Berkeley

No, now hold on a minute. The problems of professionalism don't include LPN issues. I don't mean to be rude, but whether or not LPNs are unified with RNs makes no difference to the profession of nursing at all. And it doesn't matter what anyone else "recognizes" about the profession of nursing, unless they are nurses. The registered nurse is considered a professional person. If joe blow down the street doesn't think so, it doesn't really matter any more than if joe blow doesn't think a CPA is a professional. Let me ask you this, are LPNs allowed to be members of the ANA? I really don't know, but if they are, perhaps there is something to your argument; if they are not, then I have a stronger position. Having said all this, you do make a good point about professional low self-esteem with nurses, and that will make an interesting original post.

You know, you have something there, and I hadn't thought of it. The US government makes a distinction between the ADN and the BSN. It is very possible that if socialized medicine takes hold in the US, the ADN could be replaced by the BSN as an entry level degree.

I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be rude, but your reply sounds very much like what I came to know of nursing school instructors. The ones I had were very poor teachers, and they really lacked skill on the floor, as well. They hated their jobs and they hated the students and they were terrible examples for others to follow. Of course there was one who was very good, and the chairperson was very good. But that's like 2 out of 20. So, frankly, I'd actually support cutting their pay, not raising it. You should try to find what you love about nursing, or did love about it and try to return to that. You don't sound happy, and if nursing is as great a misery to you as it was to the instructors I had, then you really aren't helping anyone or yourself. That's just my opinion, though, and you know what opinions are like.

Finally, someone actually reads the post and responds to it intelligently. Thanks for the words of advice. I currently have a BSc in Liberal Arts and will be starting an RN-BSN program next fall.

Are you trying to say I'm gay? I'm not gay, but even if I were I don't think I would call people that. I don't think anything I have said warrants personal insults, so with all due respect, I'd rather you just left me alone. And I'm surprised that a senior member would resort to name-calling. Be that as it may, it won't stop me from enjoying these discussions as much as the next person.

In nursing you have all these assistive roles. LPN, CNA, PCA, MT, And same with physicians: NP, PA, Surgical techs (the ones that work in the clinics). The fact is it's expensive and time consuming for society to create a doctor or a nurse. Even when only an ADN is considered, it still takes three years (I don't know anyone with any common sense that didn't do the "other" coursework before starting nursing school.). And the ANA considers the professional RN to have a BSN. Everyone is of value, because modern health care wouldn't work efficiently if all there were were physicians and registered nurses. Let's face it, not everyone is academically inclined, and there isn't anyone who finished nursing school or med school that isn't academically inclined.

The government (military and VA) differentiate between nurses with an ADN and those with a BSN. The ANA differentiates between them, but the civilian industry does not. If the civilian hospitals ever decided that there isn't a nursing shortage and only show interest in hiring those with BSNs, all the junior colleges will dry up overnight. I personally knew a captain in the Air Force a while back (I think it was a previous life :) ) who only had an ADN. But at that time the military really needed nurses, so they commissoned ADNs not on their eductaion but on their professional liscense of RN. It all depends on how bad they need nurses. End the nursing shortage with a bad economy and you'll end the ADN as an entry-level degree to professional nursing. Do you think this is true?

There are a lot of people in the medical field. There are two that are foundational: the physician and the registered nurse. These are the two that society includes within the "professions." One diagnoses and treats an illness, one provides care for sick people (which naturally includes administering the treatments of the physician). Having said that, in my state, an LPN can work under a physician and do whatever he/she tells her or him to do, like in a doctors' office. But they can't really work independently as a nurse, they can only work under a registered nurse's supervision. If all we had were physicians and registered nurses, we'd have a lot of gaps in the modern world of medical care. But let's not confuse the two types of nursing. To do a physical assessment on a patient, which RNs do, you have to have the knowledge that comes from a college background in the biological and physiological sciences and nursing school. LPNs do practical tasks, not assessments. That's why they aren't allowed to IV push dangerous drugs like narcotics. There is no doubt that an LPN could be trained in all these things, but if they were, then they wouldn't be an LPN anymore; they'd be an RN.

So, five years ago, you were in a mental hospital for substance abuse...hmm. You're best bet is to contact your state nursing board and lay it all on the line and get their input--annonymously if you can. And do it before you enter nursing school and get your hopes up. If you were in another state when it happened, and there was absolutely no police involvement, then I'd say just live your life like it never happened--and never speak or write about it again. But if there's a trail, then you got to come clean (no pun intended). A lot of people when they get busted feel they need to tell the police everything. I say let the police earn their pay. Take that for what it's worth and good luck

That's nursing homes for you.