out that I've moved onto the interview portion. It's MUCH cheaper and is based on merit rather than a lottery system. The competition is tough but I'm ready for the challenge. Thanks for your advice and perspective! :)