Not a real nurse??

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

When I am in the capacity of charge nurse on my LTC unit , I find it humilliating and frustrating that I have to find an RN to sign off on my MD orders , and if we have a fall only they can do the assessment. No wonder they treat us as if we are not " real " nurses.

zippy, i'm from ny. up until about 18 mos ago, i was able to do everything an rn did in long term. i have been with this facility for over 30 yrs. i have been inservice coordinator, i helped open a rehab unit, i admitted residents, doing the assessments. wound assessments,ran units when we had no care coordinator, sometimes for monthes at a time. i supervise cnas and have earned the respect of other nurses, drs., physical therapists,residents and family members. i love my job. suddenly, lpns can no longer do assessments, can not work without an rn on the unit with her. when a resident is discharged from the rehab unit, i can no longer sign the discharge forms. which all really sounds petty, but it really burst my balloon. i feel less valued as a nurse, a good nurse! when i come on my unit, my residents greet me with comments like " thank god your here today, your'e the only one that knows what's going on around here" the cnas say the same thing. i have cut my days down to 3 days a week now, so that all those above issues really don't bother me so much anymore.i still love my job, i just don't feel valued by administration. my families and residents and peers all value me, that's what counts! the worse part about no longer being able to do many things is, administration never had a meeting with the lpns to explain any of the new rules, the just sent word that it wasn't allowed any more. so, i imagine, mass. day will be coming for lpns .

just wondering.......lpn's in other states just wondering what lpn's can & cant do in other states.... im in mass.

been a nurse for 8yrs now :balloons: and have done alot in my "short" career

so far. ive been a wound nurse, mds nurse, add-on nurse and a shift supervisor in an 150 bed snf/ltc facility as well as being a cna instructor(state certified) and of course a floor charge nurse. currently im a floor charge nurse (myself and the other nurse are charge (ltc unit) ) i have 23 pts on my wing ..total of 43 on the unit with 6 cna's

total for my 3-11 shift... how are the ratio's elsewhere? how is the pay in other areas? i made just over $55k last yr with very little overtime...

like i said....just wondering.................

i was also reading the beginning of this thread and i'm like...........what ???? lpns cant do assessments? md orders? im thinking , are these ppl from mars? the only thing i cant do as an lpn is sign the rap's and pronouncements....im sure there is a bit more , and iit depends on the facility....

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Zippy, I'm from NY. Up until about 18 mos ago, I was able to do everything an RN did in Long Term. I have been with this facility for over 30 yrs. I have been inservice coordinator, I helped open a rehab unit, I admitted residents, doing the assessments. Wound assessments,ran units when we had no Care Coordinator, sometimes for monthes at a time. I supervise CNAs and have earned the respect of other nurses, Drs., Physical Therapists,Residents and family members. I love my job. Suddenly, LPNs can no longer do assessments, can not work without an RN on the unit with her. When a resident is discharged from the rehab unit, I can no longer sign the discharge forms. Which all really sounds petty, but it really burst my balloon. I feel less valued as a nurse, a good nurse! When I come on my unit, my residents greet me with comments like " Thank God your here today, your'e the only one that knows what's going on around here" The CNAs say the same thing. I have cut my days down to 3 days a week now, so that all those above issues really don't bother me so much anymore.I still love my job, I just don't feel valued by administration. My families and residents and peers all value me, that's what counts! The worse part about no longer being able to do many things is, administration never had a meeting with the LPNs to explain any of the new rules, the just sent word that it wasn't allowed any more. So, I imagine, Mass. day will be coming for LPNs .

And where has our representation been through all these changes in the BON regs? Why were nurses not notified by the board of hearings before the law changed?

Lets face it ladies, nursing is not so much about nursing as much as it about professional advancement for the RN.

You have beenperforming those duties for 30 years, and all of a sudden you are not capable? Come on. You have been ousted to protect the professional standing of the RNs that make up the majority of the BON.

Pure and simple and until LPNs stand together and attend those meetings and petition for our rights as nurses, we will be whittled away. Darn shame the BON is not concerned with nursing anymore.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.

I use to find it very frustrating and so forth too.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.

from debbiemig:.......zippy, i'm from ny. up until about 18 mos ago, i was able to do everything an rn did in long term. i have been with this facility for over 30 yrs. i have been inservice coordinator, i helped open a rehab unit, i admitted residents, doing the assessments. wound assessments,ran units when we had no care coordinator, sometimes for monthes at a time. i supervise cnas and have earned the respect of other nurses, drs., physical therapists,residents and family members. i love my job. suddenly, lpns can no longer do assessments, can not work without an rn on the unit with her. when a resident is discharged from the rehab unit, i can no longer sign the discharge forms. which all really sounds petty, but it really burst my balloon. i feel less valued as a nurse, a good nurse! when i come on my unit, my residents greet me with comments like " thank god your here today, your'e the only one that knows what's going on around here" the cnas say the same thing. i have cut my days down to 3 days a week now, so that all those above issues really don't bother me so much anymore.i still love my job, i just don't feel valued by administration. my families and residents and peers all value me, that's what counts! the worse part about no longer being able to do many things is, administration never had a meeting with the lpns to explain any of the new rules, the just sent word that it wasn't allowed any more. so, i imagine, mass. day will be coming for lpns ............

ouch! that hurt! too bad. too bad there isn't a way to grandfather in a lpn that has so much experience and has been in leadership roles.

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The practice laws for LPNs and RNs aren't written by nurses - that's the problem. They are written by legislators who are NOT experts in nursing.

Seems totally illogical, doesn't it?

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I think with the level of acuity increased that several hospitals across the country are phasing out LPN's. To some extent I agree--I do not think LPN's should be in critical care areas. Traditionally, as LPN's our scope of practice has been one of care to the stable predictable patient. I was an LPN for several years and enjoyed it--but I went on for my RN because I saw the trend. Most of the LPN's I know work in LTC or homecare. It is extremely silly for a LTC facility to not allow LPN's to take orders and such--that is insulting! My suggestion is that if you are unhappy with the current trend, beat it by furthering your educaation!

Karen

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
My suggestion is that if you are unhappy with the current trend, beat it by furthering your educaation!

Which tells them "hey, you're right".

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It is not a matter of agreement rather a matter of empowering yourself.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

You can be empowered as an LPN.

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not if you are not happy with your scope of practice. If you complain you feel you are not a real nurse and your scope is limited. You must either increase your education or seek a position that you feel respects your scope. So, yes, you can empower yourself as an LPN. I was tired of hearing oh you can't work in the hospital, etc. I went to peds homecare. I learned a vast amount of info on vents, trachs, etc. I took it further to get my ADN and will be enrolling in my local BSN program this summer.

Karen

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not if you are not happy with your scope of practice. If you complain you feel you are not a real nurse and your scope is limited. You must either increase your education or seek a position that you feel respects your scope. So, yes, you can empower yourself as an LPN. I was tired of hearing oh you can't work in the hospital, etc. I went to peds homecare. I learned a vast amount of info on vents, trachs, etc. I took it further to get my ADN and will be enrolling in my local BSN program this summer.

Karen

And I had to have experience in hospital vent care before I could work in home care vent. LOL Just shows you the difference from one state/organization to the other.

I also think any nurse who is now an RN, even if she has maintained her LPN license is no longer an LPN...Just a thought, don't know if that has anything to do with the poster I was responding to, but I thought of it and decided to toss it in here. No reflection on the post I responed to in my first paragraph.

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That really didn't make much sense to me. I never had hospital experience when I started peds homecare...maybe your state requires it. I am reflecting upon when I WAS an LPN--and I was for 10 years! My thought is those that like to complain about their scope of practice shouldn't--a practical/vocational nurse is prepared to care for common conditions in stable, predictable patients. Most boards and employers (at least in the areas I have worked) do not allow LPNs to do initial assessments unless co-signed by the RN--this to me makes it hard to advance much. How can you be an advanced nurse and still not be able to do your own assessments? We don't make the rules as nurses...the boards and employers do. I as an LPN did not have the skills I do now for assessing--nor did I know all the rationales behind things. The education level is not that of the professional nurse. Complaining won't get you anywhere. It's my story and I am sticking to it--if you want more from your career get a higher degree or find a job you feel more respected in--that simple.

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