oneflyLPN

Yes you can in the state of NC, according to the BON. You might have missed that in my post. I'm just wondering if hospital recruiters/HR will actually HIRE a nurse who wants to "work down".

Hi! I'm an LPN new to the area, still looking for work in the field while I go back to school. My background is in mental health, so I'm signing up for some classes to refresh my clinical skills in the meantime. Anyway, I'm looking at jobs and it seems that there are many more CNA II openings than LPN, especially in the major Duke, UNC hospital systems (I live btw Durham and Chapel Hill). I'm wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experience applying for nursing assistant jobs as an LPN?? I checked the BON and it says that a nurse can be listed on the NA registry. But I don't know if the hospitals will consider a nurse working "below" their license. I need the hands on skills, since clinicals and psych don't count for much..and at this point, I don't care about the lower pay. I've got bills to pay (don't we all ) and I'd rather do it doing something I like and I'm good at. Other than that, I might have to go back to administration or, God forbid, retail, until some more LPN jobs open up. Help!

Thanks I checked them out, didn't see much coming up that was hands on but I also found the NCAHEC website and they list courses (online, practice based, blended) all over the state, so I'm going to do a little more research there. Thanks again!

Hi all! I'm still pretty new to the RDU area (relocated here 4 months ago) and researching EVERYTHING I can get my hands on about the nursing industry down here. I'm originally from the Philadelphia metro and used to there being tons of classes for LPNs, RNs, NPs, etc. that need to further their given skill set. However, it seems like most of the classes I've seen down here only gear towards RNs and aren't really related to hands on clinical skills. I've only worked in psychiatric health and never learned how to start IVs or do ECG/EKGs, but need them to find a job. Is there anywhere locally, that I can take these classes? I was hoping to find a weekend type of training or something relatively short term, since I am in school full time and working (not in nursing) part time. I'm willing to travel if it's a weekend course too. Any ideas fellow NC nurses?

Anyone in NCCU's BSN program now? Any words of advice, experiences??

Thanks to everyone that replied and for the hugs :-). For focusedvalpn and Sensoria17, yes I've searched the forums and scoured the BON website. And as far as jobs that don't require phlebotomy, I've only seen one that will fit my class schedule. (I need a 3rd shift gig right now). Some potential good news is that I saw an ad for phlebotomy and other health care training while I was out today. So I plan on giving them a call tmw. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hi everyone, I'm gonna try to make this long story short. I'm really frustrated right now. I got my LPN license in 2008, got a job at a state mental health facility and worked there for 8 months before leaving. Unfortunately, I left without securing another job first ( stupid, i know) but I felt the working conditions were unsafe for the staff and the patients. In fact, lots of incidents happened that made the news with staff being constantly scrutinized for pt deaths (some at fault and others not), doctors with major God-complexes that ignored pt complaints (who later coded or died)....Overall, it was just a scary situation, esp for a brand new nurse. I was waking up from nightmares abt my patients, crying in my sleep, developed terrible insomnia. So I left, hoping I'd be able to find something else. Unfortunately, I'm from a small city and needless to say, other facilities were very leery abt hiring nurses from the state hospitals. Eventually, I had to go back to working retail just to pay my bills. So now I'm a stale, inexperienced LPN because I lack the clinical skills and the 1 year min required by most places. I've relocated to NC and that's done nothing to help. Actually, it almost seems worse, bc here my skills only qualify me as a CNA II (which I can't get listed as unless I get on CNA registry for 6 months first). Most LPNs here have phlebotomy/IV training, which I don't and can't take a class in unless I'm an RN. Again . I just feel l like I've committed career suicide and the only way to continue working as a nurse is to go back to school, which I'm def not thrilled about. I eventually want to get my MA in Expressive Arts Therapy and have a private practice, but I know that is years in the making. I'm in a position where I can finish my bachelor's full time right now and really need to make a decision on continuing on for my BSN or just study psychology and go on for my master's. I'm 25 and stressed abt everything. I think I really just need a :hug: (Lost LPN)

Hi Hospice Nurse! No I don't plan on staying in psych. I need more hands on then psych is able to provide, although I'd like to work in an eating disorders setting like Renfrew Center. And I'm not worried about the work schedule. I'll either be going to a school out of state if they offer me a full tuition scholarship or living with my godbrother while I finish and he works, and then we'll switch places with me working so he can finish his degree too.

Hi everyone! I'm ready to go back to college soon and finish my bachelor's degree, but I have a few questions about the LPN-ADN/BSN route. Let me give you guys some background info about me first. I entered nursing school after completing 2 years toward a BA in Business at a 4-year university. I graduated my prgoram in 2008 and have been an LPN for 2 years, but only gained experience in psychiatric nursing for about a year when I left the facility due to poor nursing administration and being asked to do things that could have jeopardized my licensure. The economy was already bad and with my area (I'm in DE-PA) being so oversaturated with nurses, I've been unable to find another nursing gig since last year as an LPN. So now I'm considering the LPN-BSN but I'm seeing so many new grads say they're having just as hard a time finding jobs due to lack of experience. I'm wondering if those of you who haven't been LPNs that long and went back for your ADN or BSN, are/did you have difficulty finding a job after graduation? My second concern is about nursing school in general. I hated almost everything about nursing school and all the nonsense we were made to endure, and I vowed to never come back until things changed. (Well we see how long that's lasted, lol). Anyway, I want to know if the BSN programs are any less stressful, less life consuming, etc. I'm a single girl with no kids so I won't have the family/home life thing to worry about and most of my friends don't live in the same state as me, so spending time with them won't really be a biggie either. But I'm not really excited about the fact that I may not have a life and get some more of the college experience (joining clubs/orgs, making lifelong friends/networks, impromptu road trips, exploring the city on weekends) I missed out on when I left my first university. Are these things I'm going to give up once again while pursuing a BSN? And am I going to be subjected to all the excessive anxiety of my fellow classmates over every test/lab/clinical and the constant sorority style pledging/induction rights/rules by my instructors?

I'm sorry, what are you referring to?

I was in agreeance with your post abt McDonalds but then, I can only speak for me MedicineCNS.

With the McDonalds example, I think the point here is that if a person loves what they do and seeks to develop professionally in whatever it is they do, then it is no longer "just a job". "Just a job" flipping burgers or taking orders may turn into being a multi-franchise owner, or even a scholarship for higher education that leads to more than "just a job". Yes we as nurses have a liability and may deal with life or death-that however can't be the only deciding factor in what we view as professions in the scheme of the work part of our individual lives. I've devalued the work of other people because they seem to not have the liability or seriousness that my work does, but in reality, the majority of working people do a job that improves some aspect of someone's life in one way or another.

Reading the posts here on nursing "just being a job", it seems that (and I hope I don't get flamed for this, lol) many of the male nurses don't have the same emotional attachment to the job that women nurses do. NOT to say that they don't become attached to the profession or their patients and NOT that there aren't female nurses who also feel the same. But from some that I've spoken to or worked with, they typically have the same sentiment as TheDude. They come, they work well, they go home and enjoy the benefits of their career. This of course is just my personal observation. Any thoughts?

Hi LilaOR, Well some of it came from posts I've read online on various nursing sites. Other comments came from an instructor here or there when I was in school. I actually had a clinical instructor sit us all down on our meal break one night and ask how many of us had entered nursing because it was our first choice. She had a rep for being the hardest instructor and being quite adamant about "weeding out" students who were choosing nursing from an economic or financial standpoint, and even those who were fresh out of high school "with no world experience" and possibly unsure of their commitment to nursing. This has really stood out in my memory and was my first face-to-face experience with this kind of thinking by current nurses. Fortunately, this was the night before my last clinical rotation and I was way too close to graduation to be discouraged!

Oramar, I am laughing so hard right now! Maybe the guy was being sarcastic (I hope so for his sake). Hahahahaha, I'm still trying to catch my breath :rotfl: !!!

I agree with you 1000%. All that you thought about, I also had to consider because I knew there was "dirty work" involved. And I agree, no one should enter this profession with little to NO desire to be of service to other people. I do know a CNA in nursing school now who is this way, which is pretty ironic, because they tend to have more "dirty work" to do than we do as nurses sometimes. If I hadn't been exposed to (and absolutely loved) basic first aid care and sports medicine in high school, I may have never even considered nursing. But I knew that I enjoyed caring for people, even big, sweaty football players, hehehe, and health in general.

Jlcole45, I think you misunderstood when I said some only want to go for administrative work. I have no issue with that at all and am glad that there are nurses who want to do it. I've worked for a nurse administrator with no nursing experience ever, simply a nursing admin degree, so I would love to see more nurses who've worked in diff areas and know what it's like being on the floor, to be moving into that field. It makes all us staff nurses' lives so much easier!

Thanks cookienay!!

Jlcole45, thanks for your response! I was very much aware of the salary differences between RN & LPN when I considered nursing school. My aunt has been an RN for about six years and lives quite comfortably. However, I wasn't sure how deep my passions would lie in nursing so I decided that I could dedicate one year and a few thousand dollars to see if it was right for me. It definitely beats the thousands of dollars I took out in student loans to go to business school anyday! But my purpose in writing this wasn't to ask if I should continue in nursing or to complain about salary. I have no children or husband so LPN salary is actually quite nice (for me) compared to working in retail stores or at campus jobs, even if I am limited in practice . But I would like to start putting more away for my business's future. Either way I wrote this moreso to vent and get conversation started on something I find very discouraging amongst nurses, and hopefully will be able to change one day.

I'm currently debating with myself on whether not to bridge to the RN or to pursue other interests. I've heard from so many nurses out there who seem to have a real problem with those of us nurses who will admit that a major factor in our choosing nursing was the salary options, flexibility, and (perceived in this economy) stability. They tell those considering nursing for the same reasons, that they'll never make good nurses, or that they'll just get burned out and leave the field, that the only reason to become a nurse is because you bleed to help other people. But they're plenty who have always dreamed of nursing and will burn out either way. As there are those who just don't understand what nursing work actually is and burn out, those who are afraid of "yucky" work, those who only want to do administrative work, etc. My personal story is that I left business school to pursue nursing so that I could have the financial security since I wasn't interested in climbing the corporate ladder. And I've always had an interest in healthcare (almost pursued sports medicine) so it was a mostly smooth transition for me and I think I'm a darn good nurse. *pats self on back, hehehe, j/k*. But although I didn't "always want to be a nurse", I always wanted to help people in one way or another and have found aspects of nursing that I love (and of course, some I could do without :barf01:). If and when I leave the field, it will be to follow my dream of owning a business. And honestly, without my nursing salary & flexibility, it would probably be much harder to do so and maintain myself without taking out many loans, moving back home, etc. Nursing has and definitely would continue to make me a very independent young woman. Anyway, my point is, what is so wrong with seeking the financial perks of nursing if you can do the job, because although we do deal with people on the most personal of levels, it IS work. Whether you see it as a job or as a career, we are not volunteering to do this work. We expect to receive monetary compensation (and sometimes get unexpected rewards :hug: from pts and families) at the end of the week, or two weeks, etc. How many of you would have entered into or continued in the field if it paid only $5-6 above the minimum wage? So let's stop putting barriers and constraints on the field and those who may enter it for the financial benefits it can offer. Sure the money is definitely not everything, and at times doesn't seem to be enough. But does the prospect of decent earnings and autonomy determine who will become a caring, compassionate, active (and much needed) member of the nursing field and who will not? How much longer will we keep telling those whose initial or final decision to enter nursing stemmed from economic need that they are not needed here and destined to failure? Instead, maybe we should focus our energies on advocating for true depictions of nursing in the media, organizing a collective voice nationwide and truthfully advocating nurse education (the good & the bad) so that at least, future nurses (and those who choose another path) can make informed, healthy decisions. And that's just my . Thanks for reading!

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and have been trying to find an answer to this question before starting my own post but anyway, here goes. I live in the Philly metro area right now but am looking to go back to school and relocate to the DC-Virginia area with my brother this summer. I'm hoping to get an LPN position at one of the base hospitals/medical centers there, either Air Force or Navy...but I'm open to Army med command too. I'm just looking for a civilian job, though. First question is how long does the process take? I'm trying to determine when I should start applying because I'm out of town and also registering for an advanced clinical skills course that won't end until early June. Second part of this qustion is how are the interview processes under each branch? Hope you guys can help. Thanks!