LVN or RN?

[Kimberley.RN]

I need some new perspectives!!! I've been thinking about this FOREVER it seems and still can't decide what to do. Any input you can provide is much appreciated. Background... I'm a single mom of 40 (in Cali) with 4 kids (18, 16, 14 & 9). I work Full-time, commuting to Sac. I have a Bachelor's in Business from a long while ago (BS). Currently I've been taking classes for the RN program. I've taken psych (A), Human Dev (A), Chem (A), A&P I ©, A&P II (D), Nutrition (B), and am taking Med Terminology (will get an A or B). Next semester (Fall) I was going to take Micro. My GPA isn't great (maybe 2.5 overall) and the competition for RN programs in Northern CA is unbelievable. Wait list programs are 2 to 2-1/2 yrs. So if I continued on the RN route, I'd have to take Micro in the Fall, then A&P II again in the spring, then depending how I did I might have to retake the first A&P since most programs want a combined 3.0 GPA for both A&P programs & Micro. These are the requirements for the community colleges (ADN programs). There are 2 programs through the CC that are lottery that you can get in with C averages.... but they have hundreds of applicants for only 30 spots. OR I could try to get in the LVN program... these are all lottery based programs (2 that I could apply for maybe in the Fall) through the community colleges... and do the bridge LVN-RN. The private LVN programs are $$$$... $20K are the cheapest and that would be difficult finally. I know when I get in a program I'll have to find something that's PT but I have to work because I need insurance but I really want to stay with my current employer cause they help pay for school but it's going to be hard to find something PT. EEEK!!!! Sorry this is so wordy, but I appreciate all your help cause I REALLY want to be a nurse!!!

[allthingsbright]

Why not finish your pre-reqs and apply to both programs? Jump at the 1st thing you get into? Best wishes...

[coolpeach]

At one point I considered going to the LVN route mainly because I heard that competition for entry wasn't as bad as the RN programs here. I changed my mind, and this is why. Most RN programs have a 5 year science timeline. If I were to apply to an LVN program, get accepted, go through the program, graduate, apply to a bridge program, and then get accepted I may have passed the 5 years on some of the sciences I have taken. This would mean I would have to retake A&P1-2, micro, chem, biology etc. The sciences have been the hardest part, and I do not want to retake them.

In addition, everyone I talked to had something neg to say about it. My professors for A&P, and micro, as well as the head of the health professions committee kept telling me that eventually they are going to phase out LVN's. I dont know if that is true or not as I have heard that for years, and it hasn't happened. I was also told that a lot of people plan to do the bridge, graduate and become complacent in their new job and just never do it. I started talking to LVN's, and the ones who had wanted to be LVN's were very happy. The LVN's who had wanted to become RN's, but took the shortcut, and became stuck for whatever reason were not happy at all. I don't want to be that person. I just decided to go for it, and keep plugging away. I figured up the timeline of going LVN, bridging, retaking my sciences, and working graduating the RN program, and it worked out that if I went that route it would be the same as going straight through the RN with waiting time for a program to accept me. I have applied to the RN program twice, and been rejected once. Maybe next year at this time if I still haven't been accepted for the program I might consider it.

Just make sure you look really research and look at everything before you make a decision.

[Valasca]

If you do a search you will find a lot of threads about this very question. I say go RN. Like coolpeach said, if you go to LVN school but really want to go to RN school and are unable to continue on you may end up being very unahppy. In my opinion no matter how much "faster/easier" the schooling seems school is still school and you still have to pay for it and it would be horrible to jump through the hoops, and put in the time/effort only to end up unhappy. Btw you have a bachelors, have you thought about a direct entry program (I think that's what they are called)? If you already have a bachelors in anything (and the nursing prereqs) you can apply for a masters in nursing (MSN) program at a university (who offers the program) and skip the LVN, ADN, BSN steps. Personally I would never do it b/c I couldn't imagine being an NP or whatever without ever having been a nurse before. I don't know very much about it. I had a girl in my micro class who was doing that which is how I found out that programs like that even existed. She had a bachelor of arts (I believe) and she was finishing up her nursing prereqs to apply to the local university's direct entry MSN program. Anyhow just a thought. Good luck whatever you choose.