Questions about LPN...

[gatorgirl25]

I'm currently a sophomore at the University of Florida (go Gators!) that's enrolled in a CNA class. If things go well, I should have my CNA license on the 21st of December. Right now I'm not considering going into nursing as my career of choice, but instead I'm interested in physical therapy. Within the next two years I'll be applying to the doctoral program at UF for physical therapy. I decided to try and work as a CNA to gain experience in healthcare and to help earn money for grad school (you don't even want to know how expensive that is).

Anyways, I will only be able to work as a part time employee during the school year and full time over the summer. I am still very new in this field and have tried to find out more information about becoming an LPN. So, I guess my question to all of you is what are the steps to becoming an LPN? I've only had success finding programs that bridge the LPN to RN, but I'm not interested in becoming an RN. And, also, is it possible to be hired as a part-time LPN or a full-time LPN over summers only? I would love to work in health care where I can earn money for grad school, but I am a full time student so I can't work too often during the regular semester.

I would appreciate any help!!

Thank you very much,

Ashley

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

hi, gatorgirl25!

normally, you would apply to a school of lpn nursing after fulfilling their requirements to apply. you need to contact the various schools to find out what those requirements are. i have given you a link to your state board of nursing's list of nursing schools. the lpn schools are listed toward the end. there is usually a lot of part time work for lpns on all shifts in nursing homes. when i was in school, i found working part time on night shifts, often on weekends, worked very well with a school schedule. i suppose you could find summer employment. in most places there is generally several weeks of orientation needed to get acclimated to a licensed nursing job because there are policies and procedures that have to be learned and it takes time to learn them. a good many employers may be reticent to hire someone who they know is only going to stay at the job for 2 or 3 months. if you are willing to also work holidays and occasional weekends they might be more accommodating. orienting a licensed nurse to any job is very costly for employers, so they will want to know that training you as a new worker is going to be worth the investment they would put into you. i am also listing some websites where you can get information on nursing and specifically on lpn nursing.

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/nursing/lst_trainingprograms.pdf - florida board of nursing list of approved nursing programs

http://www.discovernursing.com/

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm - about lpn nursing from the u.s. department of labor

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/majors_careers/42226.html - "thinking about nursing school? consider your many options" from the college board.

http://www.nflpn.org/ - national federation of licensed practical nurses web site. the lpn professional organization

http://www.medicaltrainingdirectory.com/medical_school_guide/guideid/173.htm - how to become a lpn along with a list of some online programs you can contact about lpn training.

good luck with your plans. welcome to allnurses! :welcome:

[gatorgirl25]

Thank you so much for all of your help!!! :-) I greatly appreciate it!