One month of LPN school left: now where?

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 19, 2006

welcome to the allnurses forums!

you can check out this site for lpn jobs in the region of the country where you live

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. they also have this online site. it's very easy to get onto their mailing list.

if you want to make $15 or more an hour then stick to your requirements for now and look around. but, don't burn your bridge you already have established quite yet just to be on the safe side. you may find something through advance. why don't you feel good about being an lpn? you're the only one who has control of your emotions. every time someone mistakenly thinks you are going to be an rn is an opportunity for you to educate them on what an lpn does and the contributions lpns make to the health care team. need to know what to tell them? check out this site? http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm yes, any of the nursing journals will help you stay updated. your schooling doesn't end when you walk out of your last class and get your nursing pin at your graduation. there will always be something new to learn in nursing—always. you can't depend on your employers to be the source of your updates. you have to take some responsibility in this. here is a link to information about lpn 2006, the journal for lpns

http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/journals.asp?yy=2006&journal_id=522928&about=1

please don't feel defeated before you even start your new career. my mother was an lpn/lvn for many years and absolutely loved what she did. she worked in icu and ccu, her first love. some people (her, not me) like the action in those units. as a staff nurse i worked side by side with lpns/lvns for many, many years. you all rock and saved my sorry butt a number of times when things got hectic. don't you for one minute ever think you are not important.

TashaLPN2006RN2012, ASN, RN · May 19, 2006

:yeahthat:

I agree with Daytonite...you have control over your own emotions, no matter what some one says or does, if they are ignorant to what you do, then your best bet is just like dayton said...EDUCATE them...tell them how proud you are to graduate as an LPN and how hard you worked...I sometimes get aggrevated cause i'm still in school and our uniforms are hideous, we litterally look like school lunch lady's...BUT, when ever someone makes a comment that's just down right rude or stupid, i tell them that YES i'm in LPN school, and i have worked my butt of with a 13 mo old at home, and a husband gone to Iraq, and i am PROUD of what i do...and the big question i always get is "are you going for your RN next then? or when are you getting your RN?" and it is annoying, but you make the best of whatever your situation is.

As far as the magizines go, i get LPN2006, and it's been great, the articles are well written and i enjoy learning about specific things a little more in depth than maybe what we went over in class...i've also just requested a free copy of Nursing made incredibly easy magizine, so i'm not sure about that one yet.

Oh and about working where you have worked as a CNA, i'm not sure about it, though i've had a couple of friends who graduated before me, and stayed at their facility for a very SHORT period of time, becasue the other aids, who were their freinds and coworkers, undermined their authroity, and position, and still continued to treat them (my friends) as just another Aide. They expected my friends to not only do their med pass and treatments, but also do all of the aide work they were doing before, or the aides would just sit around and not get things done because their "friend" was the nurse. might not be the case with you, but even our instructors have told us to look elsewhere after getting our LPN and not work at the same facility, unless you coudl go to a completly differnt floor/unit. My friends also said that they didn't get the pay they really deserved, but once they moved to different facility's they got paid a heck of a lot better too! JMO though

good luck!

tasha

sourkuss · May 19, 2006

Thanks so much for your imput, I was feeling weak kneed about it all and am grateful for the support..Ive been leaning towards looking for a new place to work just to get a change of scenery...so that's probably what I will do. Again, thanks!!!

sourkuss · May 19, 2006

Thanks times a million for the encouragement...I plan on holding my head HIGH from this day on! It has been ALOT of work and I heard it will be beneficial as I move toward my goal of RN...

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 20, 2006

Tasha made an excellent point about something that I totally missed in my post and that was about going to work for the same facility in which you worked as a CNA while you were going to school. I ended up doing that after my first job out of school turned out to be a dud (I was lied to about starting salary--a substantial difference in the wage so I quit). All the aides and nurses who had been so friendly and encouraging to me while I was a student did a 180 degree turn and became people I didn't know! The charge nurses, instead of being helpful to a new grad, took every opportunity to make fun, embarrass me, criticized the way I was doing things as I had been taught in nursing school and constantly reported the smallest stuggles I was having to the DON. The aides (they weren't CNAs in those days) were surly and just wouldn't take any direction from me at all. It was a nightmare. I took it for 7 months. The final straw was when the DON herself called me into her office to ask me if I had put an NG tube in ice water to stiffen it up before inserting it in a patient (that was common back then). One of the charge nurses had reported to her that I had inserted the tube without icing it first. I just glared at the DON who had been so supportive to me up to that point and told her, "you know what, take me off the schedule as soon as you can. I'm going to look for another job." I was out of there in a week. So, no, you don't want to be in a position of being in any kind of a charge or supervision position over workers who you were recently on equal footing with. Also, people who once supervised you have a difficult time accepting you as an equal. That would be a very big mistake.

sourkuss · May 21, 2006

Thanks! That is what I was thinking...not to work at the facility I current work at. It is LTC and the nice part is that it is only a block away (no drive to work) HOWEVER, lots of politics there and I really just want a new start someplace new. It has taken me a long time:uhoh3: to even get my LPN and some people there keep ASKING:uhoh3: me about my grad date (6/28) even though I have told them a zillion times.:trout: PLUS I HAVE MY CLINICAL THERE, 2 clinicals in fact...crazy huh? Bottom line...I want a new start. I just don't know where to look yet but I will get with it once I am officially done.