Needed to vent

Published

Good morning all!

Not sure if this should be here or PA nursing, but oh well, they both fit! Haha.

A little background....I'm an LPN who graduated from Northampton Community College. My first job was at a LTC facility on their skilled rehab unit...very busy, heavy patient turnover. 8 months in, they had me orienting and training new nurses. They chose me over other, more experienced nurses who were willing to train because they thought my skill set was a little better and I was pretty good on the teaching side, although I have to say it's probably because I've got the patience of a saint. (Not trying to toot my own horn here, this was all said to me from management...all I tried to do was a thorough job of taking care of my patients and know facility protocols)

So, now yesterday, I was at the pharmacy picking up some sudafed, standing in the pharmacy window line and this woman looks over at me, eyes my scrubs and asks me if I'm a nurse. I say yes, I am. We're having a nice little conversation while we wait about her daughter being in the RN program at Penn State. Then she asks if I'm an RN, too, and I say well no, I'm an LPN. Then she asks which school I attended and I said, NCC.

This woman looks me straight in the eye and says, "well you're not really a nurse then. You're more like an aid." And when I asked her what made her say that, she goes on to tell me that LPNs aren't really nurses and that you get a poor education at community colleges. I WAS FUMING.

I politely informed her that her views were slightly misguided and that if she would do some research and not base her opinions on what her daughter told her, she may find out some very different information. Then, thank god it was my turn at the window.

What possess people to say this crap?!? I mean, seriously? I was seeing red the whole way home. But I must say, I have a bad temper when it comes to outright stupidity and I'm quite proud of myself for not calling her an idiot. :)

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Specializes in PACU.

I'm from PA and I've heard similar things said about and to LPNs faces. It's disheartening.

A lot of people seem to think that they're interchangeable with CNAs and I think this is mostly because of a misunderstanding of nursing for the layperson in general???

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I think you're right. But I think other things factor into it...at my old facility they were trying to push LPNs out of their rehab floor with the reasoning of, and I kid you not, RNs could provide more skilled care. So they started hiring a bunch of RNs who just graduated expecting them to be the cats meow and it turned out 3/4 of them either made so many repeated mistakes they got fired or they resigned because they couldn't handle it. I trained a lot of them, which I also found to be sort of ironic. You wanna push me out but it's ok to use me to train your new RNs that are taking my spot.

Please don't take me wrong, I have nothing against RNs, I worked with a lot of wonderful RNs, but I also worked with a lot of LPNs who could run circles around some of our seasoned RNs. All I'm saying is that LPNs are damn good at their job, too. I hate that we get looked down upon sometimes.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

When in public, I do not divulge that I am a nurse, even if someone asks. I am a nurse while on the clock, but once I leave work, I'm just me.

The reality is that some misguided people will always frown down upon education that was received at community colleges or trade schools. They assume the coursework is watered down. They conclude that the students who attend these types of schools are not 'university material.'

I was accepted to three universities during my senior year of high school, but for certain reasons, I entered the entry-level workforce after high school graduation. I worked a string of low-paying dead-end jobs for five years before enrolling in a trade school LVN program at age 23.

I worked as an LVN for several years while completing prerequisite coursework at my local community college. At age 28 I enrolled in a trade school LPN-to-ASN bridge program and earned my RN licensure the next year. I am now enrolled in an online RN-to-BSN completion program with 7 more credits to go before I receive the BSN degree.

My LVN work experience is the foundation upon which my nursing career has been constructed. My community college and trade school education was the springboard upon which my postsecondary educational pursuits have been launched. If some uninformed fool thinks I'm a lowly person for having attended community college and trade school, so be it.

The 'N' in LPN stands for 'nurse.' Many LPNs have more earning potential with their one-year trade school certificates or two-year college diplomas than many unemployed university-educated people who majored in humanities or art history. Stand proud and don't allow the opinions of uninformed strangers to rent space inside your head.

Good luck to you!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
When in public, I do not divulge that I am a nurse, even if someone asks. I am a nurse while on the clock, but once I leave work, I'm just me.

The reality is that some misguided people will always frown down upon education that was received at community colleges or trade schools. They assume the coursework is watered down. They conclude that the students who attend these types of schools are not 'university material.'

I was accepted to three universities during my senior year of high school, but for certain reasons, I entered the entry-level workforce after high school graduation. I worked a string of low-paying dead-end jobs for five years before enrolling in a trade school LVN program at age 23.

I worked as an LVN for several years while completing prerequisite coursework at my local community college. At age 28 I enrolled in a trade school LPN-to-ASN bridge program and earned my RN licensure the next year. I am now enrolled in an online RN-to-BSN completion program with 7 more credits to go before I receive the BSN degree.

My LVN work experience is the foundation upon which my nursing career has been constructed. My community college and trade school education was the springboard upon which my postsecondary educational pursuits have been launched. If some uninformed fool thinks I'm a lowly person for having attended community college and trade school, so be it.

The 'N' in LPN stands for 'nurse.' Many LPNs have more earning potential with their one-year trade school certificates or two-year college diplomas than many unemployed university-educated people who majored in humanities or art history. Stand proud and don't allow the opinions of uninformed strangers to rent space inside your head.

Good luck to you!

Well said.

In my area of PA, LPNs are known for their weight in gold, although there are a few that either don't know about LPNs in the full capacity, or don't use them in their capacity, either way, it matters with the knowledge and skills that are displayed; that's what really matters. :yes:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Well said.
I should also mention that our trajectories in life have happened for a reason. Although I was initially bitter for not having attended university immediately after high school, my educational path in life has fallen into place.

I have no student loan debt, partly due to the path that I took. Meanwhile, so many people from backgrounds similar to mine are trapped with figurative balls and chains better known as intractable student loan debt. As an 18 year-old I was planning to major in history or social science and become a schoolteacher. In hindsight, I'm pleased I didn't travel down that route. It would have taken five years, generated lots of debt and resulted in a poorly paying job.

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Commuter, thank you. I do try to hold my head up high, but ignorance sometimes grates my nerves.

I'm following in your footsteps, so to speak. I also didn't attend college right out of high school. And now I'm taking prereqs for the LPN-ASN program at my community college. My goal is to have as little debt as possible. And in the meantime, I'm trying to save as much as I can because I plan on attending a local university in the future for their ASN-BSN bridge program. :)

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

General Rule of Life #526: There are idiots everywhere. Pay them no mind.

PS: Former LPN- I feel ya!

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Just a patient, but I wouldn't let a strangers rude comments get you down. YOU know the knowledge and skills you possess, you make difference in the lives of others, not many people can say that. If I had seen you, I would have thanked you for what you do. I'm disabled due to cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair to get around, and nurses have helped me so such throughout my life, because of this I respect and really admire them. I'll say what SHOULD have been said to you.... "Thanks for doing what you do, Nurses Rock!!" :yes:

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Just a patient, but I wouldn't let a strangers rude comments get you down. YOU know the knowledge and skills you possess, you make difference in the lives of others, not many people can say that. If I had seen you, I would have thanked you for what you do. I'm disabled due to cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair to get around, and nurses have helped me so such throughout my life, because of this I respect and really admire them. I'll say what SHOULD have been said to you.... "Thanks for doing what you do, Nurses Rock!!" :yes:

:) That truly lifted my spirits. You are wonderful. Thank you.

Ps, you rock too!

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"What do I do for a living? Why not a blessed thing!! I lunch with ladies...." HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Don't sweat it! Best wishes!

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Specializes in peds, allergy-asthma, ob/gyn office.

Wouldn't it be nice to just ask these people how many 'aides' do you know who can administer IV meds, do sterile dressings, insert NG tubes, etc? People really have no idea. I have been lucky; nobody has ever pulled that crap on me, but I would not hesitate to correct them.

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