Thinking like an RN

[MelissaLPN]

Hey guys. I am anxiously awaiting my acceptance letter to nursing school ( God willing it will be here next week!). I am pursuing a traditional 2 year ADN but I have been an LPN for the past 3 years. I had to repeat every single prereq because I took diploma level instead of degree level the first time around. Having done both sets of prereqs I can now see a huge difference in the preparation for nursing school. I often wish I had taken degree level the first time around because I wish I had known the a&p to this level of education. My question to you LPN-RN students is what should I expect in RN school? How is the knowledge different? How to change my thinking to the RN level. I work in long term care so in some respects I work very independently, doing my own assessments and act on my information independently ( ie call the MD with my findings). But having just the prereqs as a guide I know I am in for a huge difference in nursing school. What were some of the big differences you found? What surprised you the most about the lpn vs rn? What advice would you give an LPN to transition to the RN role? Thanks again guys!

[passredskins1]

let me just add that the main difference i have seen btw lpn and rn is for the lpn program...you were taught something but it wasnt indepth...for the rn...they made you critically think as to why a disease is causing something....RN program was more critically thinking where as my lpn program focused on technical stuff....that was the main difference for me. Even my supervisor at work saw a change in me as i was going to rn school b/c my critical thinking skills improved...

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

To me there isn't much difference. We actually went more in depth about some disease processes more in LPN school than RN school. Both programs required us to use critical thinking. The first year of RN school is the LPN program plus one additional summer course. So not much difference for me. Still have to study hard and work hard. Good luck !

[waaiting]

Good Evening! I am actually in a bridge program as we speak and it is very different than the LPN program. I took my LPN at a technical school and so I had to redo all my prereqs, which i am so thankful for. The reason I say this is because the LPN courses were so brief. All the RN courses including the pre-reqs are very in depth. All of the thinking and assessments are on a way different level. LPN is very brief and it doesn't dig deep as to where an RN digs the deepest and has to know all the ins and outs. I am in a very hard program. We started with 110 and we are now down to 53 in our classes. Everything is NCLEX style. All of our quizzes/tests. You will definitely benefit from the program. We had a chance to challenge some classes but I took them all and I am sooo thankful I did because I would be so lost right now if I chose to opt out of those classes. The classes I could have opted out of were: Medical term, Dosage and calc., Nursing fundamentals I and II. If you are already an LPN then you will know some stuff that will help you along the way but it won't be a breeze for you. I struggle sometimes and I don't know how some people do it and have never had healthcare experience. So you will have a benefit a little bit but still it's very different then what we are used to doing. You will do great thought if you just put your mind to it and you really want it, then you will be successful. An honestly i know you asked to compare the LPN to the RN program and honestly all I can say is that it's like starting the nursing profession fresh off the street with only a little bit of knowledge. When you get into disease processes it's more indepth and more information that you need to know. You need to know what the disease is, how it presents, pathophys, clinical manifestations, interventions and collaborative care and how is it treated for each disease. It is definitely doable it's just alot more studying and alot more time consuming but definitely worth it in the end! I hope this helps some and I hope that you get into the program and I know this reply is late but I wanted to let you know that you will be such a better nurse if you repeat those pre reqs and dont opt out of any classes. i know that i've worked in an office since i've gotten my LPN and I have lost alot of skills and the skills lab/clinical experience has helped me gain alot of those skills back. Good Luck in all you do! Keep in touch. I'd love to see how it goes for you!

Kelly R.

Hi Kelly, i have just one question. When you stated that your class started with 110 and then down to 53... After how far in the class did these people gone, or was it right off the beginning of the class that they dropped/failed? This is just for me to get an idea how to survive the class when it comes to me... Thanks. :)