Persephone_

What is with this hostility being exhibited to her by you two? She's just asking what the difference is between an RN and an RPN/LPN. It doesn't mean she knows absolutely nothing about the profession. This is what the point of being a student is. She'll learn about her responsibility and role as a PN in due time, but right now she hasn't started yet. Do you really think any student starting out knows more than the basics about the nursing profession? What did I know going in as a nursing student? That I had to take care of people, and everything else that goes hand in hand with that will be learned eventually. Honestly, I have never encountered a more negative forum than the Canadian one, and it is always you two that I see trying to put others down. You sound defensive of others going into your profession and it is quite pathetic. Please try to encourage the younger generation of nurses and help them out instead of posting with that self righteous attitude that I always see.

It's not that much of a difference from the States.

This is hilarious, truly. Unfortunately for us, if new nurses aren't trained for the future, who will take care of us and our families? As nice as it sounds, retraining older, seasoned nurses will work for a while, but you must remember that they are older, and will be getting older, and I don't think they intend to work themselves to death. Someone will need to be taking care of me when I can't be independent anymore. Oh, and on a side note, how terrible it is to read some of these posts being made about "nursing students not knowing anything." If I interacted with nurses like this before I started school, I would have definitely reconsidered my career choice. While I appreciate the fact that some nurses "lose their fire" and do it just for the money, because after all, we are only human, some nurses (including myself) do still feel that patient care surpasses income and job security. I clean up vomit and urine most of my days as a nurse, and I sure as hell don't think what I make is worth it (please note that I have been a nurse for a long, long time and I have reached my salary cap, and I still don't think I make enough) It sure is a sad day to see older nurses discouraging younger hopefuls from entering the field. Please remember that you were all nursing students with goals to become great nurses. Nobody should be disrespected and belittled because of that

Not to belittle the US's grading standards, but the only logical thing I can think of is that their standards are lowered, and that they get extra marks for attending class/handing in homework assignments No country has smarter students than the other, I'm just saying the standards for grading must be completely different in the States than in Canada... My daughter is in nursing school right now, and she works her butt off to achieve 80s

I see. And what type of facility do you work for if you don't mind my asking?

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like RNs have more responsibility than PNs. I respect what you do as I used to work with several PNs who are great nurses. My mom also recently became an RPN. The CNA usually says what sounds good to nurses, but never implements their goals/promises for us. They have been "creating" visions for the nursing future for many years now, and 9/10 times they fall through. The nursing situation in Canada, although not bad, can use a lot of improvement, and really nothing has changed for a few years. I actually work in Toronto at Sick Kids Hospital, they do not hire PNs here. I used to work at a smaller hospital outside of Toronto and they had few RPNs working there. I'm not too sure which province you're from, maybe the situation is different there than here. But I do know in Ontario RPNs are not allowed to hang blood products, start certain IV meds, do certain hospital assessments, go into managerial positions, etc. My mother actually completed an RPN program here in Ontario a couple of years ago (through Durham College), and the only place that considered her for a position upon completion of school was a nursing home. She's been there since she was hired and she loves it, but she sure had trouble finding a job. RPN/LPN was implemented years ago because of the RN nursing shortage facing Canada. I highly doubt that RPN/LPN will be the starting point for becoming a nurse in the future.

I'm sorry I do not mean to offend you, but I would really like to see where you're getting this information from. They will never make PN the entry-level of nursing in Canada. First of all, it is not economical for either student or hospital/health care setting. What would be the point in having a practical nurse status when they would require you to become an RN anyway. You may disagree, but the scope of practice for PNs and RNs in Canada is completely different. It is not at all logical to start someone off as a PN and then have to re-educate them in the duties of an RN Second of all, there is already an RN shortage, especially in Ontario. There are less and less applicants every year for the 4-year BScN program to become an RN. There is absolutely no way what you say will happen