Stupid question about designations?

I am not a nursing student yet -- but would love to be. My question for you professionals out there is this: what are the differences and "hierarchy" of the different designations of nurses? I see LPN, ADN, RN, BSN, MSN, etc. tossed around, but I have no idea what many of them are or how they differ from the others.

An LPN has less schooling than an RN. She generally has one year of nursing schooling. After that one year, she is eligible to take the NCLEX-PN exam, and upon passing, is an LPN (licensed practical nurse - also referred to as LVN - licensed vocational nurse).

An ADN is an associate's degree in nursing, given by community colleges. A BSN is a bachelor's degree in nursing, given by a university. An ADN is generally called a "2 year program" and a BSN is called a "4 year program" but in actual practice, it's almost impossible to finish an ADN program in under 3 years. Both an ADN graduate and a BSN graduate are eligible to take the NCLEX-RN exam, and upon passing, is an RN.

An MSN is a Master's degree in nursing.

HTH

If you already have a Bachelor's degree in some other field, a lot of universities offer accelerated BSN programs, where you can get a BSN in 2-3 years, instead of the traditional 4.

Here's some more general information about nursing:

http://www.choosenursing.com/faqs/what.html

http://nursing.about.com/cs/aboutnursing/a/aahownurse.htm

the diff levels usually mean you can do diff things. like around where i am, if you want supervisory/mgt positions, you have to have your BSN or higher. teaching is more ect.. you should be able to find stuff in an online search. or even email the school

-H-