CrazyGoonRN

One of my classmates in nursing school was a single mother of 2 children under age 5. The father was not in the picture and she got no child support. Her family did not offer much support either. She would come to class exhausted having only slept 1 or 2 hours the night before because of her kids being sick or just up all night. She was committed to making a better life for herself and her kids and never quit. On days that she had to be in clinicals at 6:45am she asked her family to take her kids to daycare so she could make it to the hospital on time, but they refused. Her daycare did not open until 6am and she did not have time to get to clinicals on time. She talked to the daycare and one of the teachers offered to get there 15 min early so that she would not be late to clinicals. Her kids are lucky to have such a devoted mother. She worked hard and is now an LPN making pretty good money. She is committed to return to school and become an RN, and I believe she will do it. Work hard, don't give up and you can do it too :)

Yes. One of my fellow nursing school grads did exactly that. She failed the LPN program at one school by 1 or 2 points then the next year went back at another school and passed and is now an LPN. She didn't give up, because she was determined to be a nurse. Another one of my fellow grads failed an RN program then a couple years later entered an LPN program and passed. I am not sure if she is planning on continuing on to another RN program or not. You can do it! :)

As a new grad LPN I started out just faxing my resume to various job postings online. I finally got smart and started to call the places a few days after my resume was sent to ask if they received my resume and when they might be scheduling interviews. One of the places I called I got right through with the hiring manager and she put me on hold, found my resume and asked me to come in for an interview the next day. It went good but after a couple of weeks I had not heard anything back so I started driving to various places and giving them my resume face to face. I got one interview and no job offer from my face to face meetings. Then a month after my interview with the hiring manager I got a job offer. So basically face to face didn't go anything but give me interview experience, which was helpful. I do think that face to face can be very helpful in getting a job though :)

I am an LPN and I think what she means even though she dosn't clearly state it is that in an LPN program you spend more time doing clinicals than doing book work (percentage wise in the overall program). The percentage for LPN programs is higher than the percentage for RN programs. However, this dosn't mean that the exact number of hours is necessarly higher for LPN programs. RN programs probably have a higher number of clinical hours. I also agree with many of the comments that an extra year of school is not just book work. RN programs are designed to teach more things in greater depth than LPN programs. That's just a fact. Also there is a real difference between LPN's and RN's. One example: LPNs must be IV certified before starting IV's. RN's come out of school already certified.

I am a new nurse and have been working PRN at a nursing home for about 2 months. I get full time hours just about every week. As of yesterday I have worked every hall in the building (12 halls total). Each hall and floor has a "speciality". I love being PRN because I have learned a ton of skills. All the tube feedings are on the same hall so after a couple of shifts on that hall I feel confident in my abilities. All the pts who have dementia and are elopment risks are on the same hall so I learned real fast how to deal with them after 1 shift on that hall. Pts who are just there for rehab are grouped together also so I have learned PICC lines, IV medication adminstration(I knew very little about before working it), trach's, g-tubes, j-tubes, peg tubes, foleys, In and Out caths, etc... When working a new hall If I have a question then I just ask and make sure they know that I have never worked this hall and that I want to make sure I am doing everything right. I havn't run into a nurse yet who is unwilling to help me do things right. I just make sure I don't burn any bridges when asking for help or take advantage of other nurses. I try to figure things out before I ask unless I am totally clueless or unsure then I ask for help. I also take notes when being taught something. I really don't want to go back and ask someone the same thing over and over again. If you are overwhelmed then ask for help. Eventually you will get the hang of it. I love that I have learned to be flexable as a nurse. It has also been great for me because I tend to be shy and now I know most people in the building :) And when I go back to RN school I will have a ton of valuable skills that will help me with school :) Good luck to you!!

I think it would be hard to leave nursing after putting so much effort into becomming a nurse. I have worked LTC and peds private duty. My peds private duty job only lasted 2 weeks because I found a job in LTC that I really wanted. As a new grad I dont think private duty was for me because I didn't feel like I knew enough to take care of a sick child. I wanted to work in a nursing home because I knew I would probably not find a job in med/surg as a new LPN. I have learned a ton of useful information at the nursing home in only 2 months. If you ever work LTC again I recommend checking the medicare rating of the nursing home before taking a job there. The nursing home I work at is rated 5 stars and is privatly owned. The nursing home that my grandmother was in was rated 3 stars, owned by a corporation and the level of care was much lower. I would only work there if I were desprate for a job. I love the nursing home I work at. The level of care is well above average from what I have seen in other nursing homes. I guess what I am getting at is not to rule out LTC completly, because there are some nice ones out there :-) I hope you find what you are meant to do! :)

I found out that I did not get in. The letter said that I am in the top 25 on the alternate list. It said that there is a possibility that I will be called by May 17 if a spot comes open. I am hoping I get that call. If not I am thinking about applying to MTSU's program starting next spring. I am determined to be an RN(it has always been my first choice) so I am going to keep applying until I get in :)

I don't have an exact answer for that. The head of their nursing dept seems to change a lot. I have never attended there but recently they were on the verge of losing their acrediation. I hear that the whole system is unorganized not just the nursing dept. It also scares me a little because someone was murdered on campus last year. Honestly I have never heard any good things about TSU.

Yeah in a nursing home there is not much of a difference in LPN and RN duties. I am an LPN and we do assessments, accuchecks, VS, pass meds, flush g-tubes and peg tubes, suction trach's, start IV's and hang fluids, draw blood, chart (lol), take phone orders, call the MD or NP, check in new admissions, dip urine, foleys, in & out caths, help out with call lights when we have time, call pts families when there is an incident, etc... these are the same things that the RN's do here. Hospitals are a whole different story though.

I work PRN at a nursing home in Tennessee. I make 19.50/hr. No benefits. Night shift is 3/hr more and evening shift is 1.20/hr more. I am a new grad so this is really good money for me :) I worked 8 hours of overtime last week and made 30.45/hr for those hours!! I am still in shock, lol!

I think that it was a good choice for me. I took all my pre-req's for a RN program then didn't get in. So I applied to a LPN program and got in. I didn't want to wait around for a semester and reapply to the RN program. What would I have done? I had already completed all my pre-req's and I didn't have a job. I completed the LPN program in 1 year and it was tough. I got my license the next month and now I am working making 19.50/hour in a nursing home. :) In TN that is good money for a LPN. My dream is to work in a hospital on the med/surg floor but as an LPN that is most likely not going to happen. So for now I am sticking with the nursing home and trying to be the best nurse I can be. I have learned a lot there. I have applied to a local LPN-RN program and am waiting to hear if I got in or not. I really hope I do, but if I don't I am going to stay positive and not loose sight of my ultimate goal to be an RN. I think everything depends on your attitude. If you expect it to be bad then it will be. If you look at the good things about being an LPN then it could be an awesome career move. One of my coworkers has been an LPN for 9 years. She had always planned on becomming an RN, but now wants to stay an LPN. She makes very good money and if she became an RN her salary would drop quite a bit. She is one of the best nurses that I know. She even trains the new RN's who come to work at our facility. She is about to get another raise since she just acceped a job as nurse manager. She got to where she is because she truly cares about people and wants to be a good nurse and she is a good nurse. No matter what you choose never stop learning and trying to become better than you used to be :)

Yes, avoid TN state university. I hear good things about Motlow state community college.

Hi I am a new grad LPN and I applied for a job with Southern Health Partners to work in a local county jail. What is it like to work for them? Thanks :)

I am a new LPN and I am in my second week of orientation at a nursing home. It is a nice nursing home with a 5 star rating. I am so excited that I got this job but I am very overwhelmed. I have only trained on day shift so far and there is so much going on that I don't know if I can do it by myself. There are 24 pts to 1 nurse during the day. The floor I work on is skilled. I have not been able to get the morning med pass completed by 10 am yet. I have done it twice by myself and I don't finish until 11 or 11:30. I am trying to go quickly but I am afraid if I go to quick that I will mess something up. What are your tips on getting the med pass completed on time? (the more detail the better) Do you bring several pts their meds at one time? Do you stand there and watch each pt take their meds before you leave? I also feel like I don't know anything. A pt said they had mild chest pain today. I couldn't even think of what to do. I had to go get my preceptor and ask her what to do. Also a pt choked yesterday on her meds that were crushed and mixed in applesause and she was turning blue. I was watching 3 other nurses deal with it so that I would know what to do if it ever happened to one of my pts. They didn't do the heimlich maneuver. They kept trying to get her to cough. Then they went and got a machine to suction her. I am confused. Why would they do that? I feel so dumb. I hope this gets better. I don't feel qualified to work without my preceptor... Thanks for all the input :)

What about LPN's. I think we have some good insight too :)