"LPNs should be done away with altogether"

[missjennmb]

As an offshoot to the News article about nursing education, an opinion was brought to the board that LPNs are not adequately prepared to care for patients, and that their education is not strenuous like an RN program is. Having been in the field for awhile, what is your opinion on the differences between LPNs and RNs, other than the legally different aspects (LPNs cannot do initial assessments or IVs in my state for instance)

I'm not looking to start trouble, but rather discuss the topic in an area other than an unrelated thread.

Differences in LPNs vs RNs (educationally, functionally, intellectually)

Best way to combat any possible negatives of the above

Advice for an LPN student (who is too far through her program to just throw it out and start over in an RN program - already applied for an LPN to RN program starting Jan 2010)

Should I really expect to run into attitudes in the workplace about my not being worthwhile as an employee and a care provider because I chose the path that I have? How do you handle it if you do?

There is a local small rural hospital that pays incredibly well for LPNs right out of school and who has been trying very hard to recruit us during clinicals... am I going to be inequipped to care for patients there because of my education? I would never want to get into a situation where patient care was compromised because my education was lacking somehow...

Jennifer

~slightly confused and frustrated LPN student

[Bebet39]

They should. It has caused so much confusion. I know its a big deal, so they should ban it.

[Bebet39]

I agree, but they have no respect for people. They have been trying to get rid of LPNs for a long time. Its all about the money.

[nurse2it]

I have heard this for 20 years and it is one of the things that I hate about nursing. I finally realized that the haters have issues and this

is one of the ways they react when they feel threatened and it really is about them. It seems that this will never go away. Many new grad RNs have actually said to me "I thought you were an rn", not realizing that this kind of complement is really an insult...

[txlvn99]

That just infuriates me!! I have been an LVn in Texas for over 10 years! they will never be able to do away with LVN/LPN's simply because employers can pay us less to do the VERY SAME JOB that an RN does!!! Often times, the RN's lean on us LVN's to do the ground work and then they do the paperwork. We are just as good as RN's, like my nursing instructor said 10 years ago. You are never JUST and LVN....That's Licensed Vocational NURSE....we are nurses too!!

[Sherafun]

This is very interesting due to the Oregon State Board of Nursing last year changed the scope of practice on LPN's an RN's.

Lpn's can do "Focus" assessments now. Which I have always thought it was silly saying that LPN's cannot do assessments, I do assessments on patients as soon as I visually see them and during providing care.

We also can do IV push meds, IV's. Cannot hang blood in this state or TPA.

I have been a LPN for 18 years and have worked LTC, Skilled, HMO, Agency. I now have cancer so I am off and will lose my job in january if I can't return to work. I have no choice with that, but if I do lose it I will go back to Agency. I pick my own hours/days and get higher pay.

[Simba&NalasMom, LPN]

This is very interesting due to the Oregon State Board of Nursing last year changed the scope of practice on LPN's an RN's.

Lpn's can do "Focus" assessments now. Which I have always thought it was silly saying that LPN's cannot do assessments, I do assessments on patients as soon as I visually see them and during providing care.

We also can do IV push meds, IV's. Cannot hang blood in this state or TPA.

I have been a LPN for 18 years and have worked LTC, Skilled, HMO, Agency. I now have cancer so I am off and will lose my job in january if I can't return to work. I have no choice with that, but if I do lose it I will go back to Agency. I pick my own hours/days and get higher pay.

I've been an LPN in OR for 5 years and there still seems to be quite a job shortage; it feels as if several employers are still not very clear on what our scope is. I interviewed with Kaiser and at least they are beginning to utilize LPNs to their full scopes of practice.

I hope you have a good recovery and are able to return to your job. :)

[dzidzi]

I am in school working on prereqs and thinking about doing my lpn first. I am thinking about going to pccti for my lpn, I like to enroll in their weekend program. Can anyone please help me out with some advise, warning and anything to help make the right decisions.

Thanks in advance.

[achot chavi]

If it gives you an income while working on your RNs, go for it, it might also give you confidence and more experience in the field.

[smccoy]

I have worked with alot of LPN's, I am an RN. Back in my ICU days we utililized LPN's, they were qualified to give IV push meds, some were some not. I went to Nursing School in the 1980's, they said then they were going to do away with the LPN programs. I guess it's like wether you have a ASN or BSN, they said they were doing away with those programs as well. I worked with alot of nurses with BSN, who were led to believe they were only going to be managers, and other nurses would do the grunt work. I also know that having your BSN, doesn't give you that much more on the hour, I always planned on going back, but due to health problems, that has not happened yet. I'm sure there are some differences, but in the end we are all there to care for patients, and work with all other disciplines.

I am looking to go back to school for my RN. I have most prerequisites done but I work ull time and am on limited time. I have looked into the college network but it scares me to death. I've read some pretty nasty things and I'm a little confused. I mean people where I went to school for LPN had some bad things to say as they did not make it so who do you believe? I'm frustrated and I feel like I've spent all this time trying to figure out if I should do online which I have to work or traditional which it would be very hard to work full time.

Please help frustrated

[EBibeault]

I would like to say to BigBee48 that I really appreciated the way you made mention that in the end we are all here to care for the patients! Isn't that what nursing is all about anyway.

As far as the College Network goes, to each his own but check with any facility you plan to work with an make absolutely certain that they will accept the credit from TCN. I work at a VA hospital and even though TCN states they are accredited with National League of Nursing, my VA has stopped offering tuition reimbursement for them and does not recognize Excelsior University. I hope this helps. I would recommend doing a search on TCN, reviews, complaints, scams and stuff like that because there are a lot of horror stories out there. I found out the hard way, I actually am still paying for a "study course" we met one night per week and they were supposed to prep you for the CLEP exam. All they did was read word for word out of the 3 ring binder that I paid way to much for but I am stuck paying until my obligation is done. You have to decide for yourself what is best, just know this is written by someone who wants to see you succeed! Good Luck. Remember..slow and steady wins the race. I am a 49y/o LPN that has just finished my last prereq. Now it's onto my nursing courses, my boards and my future as an RN! Slow and steady

[NurseLil-lea]

hi ebibeault, did it take you awhile to get an interview or a call back after you applied to the va?

thank you,

nurselil-lea

[EBibeault]

For me it was pretty quick, timing I think was all because when they did hire me they were pretty pushy about getting me into an orientation that was starting like the same week. Otherwise, I have heard that it does take quite awhile. We had a couple nurses come from another hospital and they told me that it was nearly 6 months for them. I would contact the VA you applied at and follow up on your application. If you kept the information from the opening I would even call the nurse manager for the area you were applying for and see if they have made any decisions yet. Hope it helps and good luck to you.