Brookenicole84

I am an LPN. I interviewed in early August. Got a tentative offer late August early September and only got my firm offer in November. If something isn't going right with your VetPro they will let you know. It is a slow process. I heard mine only went that "fast" because I worked there before and they already had a lot of my information in place.

I'm in PA. I take home 950 every other week. Feels like pennies! I do 3 12's so I only work 36 hours a week but still.

You are not too stupid for nursing. You are still new. If you are unsure of something don't be afraid to ask questions! I went from hospice to obgyn. You will learn the instruments. The longer you are there the more experience you will gain. With experience comes confidence. Just don't be so hard on yourself and asks questions if you are unsure!!

Hello. I have been an LPN for 7 years. 5 of those years I've been working on a labor and delivery unit as a scrub nurse. I work 3 days a week 7am to 7pm and every 3rd weekend. After being there for 5 years I make 36422 a year. I do enjoy it but it is starting to get old. We used to get called off for low census if there were two lpn scrubs on. They are now working towards having two on at all times. Currently when we do have two on one of us is sent to the wings to be an aide. (I do not mind this however I get bitter considering the RN's making a lot of money will sit back in l&d with no patient for 12 hours and not do any stocking or any of the other things that aren't necessarily the LPN's job but we are the only ones who do it.) I recently applied and got hired for a position at the VAMC. It is in a clinic working Monday through Friday no weekends or holidays 7:45am to 4:15pm. They offered 7k more a year but that is also with me working 40 hours a week instead of 36. I am really struggling on whether or not to make the change. I am currently in school for RN so it would not be forever. I really would like to know what the benefits are at a federal job as compared to other places. I'd also like to know what the raises are like. I started at my current position at 17.56 and now make 19.51 after 5 years. We are not union and our aides who have been there a bit make 22 an hour since they are union. We are supposed to be a part of every emergency. I've done stat c sections in the trauma bay more than once and emergency hysterectomies which we aren't even really trained to do. I just do like the people I work with a lot. I know in the end it is my decision I'd just like some perspective from other lpns or rns. Thanks in advance. Sorry about my grammar. Read what I mean not what I wrote lol.

I have been an LPN for 7 years. 5 of those years I've been working on a labor and delivery unit as a scrub nurse. I work 3 days a week 7am to 7pm and every 3rd weekend. After being there for 5 years I make 36422 a year. I do enjoy it but it is starting to get old. We used to get called off for low census if there were two lpn scrubs on. They are now working towards having two on at all times. Currently when we do have two on one of us is sent to the wings to be an aide. (I do not mind this however I get bitter considering the RN's making a lot of money will sit back in l&d with no patient for 12 hours and not do any stocking or any of the other things that aren't necessarily the LPN's job but we are the only ones who do it.) I recently applied and got hired for a position at the VAMC. It is in a clinic working Monday through Friday no weekends or holidays 7:45am to 4:15pm. They offered 7k more a year but that is also with me working 40 hours a week instead of 36. I am really struggling on whether or not to make the change. I am currently in school for RN so it would not be forever. I really would like to know what the benefits are at a federal job as compared to other places. I'd also like to know what the raises are like. I started at my current position at 17.56 and now make 19.51 after 5 years. We are not union and our aides who have been there a bit make 22 an hour since they are union. We are supposed to be a part of every emergency. I've done stat c sections in the trauma bay more than once and emergency hysterectomies which we aren't even really trained to do. I just like the people I work with a lot. I know in the end it is my decision I'd just like some perspective from other lpns or rns. Thanks in advance. Sorry about my grammar. Read what I mean not what I wrote lol.

Hi Brooke ~ I will try to answer your question as briefly as possible about The College Network (TCN). Yes, we do have an agreement with The College Network. To best explain our connection for Phase I and Phase II, I can give you examples of how this may best assist you with your nursing prerequisites and Nursing Challenge Exams (CSMs) and how this will help you make a knowledgeable decision to complete your Phase I and Phase II. Please take into consideration your time, family and budget comparison. Phase I: a) Previous transfer credit already awarded from your previous college/university. b) Take a traditional course at a college/university online or in classroom now which may be more expensive due to; tuition, books, parking, time away from family/home. These nursing prerequisites may or may not be transferrable to ISU. You may use the ISU Transfer Tool to check on the course equivalency: http://www.indstate.edu/transfer/tool/. c) Indiana State University does not have the ten (10) nursing prerequisites online at this time. d) You may use study material from The College Network to complete a CLEP/DSST/Excelsior/TCN exam quickly without time in a traditional classroom or online classroom to complete your nursing prerequisites courses. All exams are readily transferrable to ISU. e) All ten nursing prerequisites are required to be completed and transcripts housed at the ISU Admissions Office to be admitted to the university. Phase II: a) You may take the Nursing Challenge Exams from your previous LPN/LVN training knowledge on your own without the study material. A 75% is the requirement for passing the exams. b) If the exam is not passed successfully on the first attempt through our ISU Blackboard website, you will then be required (by Nursing Policy) to purchase the TCN study material (Customized Study Material / CSM) to retake the exam through the ISU Blackboard website. c) The four Nursing Challenge Exams are required to be completed in one (1) calendar year from the date you are admitted to the university. d) The module content and questions were written by our ISU faculty and The College Network published the material. The material is 100% ISU driven, but TCN has published the material and has the copyrights to this material. Phase III: a) Is completed entirely online with ISU nursing faculty for the theory portion of the nursing course and the clinical didactic is completed concurrently within said semester with a preceptor in your local area. Some information through online blogs may not be favorable, but I can assure you that we have had many successful students use the material and graduate from the LPN to BS Track at Indiana State University and become successful RNs. If you would like to speak with me about this further, please feel free to contact me by phone at my numbers listed below. Best Regards, Kim Kimbler Program Development Specialist

Do you know if the tests you are taking with college network at clep exams?

I'm trying to decide if I want to use college network or just buy material off ebay to study for clep exams. Are places like TCN and Excelsior prepping you to take clep exams? If I would just skip college network and just take clep exams how does that even work? I know there are lots of threads on this but I cant find anything directly relating TCN and clep and i wondered what tests TCN is preparing you to take?

Does anyone know at your job how much more money LPN's get per year of experience? My job started me at 16.50 base rate with no experience, but another nurse that works there had a few years experience before she came to my workplace and she said they started her at over 21 dollars an hour?? I'm trying to figure out how long I should stay at this place until I can move on and maybe make more money. Not that its all about the money but you have to admit the money is nice.

So I just went on my own at a LTC facility. I had a good trainer the first week and gave me a list of things to write down on my report sheet to remember to do every day. One of the things is Narcs. To go through make sure you signed them all out and they are accurate. I did the the other night plus when the night shift nurse came on we counted and everything was good. The next day back to work the night shift nurse was saying something like when she counted with someone else that it wasnt right and I must of dropped one and that I need two nurses to waste a narc. That she signed that I wasted it for me to just sign next to her name. At the time I was thinking well maybe I did and I signed. The more I thought about it, I cant imagine how with two narc checks they were both wrong and I missed a narc. I kept thinking about it and thinking about it and told the nurse that trained me and she made me report it to the DON. Now I feel kinda bad like what if that nurse that told me i musta dropped one was trying to help me and now I might have gotten her into trouble.. Or what if she's up to something trying to make it look like I dropped it or what if I really actually dropped it?? Just needed to vent.. Any opinions would be nice.

here in pa i had to email them and they emailed me a ATT soon after. try to find the web site and get the email address maybe that'll speed things up for you.

I got them kind of comments too. Don't let the ignorance of others smother your achievements. Become an LPN. It's your life! Alot of those people probably dont even know the difference. I have a feeling everyone gets crap for what they go for. LPN's shoulda went for RN. Adn's shoulda got a bachelors and so on and so on. Take it one step at a time. It's the start of a thick skin you need for the nursing profession anyway. :-) Good Luck! Be Proud of yourself. Don't let anyone take that away from you.

COOL!

I am a new LPN. I got a job as a float 2nd shift in a LTC setting. The RN from the rehabilitation unit is leaving and I went from my first day off orientation back onto orientation back in the rehab unit. The supervisor said he is going to try to get me back there. Everyone else back there kept asking me if i like it if i think i'd like that spot. I'm assuming maybe they are planning for me to be back there. Is this a good choice for me being new? I'm thinking maybe it would be because its probably the closest thing to a hospital I can get right now so the experience will be a great asset to me. I plan on starting at the community college taking courses towards RN in the fall. Any suggestions?

thank you very much for the replies! wow i never realized how incredibly stressful it'd be learning to pass meds and all this paper work!