Opinions please?

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I am having a predicament where I think an opinion from people on this board would be beneficial. I will explain everything and I am open to everyone's thoughts and opinions, the more the merrier.

I've been taking classes here and there at the local community college to eventually apply to the schools RN program. I've only completely a couple classes out of the necessary, so I am just getting started.

Just recently something happened in the household to make it where I just can't devote 3-4 years to become an RN at this time, so I have been looking at other options. I want to eventually go through the procedures and classes, etc to become an RN.

My current options are these..

I can go to LVN school for a year full time. I'll be working part time as well, but I don't have to work. It would just be hard the year I am in school. It is 8-5 M-F for a year, plus I'll be working. It will be hard since I have kids, but I've heard many people deal with even more difficult situations. After I am done, I could always do an LVN to RN bridge.

OR

I can go to become a MA. It is 4 hours/day M-F for 9 months. I'll be working part time in this situation. I find the phlebotomy/hematology sections really interesting. But I have no idea on how I would go about becoming an RN in the future from this point. The admin person with the MA school said that they are weeding out LVN's and giving more responsibilities to MA's. I am not really sure about how accurate that information is other than there are tons of MA programs and very few LVN.

If you need more information, just let me know. I greatly appreciate it and thanks to everyone in advance!

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Specializes in Emergency room, med/surg, UR/CSR.

I would do the LVN option personally. That way you can bridge to RN later rather than having to go back to school and start completely over like you would if you got your MA. I guess though it depends on where you want to work. If you want to work in a doctor's office then you probably would want the MA, but if you are looking at working in a hospital then LVN is what you want. I don't know if this helped, but good luck with whatever you decide.

Pam

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Specializes in Only the O.R. and proud of it!.

Are you concerned about the financial aspect of nursing school or the time to complete?

Have you checked out ADN programs in your area (2 years) or Diploma programs (few and far between these days, but 3 years).

As far as practice goes, an RN is an RN is an RN. Some institutions pay higher wage for higher education, some do not. Some institutions may reimburse tuition, some only for programs that will benefit the institution, and some not at all.

If you do an ADN (assiciates) program or a diploma program, there are also bridge programs for RN to BSN - some online.

I don't know much about medical assistants. I would guess that there is no easy way to bridge to an LVN or RN from MA. Does the LVN to RN bridge program give you an associates or a BSN?

Lots to look at. For sure an RN will make more than an LVN, who will make more than an MA.

Good luck!

-Dave

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i would do the LVN route because it pays more, you learn more and some of the credits will transfer towards your eventual goal of RN, as will some of your work and clinical experience. The MA courses just aren't at the level you will need to be a nurse, so very few if any credits will transfer over to an RN program. The pay also isn't great and you have less options.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I would do the LPN route because more classes will transfer later providing you with better options. Good luck. Life does have a way of interrupting the best laid plans.

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As much as I'd love to just continue onto RN school, right now I don't have the time. Well, not really the "time", but I have a year to figure out what I want to do *for now* before I just absolutely have to go out into the working world full time. At least with LVN or MA school, I'll be able to be in the medical field rather than a year into completing stuff for RN school or in RN school and working at a desk shuffling papers or calling customers up.

There are so many ideas I've had that I would love to do once in the medical field. It is great, all this room for advancement and many, many different fields/departments to choose from along with the ability to work closely with the patient. Can't really say that much about any other profession :lol2: My husband tried to convince me to go via the EMT route, but that just doesn't hold my interest as much as MA/LVN/RN etc does :) I'd prefer to work in a hospital and have hospital experience, but if I just have to I'd work in a doctor's office as well.

My friend years ago was an MA and started completely over when she went to RN school. Granted she was ahead of some because of how long she had worked with and around the medical area, but she did all the requirements as if she had no medical background at all.

I've talked to 2 different schools, one for LVN and one for MA and pretty much have my choice, just on which program to go with :)

Thank you for those who have replied so far :heartbeat

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Specializes in post-op.

If it were me, I would definately go with LVN. If your eventual goal is be an RN, this will give you nursing experience, plus like others have said you will get credits towards your RN, the pay is much better, and you will have more options of where you can work. I know in NY if you are an LPN (that is our equivalent to LVN) you can test out of certain semesters of nursing school and shorten your program. Let us know what you decide! Good luck!

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For me, I say LVN, no question. I've looked into at least a dozen MA and LVN programs and found that (where I live) if the program is through a vocational school, none of the credits would end up transferable to an RN program at a community college or university. An LVN program at a community college usually has a better chance of having transferable courses (or even better, a bridge program)...an MA program at community college might have a few courses that will count. I wouldn't want to be forced to start over as your friend had to.

If you know you want to become an RN, then I'd go for the LVN. Without detracting from the value of either profession, LVNs are nurses, while medical assistants are not. Good luck to you in whatever you decide!

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Go For The Lvn. :)

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Take it from me, go LVN if your end goal is RN. I wasted 10 months and $10,000 on MA school and haven't worked a single day as an MA outside of my 4 month externship. None of the classes transferred (after I was told they were completely transferable by the MA school) and I've had to start all over. My current job with no education outside of a high school diploma pays $4 per hour more than the highest paying MA job I found. I would do LVN. You will get hospital experience, more money and easier to bridge over and I've heard alot of hospitals will help with tuition costs when going for your RN. Please don't listen to the MA school, I learned the hard way and got alot of empty promises. I was also told LVN's were being weeded out and replaced with MA's, but have yet to see that 2 years later.

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I knew I'd get really good advice from those on here I have decided to pursue the LVN school :nurse: so I shall be back for moral and studying support ;) Thank you again everyone!

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

My understanding is that MA jobs are not that easy to get. There are more MAs than there are jobs for them. It's also a dead end job with no opportunity for advancement. LPNs earn more than MAs. LPNs are going to find work in hospitals and definitely in nursing homes. LPNs are the backbone of the nursing home industry and it's thriving and well. If you are in a fairly large metropolitan area you should be able to find employment as an LPN in a hospital. One of the benefits of working in a hospital is they often offer tuition reimbursement for when you are ready to go back to school for your RN. A lot of ADN programs have LPN to RN bridge programs designed especially for LPNs as well.

If you need to work when you eventually get into an RN program you would never get the flexibility to work and go to school with an MA job. Every time I went back to school I went right to the night shift and/or weekends which is where most hospitals and nursing homes need nurses most. That works with a Monday through Friday school schedule very nicely. Most MA jobs are Monday through Friday bankers hours, the same times as nursing classes and nursing clinicals.

My mom found herself in a situation where she needed to be the wage earner for the family and had no skills. She and my dad discussed options and decided to sell the house, move to California, go to LVN school for the next year while living off the money from the sale of the house and then after finishing school and getting nursing work buy another home with whatever money was leftover. That is exactly what she did. Added bonus was that at the time the tuition in the California state supported community colleges was free.

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