The infamous question, LPN or RN?

[Irr3k]

Hey everyone,

I am a 26 year old veterinary technician, and the last year I've really wanted to get into the human side of medicine. I am attending school right now for my pre-requisites but by the time I am able to apply for the RN program, I will be 28. I will be graduating at 30, and I don't know how I will be able to handle this financially. (Vet techs do not make much money at all.)

I was debating going down the LPN route, and then eventually doing a bridge program. My end goal is to become an RN no matter what, but is this a waste of time? I'm concerned about not being financially stable until I'm 30 years old.

[Sour Lemon]

If RN is your ultimate goal, push through and do it now.

[caliotter3]

Many plan to continue on to RN school, but you know what they say about the plans of mice and men. Don't start out with the LPN plan unless you truly believe you could be satisfied going no further.

[forevernursem]

If you want to be an RN, then don't waste your time and money becoming an LPN first. Go straight and get your ADN or BSN.

[Neo Soldier, BSN, RN]

Going the LPN route is just an added step and more time wasted. The only time I recommend the LPN route is when a person absolutely needs to go through that route: GPA, need to make money immediately, heavy competition (in which a person would apply to both the RN and LPN to get in somewhere).

If you go through a community college, you will need less classes to be eligible for the program.

And yes, it's frustrating to feel like you're not quite where you want to be and I truly understand that feeling. Once you're done and have your career, your age (still pretty young :)) will not even matter.

[jillybean1126]

I got my LPN in 2013 and my RN in 2018 and I do not regret the path I chose. Depending on the school you do not need prerequisites to begin the program. I got my LPN in one year and I paid in full for the program. My program was about $9k for the year. I always knew I wanted to ultimately end up with my RN so once I finished the LPN program I began working full time making 55-60k a year. Having that income over my CNA annual income of a whopping 30k a year made it much more feasible to start my prerequisites. I took a little longer than I wanted to but overall I felt confident in the skills I had developed as an LPN, making my RN schooling much easier. Some people may argue this but I have found and heard many other nurses say this as well, the LPNs get a lot more clinical time and tend to get more hands on experience in school than in the RN programs. I have found that to be extremely true in my schooling and I am grateful I chose the path I did. I ultimately saved money by going that route as well because the LPN is cheaper (depending where you go) than the year you get to "skip" as an RN. honestly it was my pre reqs that took so long. I was only in nursing classes for two semesters. So i did the LPN for 10 months, took prerequisites at my own pace, then did one year of a nursing class. That path was right for me, everyone is different. Best of luck in whichever en devour you decide on!

[Possum_RN]

Hey there! first off, I just finished my associate's degree of nursing and found out I passed the NCLEX yesterday - I'm 29 years old. I was by no means the youngest in my program - the oldest in my class was in her early 50's.

I got my CNA licensure first, to get a taste of LTC / hospital culture (worked about 2 1/2 years in each). I feel it gave me good exposure to client care, workplace culture, and all those good things - and it only took a few months and well under $1000 to complete. With that, I was able to get a job with a hospital that paid CNA's pursuing nursing degrees an extra $3 an hour - so as a night-shift-weekend-nursing student CNA, I was making $18/hr. Midway though the nursing program, I was able to apply and get my CNAII, which bumped up my pay grade more. Very good for my area in the rural South!

The company I work for later started a new position: CNA trainee. They pay minimum wage for you to attend classes, cover all costs of the program, and pay you to come in and shadow their CNAs. After you get your licensure, you have to work for them for one year, or pay back whatever is left on your tab. Perhaps you should look into some of the hospitals near you and see if there is anything similar? I'd think you'd make a great candidate, with your experience in the medical field, even if it's not human medicine.

They hire ADN's at the hospital, but require you to go back and obtain your BSN within two years of hire - and they have a similar program to help you pay for that too. There are SO MANY routes to get that RN next to your name: some are more direct than others, but there are many success stories in each. You can do it!