Renew LPN if RN?

Nurses General Nursing

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Is there any point to renewing an LPN license once you have an RN license?

The job market is very tight in my area and would like to keep options open.

I'm thinking it's time to drop it.

Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

My LPN license will lapse as of midnight tonight. I've been an RN for three years and finally decided to let the LPN go. I kept them for the past 3 years because they have been in my wallet for 27 years and I renewed them 6 months after I got the RN because I was kinda looking over my shoulders and sleeping with one eye open after my encounter with the Georgia BON:specs:. Being an RN-BSN student had a lot to do with it, too. I will put them in a frame and sit it next to my Practical Nursing diploma, though.:yes:

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Yeah... Still can't get your rude comment out of my head that you think I should stay a LPN ... Your gross!

As a new RN and former LVN, I had the same reaction to that comment as you, MrsMig! No clue where that poster is coming from to say such a thing.

I live in a state where you can keep both licenses, and I am keeping both for now. I have read a few posts on Allnurses on this subject and am always surprised to read comments that some states do not allow RNs to work as LPNs. What happens when you are currently employed as an LPN when you become licensed as an RN? Are you able to keep your LPN job? Are you forced to quit your LPN job immediately upon licensure as an RN? Is your employer forced to promote you to an RN position and/or fire you from your LPN position? I had no choice but to work several months as an LVN before getting promoted to an RN position, and I am one of the luckier "LVN-RN" persons I know! Several of my classmates have yet to find RN jobs and must keep their LVN jobs in order to make ends meet.

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I think some people are overthinking it. A RN can do anything a LPN can. Therefore, its perfectly legal for a RN to be hired into a spot normally filled by a LPN. Its important to remember, though, that you're not really "working as a LPN". You're still working as a RN. Just one whose current job description happens to overlap with the LPN scope of practice. I see no reason a RN would need to keep their LPN license in this situation.

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From another perspective, I am assigned to a CNA assignment at my job every now and then depending on staffing. I have never in my life held a CNA certification. My practical nursing license covers everything a CNA could ever possibly do. Its the same concept with LPN/RN. I could, in theory, be hired in somewhere else as a CNA. I would not need to obtain CNA licensure to do so. Of course, few facilities would hire a LPN to work as a CNA. Such an employee would be too likely to flee at the first better opportunity. But there's no legal obstacle to me working as a CNA. But, again, what'd I'd really be is a LPN doing CNA level work for CNA level pay. Not a very desirable scenario, but certainly nothing illegal about it.

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As a new RN and former LVN, I had the same reaction to that comment as you, MrsMig! No clue where that poster is coming from to say such a thing.

I am being good by not arguing with you. However, you will, upon rereading, perhaps notice the point I was trying, however imperfectly, to make. I asked a question, and did not give an order.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

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If I had to keep them both as an option for job hunting purposes, I probably would. But now that I am a RN, I let my LPN go. But I can definitely see the need in certain areas....

Good luck with what you decide!

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You are going to be held to the RN standard of practice regardless, so it's pointless to keep the LPN license.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Thanks for the responses! I've been working as a Charge RN in LTC for over a year (plus previous year as an LPN), and the LPN renewal came in the mail--I've been applying for (scarce) RN positions at hospitals with no luck so far. I've noticed a few LPN positions at hospital clinics lead to being cross-trained in other departments. These people then become RNs and slide into the jobs without them being posted to the public.

I guess I'll call the state to see if keeping both licenses is allowed.

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