Need Advice please

mysterious_one, ASN, RN · May 20, 2006

hi, if I were you , I would pursue my dream now. If because of financial and timing reason , you choose to go for LVN now, then that is what you need to do. The older your child get the more attention it will need. So go and get your degree now. If you really want it , you will find time to study , it will be hard , but you can do it. Then you can work for a while and later if you choose to take a bridgeprogramm for RN. I am 42, and nursing been my dream since childhood. I put it of for so long and now my girls are 18 an 13. So I am going for it now, but i wish i would not have waited so long.

Good luck and let no one tell you negative things about your dreams. If it takes you a little longer, so what, just go on and don't give up.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 20, 2006

the nursing shortage is more acute in some areas of the country and so the schools are working on creative ways to get people into nursing schools. a lot more non-traditional programs are opening up where there are evening and weekend classes to accomodate students who have families. that is likely to increase in the future. you are more likely to find them in larger urban areas, however. you can find out what other lpn and rn schools are in your area by contacting your state board of nursing for the official list of schools. some state boards publish these lists on their web sites. you can find your state board website from here through "links" at the top right of this page. you have to contact each individual school close to you and ask them if they are offering any of these unique kinds of class setups. don't expect that they will publish this information on their websites. many rn programs have what are called lpn to rn bridge programs that are designed especially for lpns who are going on to become rns. again, you have to contact the individual rn schools to see how they manage this. since you're interested in the job outlook for lpns i'm giving you a link to a job publication specifically for lpns so you can get an idea of what it available and the kinds of salaries lpns are getting. you can subscibe to it and have the hard copies delivered to your home if you like or just recieve them or visit their website online.

the greatest gift you can give your children is for them to see you studying and going to school; for them to sit by your side and study along with you. children mimic what they see others do, especially their parents. you can tell a kid to study until you are blue in the face, but if they see how intensely and seriously you treat your books and classes, they will learn to do the same. if it takes you 7 years by taking one class at a time to get all the pre-reqs you need to get into rn classes, then do it. it will go by much faster than you think and 7 years from now you'll kick yourself for not starting out on the journey. then, by the time you do get your rn, you'll need it to pay for all the college tuition your kids will need!

http://lpn.advanceweb.com/ - advance for lpns. advance is primarily a job seekers periodical that is published in several regions of the country and mailed out weekly to those on their mailing lists. however, they also have articles that are relevant to nursing and some continuing education offerings.

here is what lpns do: http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm

LadyStar42, LPN · May 20, 2006

Never put off til tomorrow what you can do today! I don't know who said that but it is good advice. I waited til my kids were grown and I have kicked myself a thousand times for it. Yes there are bridge programs. LPN's are very important people too, never let anyone tell you different. As an LPN student you will do more and learn more at a much faster rate than RN's. They get tons of paperwork that we don't have to learn and we get tons of hands on. I have had RN students tell me that my studies are much harder than theirs. I don't know that I believe that :), theirs is a lot more in-depth than ours. Our LPN course is 18 months full-time and they don't offer night courses around here except for CNA.

Most hospital's keep several LPN's per floor and only one RN as a supervisor. The LPN is the one who cares for the individual patient. The RN only comes in to handle things outside our scope of practice. and the paperwork. Gosh they have plenty of paperwork. We get our share of it, but nothing like theirs.

Now, I know that this sounds like I am "down" on RN's, I am not! They are great people too. I have had people ask me "why not an RN" also and it really irks me. All nurses are needed and important.

The level of patient contact goes like this:

CNA's have the most contact, LPN's are next in line, then RN's. The more paperwork you have, the less the amount of patient contact. That has no direct bearing on how good you are at your job. I know lousy CNA's and wonderful RN's. The same with LPN's.

Whether you go for an RN or an LPN depends on what you want out of your nursing career. By the time RN's are finished they know more about what is actually going on with the patient because they have studied longer and more in depth, but they know less about actually caring for the patient than an LPN will.

Whatever you choose...BE PROUD...of yourself and your chosen profession