Talk about having your feelings hurt!!

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 15, 2007

"I'd get more experience on the floor. There will always be an ADON position. The fact that they have an LPN (no offense) currently in the position speaks volumes. They need a warm body.
Also, think about your career. If you're starting as an ADON, what's next? If you want to get back to the floor, this might work against you."
I thought this was an interesting comment to someone who was asking advice about becoming a ADON at a LTC facility on another thread. We all contribute to this big profession of nursing but yet as this person stated we're merely warm bodies. I was very offended, when will it ever stop? Help me to understand why people make it so hard for me to be proud of being a LPN.

I think that it is because value seems to be placed on those that have more education. It is funny, because the more that I see in nursing, the more I know that I will not become an RN. I am not envious of them; I see more aggreviation in my life if I became one. I am a bit lost in what was being spoken about in your quote, so, please elaborate a bit more.

For me, I discovered that I had to place my own value in my achievement to become an LPN. I always walked to my own drummer's beat, so, it may be easier for me than it may be for most people. The way I deal with those that believe that LPNs are not qualified nurses under our scope of practice is to be sure that they get saddled with all of that aggreviation. I have had some nurses that I have told them "I am only an LPN, so YOU deal with it". They have made my life easier by dealing with the things that I clearly don't want to be bothered with.

I understand how you feel, because even I get hurt and offended when comments set me off at the wrong moment. But, I shrug it off because I am proud of ME. I chatted with a CNA a few weeks ago and she told me that she is proud of her own accomplishments. She felt that she does a good job (she IS excellent) and has all of the things she wanted in her life. When she shared her past, I had to have admiration for her. Think about those things for yourself. You did accomplish a great feat. There are many who wish that they were YOU and wish to be LPNs. Think of the patients that thanked you, even other LPNs and RNs that may have appreciated you. I am sure that you made many positive contributions to nursing as an LPN.

kstec, LPN · Jul 15, 2007

pagendeva2000

This is the thread I was speaking of: The response is in bold and quotations

Here is the situation. Tell me what u think.

I had some trouble with nclex. Took a few attempts to pass. Was a PCA 2 for about 10 months after graduation. Worked on a busy med/surg floor (diabetes/gi) on night shift.

Now, I have transferred to more of a surgical floor as a nurse. I had 3 weeks orientation on days (to get to know orders/surgeons) and then 3 weeks on nights. I start Monday as my first night on my own. (will be working nights full time).

Anyway, here is the situation.

My husband (works for EMS) told me about this nursing home that he takes pt's to that has an opening for ADON (asst. director of nursing) for this nursing home. It has about 95-100 residents. I would be in charge of staffing, falls managment, care plans, weekly meetings with different departments, overseeing care by LPN's and CNA's, and risk management.,etc. So it would be a management type job. They have 6 doctors total. I would do alternating weeks of call. My husband has never had issues with anyone at the facility and says everyone is nice. Also, there is a hospital literally within walking distance and is about 1 min. away if anything happened.

My question is would u take the ADON position or stay on the floor?

*Granted, they know my background (new nurse, PCA experience), they would be more than willing to work with me, and currently an LPN is acting as ADON.

I went to the facility and met the DON, workers, and residents. They basically offered me the position.

I feel that I am not ready for that and am leaning toward not taking it. I would feel bad for the people at my current job bc they invested so much time to orient me for 6 weeks just to throw it away. Also, I feel as if they are just trying to fill the opening and not nec. thinking of me and my license. Also, I kinda feel like I maybe need to get my skills, confidence, time management/prioritizing down,etc.

I am going to think about it a little more ..but I am going to call them on Monday with my decision.

SO...what would u do?

"I'd get more experience on the floor. There will always be an ADON position. The fact that they have an LPN (no offense) currently in the position speaks volumes. They need a warm body.

Also, think about your career. If you're starting as an ADON, what's next? If you want to get back to the floor, this might work against you"

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 15, 2007

pagendeva2000
this is the thread i was speaking of: the response is in bold and quotations
here is the situation. tell me what u think.

i had some trouble with nclex. took a few attempts to pass. was a pca 2 for about 10 months after graduation. worked on a busy med/surg floor (diabetes/gi) on night shift.
now, i have transferred to more of a surgical floor as a nurse. i had 3 weeks orientation on days (to get to know orders/surgeons) and then 3 weeks on nights. i start monday as my first night on my own. (will be working nights full time).

anyway, here is the situation.

my husband (works for ems) told me about this nursing home that he takes pt's to that has an opening for adon (asst. director of nursing) for this nursing home. it has about 95-100 residents. i would be in charge of staffing, falls managment, care plans, weekly meetings with different departments, overseeing care by lpn's and cna's, and risk management.,etc. so it would be a management type job. they have 6 doctors total. i would do alternating weeks of call. my husband has never had issues with anyone at the facility and says everyone is nice. also, there is a hospital literally within walking distance and is about 1 min. away if anything happened.

my question is would u take the adon position or stay on the floor?

*granted, they know my background (new nurse, pca experience), they would be more than willing to work with me, and currently an lpn is acting as adon.

i went to the facility and met the don, workers, and residents. they basically offered me the position.

i feel that i am not ready for that and am leaning toward not taking it. i would feel bad for the people at my current job bc they invested so much time to orient me for 6 weeks just to throw it away. also, i feel as if they are just trying to fill the opening and not nec. thinking of me and my license. also, i kinda feel like i maybe need to get my skills, confidence, time management/prioritizing down,etc.

i am going to think about it a little more ..but i am going to call them on monday with my decision.

so...what would u do?
"i'd get more experience on the floor. there will always be an adon position. the fact that they have an lpn (no offense) currently in the position speaks volumes. they need a warm body.

also, think about your career. if you're starting as an adon, what's next? if you want to get back to the floor, this might work against you"

okay...how i would have taken that is this; it may be very true, that an lpn in such a position may really be because they have no one else. this is just me, but i do think that a higher educated nurse should be an assistant director of nursing. this is my reasoning of why; she may be underpaid as an adon because she is an lpn. if there is no rn available to take the position, i would in fact, question why?? i'd wonder where the rns ran off to, that they didn't take this opportunity for themselves!

also, unless the lpn has years and years of experience (and even then, i wouldn't be so quick to jump on it), the scope of practice doesn't effectively describe to me why an lpn would be offered such as assignment. this is just my take on it, mind you. other lpns here may feel that they should. my education as an lpn did not entail such detail. this is not saying that lpns are not capable of such responsibility, however, i would not take on such a task without highly entailed management training.

keep in mind, though, that i am just one person. i chose lpn because i wanted very little to do with management decisions and only wanted to deal with more stable clients and situations, so, my thinking is different. from what i see, this wasn't a comment made to demean lpns. it seemed to be more of a question of what is wrong with this facility that there wasn't an rn available to take the job. i would have questions about this, myself.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 15, 2007

Oh, and P.S...thanks for the clarity.

star2nite2000 · Jul 15, 2007

Everywhere I have worked they have always had an LPN in the position of ADON. You just have to do what you feel is best for you. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2007

One thing the responder is saying is that he/she is agreeing with the op that they are merely looking for a warm body.

The other thing is perhaps they don't understand the ADON role in LTC. When most of us here ADON, we automatically think this is a role for the RN. This person obviously doesn't understand LTC.

I can see how you would be offended and find it disrespectful.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 15, 2007

One thing the responder is saying is that he/she is agreeing with the op that they are merely looking for a warm body.
The other thing is perhaps they don't understand the ADON role in LTC. When most of us here ADON, we automatically think this is a role for the RN. This person obviously doesn't understand LTC.
I can see how you would be offended and find it disrespectful.

An LPN being an ADON anywhere is totally new to me; so, I have to look at things from another perspective. I didn't see it as possible because I would view it as being underpaid for a heavy responsibility, and would wonder why an RN wasn't offered that position. I guess part of thinking this way is because I work in a hospital and also, when I did work nursing homes here in NYC as an aide, I never saw an LPN being more than a charge nurse. Thanks for the clarity, and this sort of changes how I would have responded.

Ktec, maybe I answered too soon? Sorry about that...

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 15, 2007

Everywhere I have worked they have always had an LPN in the position of ADON. You just have to do what you feel is best for you. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

This concept is SO NEW to me; I have never seen an LPN be more than a charge nurse in LTC in my area. I really should have waited a minute before I actually went into a tanget to learn a bit more.

FireStarterRN, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2007

I think it's a sign of insecurity when RN's denigrate LPNs, similar to when BSN's look down on ADN's.

As far is the other thread, actually the opposite is true: There will always be another staff nurse job, but not always an opportunity to become an ADON. Some of the best nurses I know are LPN's btw.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 15, 2007

It is disrepectful to look down upon people who have a lower job title than themselves, I believe. We each have talents to contribute to the medical profession. What I do think, though is that we each have to look to ourselves for validation first. We'll never be able to keep up with the Jonese materialistically or scholasitally. For some, LPN may be as far as they can go in life due to finance, life circumstance or being unable to compete to get into RN programs. Those are the cases, to me, where the person has to look to themselves and see what they contribute to nursing in a positive manner.

kstec, LPN · Jul 16, 2007

To clarify the job of a LPN being a ADON, in regards to my LTC facility. Her job consists of doing CNA hiring, firing, CNA orientation, CNA scheduling, and doing inservices to inform all staff appropriate ways to perform things (hoyer, 1 assist, 2 assist, decub care, etc.) I don't know what else she does but I know she keeps busy and from what I've gathered she does nothing out of a LPN's scope of practice. So I don't know why a LPN couldn't be an ADON. She's been doing it for 7 years and doing a great job. I don't think it's a matter of being a LPN as a ADON but rather who of all nurses is willing to be on call 24/7 every third week and whenever else your needed. The whole point of this thread was to just make acknowledgement that we all play a role and if you feel confortable with your job and are knowledgable, I don't understand what the big deal is. I of course do not promote doing anything you are not comfortable with or out of your scope of practice but not all nursing jobs are for RN's only. P.S. AND JUST BECAUSE I'M STILL IRRITATED "I'M NOT JUST A WARM BODY." Thanks to all who had positive comments to make in regards to this thread.