luv_a_nurse

I'm writing this to see if other LPNs can identify with my situation. I just graduated from nursing school in August, and became employed by a skilled nursing facility. I took my boards about a month later and gained licensure as a practical nurse. At first I really loved the job: decent starting wage (20.36/hr for 2nd shift,) good nurse-patient ratios, friendly staff, and a good orientation program, ect. Lately though it's become quite unstable. The facility hired too many nurses, and now my full-time status is in jeopardy. I've been sent home 3 times in the past month. The facility refuses to call us if they're overstaffed, and many of us drive 30+ minutes one-way to be sent home! Now the latest thing is they're going to have us do "primary nursing." At first I was okay with it, they told us we would be getting vitals, passing trays, getting ice for residents (all of which I have been doing all along when i'm working as a nurse on the unit.) In addition, we were promised we would be paired up with another aide to make it easier on us. Well, now we're being forced to take our own assignment of 8-12 patients and work as an aide. The facility has given us very little in-service about mechanical lifts, how the CNA's do their charting, transfer techniques, ect. This is not "primary nursing." Primary nursing is when you do total patient care: ADL's, pass meds, treatments, T&R. I am really not to keen on being forced to work as an aide without even being asked, and these were not the terms of my employment at all. Granted, I knew getting into nursing there would be a certain amount of this type of work to do--but it's happening quite frequently. I feel as though myself (and the other LPNs) are being punished for the facility's inability to staff an appropriate amount of LPNs/CNAs. I love my residents and I love the people I work with but what would you guys do? Can I refuse this kind of work without worrying about losing my job?

$20.36/hr in LTC for 3-11 shift with benefits-full time, in Pittsburgh, PA. Right now I have 15 residents, and I won't ever have any more than 25. The unit I work on is a rehab unit, so I see alot of S/P knee replacements, hip replacements, ect. I've been there for 6 weeks and so far, so good!

*Point of clarification, the $60 Graduation fee was charged to each student. So $60 x 30 students= $1800; that did not include the cost of school pins or caps and gowns.

I'm class Vice-President at an LPN school in PA. Our graduation date is August 28th of this year, and my fellow classmates as well as I couldn't be more excited. My question is regarding graduation though: What do your schools have planned for your graduation ceremony? Are you wearing caps and gowns, or are you wearing uniforms? Are you having a ceremony with several speakers, or just getting your diplomas and pinned? Our class President has made it painfully obvious that she doesn't really have an interest in what we do for graduation-one way or another. I'm really miffed because I worked really hard for this and I'd like the ceremony to be professional, as well as something to be proud of. I'm even irritated with the school itself. We were all charged a $60 graduation fee (there's approximately 30 of us) and all they said they're gonna do is have the instructors speak, hand out diplomas and pins (which we had to pay for out of pocket if we wanted pinned) and they'll have cookies and punch. They aren't even going to provide caps and gowns or anything! Our school is affiliated with the place our graduation is planned, so the graduation fee wouldn't cover the hall rental, and i've seen the diplomas we get and they're hardly worth the paper they're printed on. I want to really make it an nice ceremony-but the whole general attitude of the class is apathetic. I'm thinking if I tell the others that other schools do have nice ceremonies, that they'll want to follow suit. Hopefully I can even convince faculty to help us with a nicer ceremony than those in the past. Any help with this would be much appreciated!

In regards to earlier comments.. I'm an LPN student in PA and according to the State BON, LPN's may hang piggybacks, administer nutrient solutions, electrolytes, ect. They may also start IV's (if facility permits, of course.) The LPN's in PA may not however, hang blood or blood products (including fresh frozen plasma or Rhogam,) administer antineoplastics, TPN (although they're trying to change this i'm told,) give IV push meds or titrated meds. Again, this is all according to the state BON, and you'd also have to check to make sure your facility allows, but to summarize..yes, LPN's in PA do work with IV's. :loveya:

I'm currently a student at Lenape School of Practical Nursing in PA. I'll graduate in August and I couldn't be more excited! As far as the NET goes, I thought it was pretty easy, and I had been out of school for 6 years. I think you only have to score a 40% on the reading comprehension, which in my opinion, is pretty low by most school standards. Overall though, I really have enjoyed my experience as a student nurse. Sure, there's times when my classmates get on my nerves, but i'm a firm believer in your education is what you make it. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to be a go-getter: Make sure you know all the stuff about your patient (labs, treatments, meds, past medical history, ect.) and also go above and beyond what you're expected (help the aides make beds, answer call bells, fill ice pitchers.) Things like that always impress the instructors, as well as hospital staff. The nice thing about Lenape is you get experience in many different fields of nursing: LTC, Med-Surg, ER, wound clinic, labor & delivery, doctors offices, and visiting nurses to name a few. I hope I was helpful with your question, and as always... Good luck to you with nursing school!

I'm a 23 year old wife, mother, and Certified Medical Assistant who is back in school to fulfill my dreams of becoming a nurse. I'm in a 12-month program and my official graduation date is Aug. 27th, 2009. (Believe me-i'm counting!) School is intense; I have 4 subjects right now: Basic Nursing, Anatomy, Nutrition, and Math, but I really enjoy it. 2 more weeks and I start clinical in LTC--woo!

Right on, TheCommuter. I'm one of the many disillusioned CMA's out there. The pay rate stinks, the recruiters are liars, and even the statistics on websites such as monster.com are grossly inaccurate. (They quote average starting salaries much higher for my area than what it is in actuality!)

Just to be clear, I am a Certified Medical Assistant, not a Certified Medical Aide. I believe it took me around 7 months to complete the program, plus an externship which I believe lasted 180 hours. I can't speak for other states, but Pennsylvania does not pay Certified Medical Assistants very well. I think the absolute highest rate of pay for CMAs in our state I ever heard of was like $13.00 an hour, after like 7 years experience in the same health system

The differences between being a CMA and LPN are like night and day. I currently hold a certificate in medical assisting (CMA) and am attending school full-time to become a LPN ; I couldn't be happier with my choice. CMAs are pretty much limited to working in clinics, phlebotomy labs, ect. The work-load was split evenly (at least, for me) between front office (clerical) and back office (clinical.) At times this was frustrating because it felt as though I was being pulled in two completely different directions; everyone basically wanted me to pick up their slack. A person can become a CMA in a matter of just several months, and take a number of courses including medical terminology, front-office procedures, medical law & ethics, and a very basic anatomy (i'm talking a month or so--not enough time on the human body let me tell you!) Although becoming a LPN doesn't take much longer, a year full-time in length, we have spent a huge chunk of time on human anatomy & physiology (study of body structure and function) as well as nutrition, pharmacology, and nursing practicum, to name a few. Not to mention that as a CMA, (at least in the state of PA) I was only making like $19,000 (after taxes) a year. That stinks!! Too much aggravation and you're treated like garbage. I've done alot of market research and by obtaining my LPN, the average starting yearly salary is around $37,00 (after taxes) which is a HUGE difference! I was a CMA for 3 years and couldn't even crack over 20,000. Don't get me wrong, I think CMAs are important in the function of clinical life, but obtaining your licensure as a practical nurse really opens up your oportunities. You can work in LTC, Home Health, Hospital, School, or Clinic to name a few. Why limit yourself to just one area of medicine? I wish I would have saved my money spent as a CMA and just got my LPN; I listened to the recruiters for the technical school I went to with promises of a stable income--boy was a I fooled! I guess I was just young and stupid then :/ Take it from someone that knows, alot of times Certified Nurses Aides (after only taking a few classes and passing a test) make more than CMAs!