RPN or RN?

loriangel14, RN · Feb 5, 2012

You could go for your RPN and then bridge to RN afterwards.

BosRMT · Feb 6, 2012

You could always accept Sheridan and apply to York, and if you get accepted to York, you could switch? And as said above you could bridge afterwards to become an RN, which is three years.

Newgrad_STAT · Feb 6, 2012

I personally would just go straight to the BScN program and not bother with the practical nursing route.

There are wayyy more job opportunities for RNs and there's so many things you can do with your degree.

There's probably 1 RPN job for every 5 RN jobs at the hospital.

It's hard to find a decent position any where but I think the best route is definitely doing your BScN. Way more choices in the end

loriangel14, RN · Feb 6, 2012

It will depend on where you are looking for a job as well.The hospital that I work at has far more RPN jobs than RN jobs.

giveface · Feb 6, 2012

as someone who recently graduated with his BScN in Ontario an is a working RN I can say with honesty its not the greatest thing out there. You are still overworked and underpaid and underappreciated. I recommend everyone try RPN first, less time, money an effort but you still get to be a nurse. As for all the "options" the BScN gives you, IMO not enough really.

saints · Feb 7, 2012

thank you, I really appreciate your honesty. I'll have to talk to admissions at York tomorrow about my chances of being admitted this september. Have you started working yet? How do enjoy it so far? are you able to use your full scope of knowledge ?

giveface · Feb 7, 2012

I'm not sure if you're asking me saints but I'll reply. I have started working in the same hospital I worked at in an unregulated role before graduating. I am already part time and was actually offered full time permanent at the end of my new grad. This was only due to several older RNs retiring when I came on board and that this hospital has a very poor staff satisfaction record (meaning no sane nurse who knows this wants to work there). Yesterday I went on stress leave just from volume of workload. It is a ++ busy med/surg floor with a heavy complete care psychogeriatric patient population. Add to this we have no health care aides anymore (administration eliminated them last September) and no porters. Anyways, more than just a little disillusioned with bedside nursing right now and I have no office job waiting for me even with my fancy BScN degree magna cum laude. I hope this all gives you a little real world perspective. Granted these could just be my experiences at a crappy facility but I don't think this should be allowed to go on in a country like Canada.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Feb 8, 2012

It's up to you, but I would go for your RN if you have the time and you can afford it. The RPN role is very similar in scope now to the RN role, but their wage isn't reflecting this IMO. Also, should you decide you want to do travel nursing down the road, you need to be an RN.

saints · Feb 8, 2012

Thank you for your reply Joanna73. I actuallydo plan to travel eventually andworkoutside of Canada. One of the resons im considering the RPN position as opposed to the RN position is because i feel like its taking forever for me to progress and reach my goal of becoming an RN. Im 20 so one extra year of dedicated to upgrading my marks isnt a big deal, im just trading a sure thing for unsure at this point . i wont know whether ive been accepted to York until may-june, which is what makes my situation so frustrating.

Fiona59 · Feb 9, 2012

I'd probably say do the PN diploma and then be able to decide if nursing is for you. I've worked with many BScNs who've told me they'd love to leave nursing but they still have student loans to payback.

One route to consider if you want to work outside of Canada is the ORTech or Ortho Tech specialty tags. Both have gone on overseas mission type projects from my hospital.

As Joanna has stated the wage disparity between RNs and LPNs is a huge bone of contention to working nurses. It's primarily down to the fact that (at least in my province) the RNs unions bargain hard and fast and mount campaigns about how only RNs can provide quality care and basically intimidate the public into buying it. These are the same patients who when they arrive in Acute Care for their surgeries are amazed to find out they will be cared for by LPNs. The sad reality is the RNs bargaining tactics may finally be pricing a lot of them out of the jobforce.

Ottawavalleynursing · Feb 9, 2012

I think you have decide how long you want to study and how much you want it. I personally went into the RPN route because I had a family and didn't want to do the 4 year program. There were financial constraints that I was facing, so that was the right decision for me. I wanted to finish faster and start working faster. I also don't think there are 5 RN jobs for every 1 RPN. Where I work, they are changing the standard of care, and lots of RN jobs are being converted into RPN jobs. I'm not telling you to do the RPN program, I'm just saying you have to look at your personal situation. I'm personally planning on doing the bridging program, so eventually it is my goal to become an RN. Perhaps applying to other Universities such as Ryerson or U of T may be the answer.