Wages

Yes most companys pay 2 to 1; for every 2 yrs you have been a LPN/LVN you will get 1 yrs credit for eperience.

Depends. Per the union agreement at the hospital I'm starting at I won't get any credit for my 2.5 years LPN and 0.5 years RN experience. Oh well. I'm still going to make way more $$$, especially when considering the difference in health insurance costs.

depends on employer, but my hospital does pay for LVN experience for new RN

The acute care hospitals I have worked at("regular hospitals") don't give any credit for LPN years of experience. The nurse could be an LPN for many years but when that person gets their RN, they start over at the beginning of the RN scale. For some this is a paycut! The LTACHs I have worked at give 2:1 or 1:1 for experience. The LTC I was briefly at was also 2:1. The LTACH I am currently working uses LPNs and the one I have on my team is absolutely awesome. He knows more than the newer RNs. I keep pushing him to get his RN. Not because he is an "LPN" but because he is so knowledgable in this population(vents) he should get the compensation of an RN that he is mostly already performing. If LPNs wait many years, it seems they will start at a lower base pay then the top of their LPN. Frankly, with the population we deal with, get paid the most you can get. So I do keep pushing him!

Unless the same place you work as an LPN keeps you as an RN once you have that license, I wouldn't count on it. You don't usually get credit for time served unless it was served in house.

I am graduating in May- LPN for 8.5 years and at most of the places I have contacted- HR says it is 2:1.

I think it depends on the facility. The one that I got hired at did not make a wage difference, but it did help me get the job. Competition is fierce in California and it made the difference for me.