RPN vs RN

[smiles_x]

I was wondering what your thoughts are.

When I graduated high school I enrolled in the nursing program and had to discontinue my studies because of the difficulty of the program and unfortunately not so great studying habits. Now, 4 years later I have made the decision to enrol back into nursing however I'm unsure weather I should go for the 2 year or 4 year program?

Will the first 2 years of both programs be at the same difficulty level?

Is the RN profession a much better outcome as oppose to the RPN profession?

Is it worth spending 2 years studying RPN when those two years can be put towards RN studies? Would you apply for the nursing practitioner program or the RN program and why?

As you can see I'm in a lot of doubt and any help would be great.

Thanks

[vintage_RN, BSN, RN]

I'm doing my clinical rotation on an adult medical unit right now and there's very little difference. I honestly don't know who is an RN or RPN unless I ask. The only differences I've seen is that there is an observation/step down room and they only assign RN's to that room...all the pts in there are hooked up to tele and monitors. But other than that I see no difference, and everyone works together...there is no "hierarchy" or attitudes...except by the new grad RN's that get hired on the unit...and they get told real fast to get off their high horse!

I've given meds/flushed/drawn blood through PICC lines. I work alongside an RPN every week who has assessed and flushed central lines, hung all IV meds, hung all blood products, done everything with the PICCs, drawn blood, started IVs...and the list goes on.

I've been on other units though that are very restrictive. My rotation last semester didn't even let RPN's hang IV fluids...and this was in the same hospital system...

[aywl]

Exactly like VIN said, even in the same hospital, different units have huge difference, I am looking for the unit where LPN has full scope practices.

[CodeteamB]

Exactly like VIN said, even in the same hospital, different units have huge difference, I am looking for the unit where LPN has full scope practices.

There are many of these in both Edmonton and Calgary. I worked on a unit where LPNs were full scope. I will caution you, however, to ask lots of questions about the education you will receive if you move to one of these units. I can tell you that the move to full scope on some units was not done as a favour to LPNs and not implemented in a way that met their interests.

Many of the LPNs I worked with when we went full scope felt they did not receive enough education or support, felt unsafe with their new responsibilities and made some unfortunate errors. This is unnecessary, but if you are going to make this transition make sure you advocate for yourself

[aywl]

I witnessed New RN made tons a mistakes also; the reason I want to move to full scope just because our unit DON'T need LPN;

[CodeteamB]

I witnessed New RN made tons a mistakes also; the reason I want to move to full scope just because our unit DON'T need LPN;

The point of my post was not who does and doesn't make mistakes or to discourage you from making a change, rather some friendly advice to get the best opportunity you can. You have to look out for yourself and make sure you are getting what you need to practice safely.

As I pointed out, on my unit the transition to full scope was for one purpose only, to increase the ratio of LPN to RN staff. It was done without the input of LPNs and in my opinion they did not supply adequate education and support. The goal was not to provide further opportunities for LPNs but to save money. Something to think about and a good thing to be aware of when you are interviewing.

[aywl]

The point of my post was not who does and doesn't make mistakes or to discourage you from making a change, rather some friendly advice to get the best opportunity you can. You have to look out for yourself and make sure you are getting what you need to practice safely.

As I pointed out, on my unit the transition to full scope was for one purpose only, to increase the ratio of LPN to RN staff. It was done without the input of LPNs and in my opinion they did not supply adequate education and support. The goal was not to provide further opportunities for LPNs but to save money. Something to think about and a good thing to be aware of when you are interviewing.

Thanks for your kind reminding;

[lisajtrn]

This is very true. I worked on a floor with many RPN's who were not prepared to do what was expected of them, felt unsafe and were quite frankly putting their license on the line every shift they worked. Some asked for more education and some did not. We went from RN's doing pretty much everything and RPN's providing basic care and doing vital signs to RPN's doing darn near everything that the RN's were doing. Now you have to remember that some of the more senior RPN"s went to school when they were expected to do no more than basic care and vitals. With minimal education in the form of inservices they were expected to do just about everything that the RN"s who had gone to school for a few years to learn and practice. We, the RN" s were expected to take over the care of any patients who became unstable or were more complex, but the RPN"s needed to have the assessment skills to acknowledge that something was beyond their scope and hand off the patient to the RN. This wasn't always the case. I myself was a RPN and went to school at a time when I learned to administer medications and care for IV"s.

Make sure you are comfortable in what you are doing and have the knowledge base to do it. Quite often new grads RN & RPN think they have the knowledge to do anything. Do not forget that years of experience, be it as RN or RPN, is the best education anyone can get