What are your opinions Re: getting into nursing?

tickledsilly · Jul 7, 2007

anybody?

lol!

miss rochelle · Jul 7, 2007

haha, i guess i'll tackle this one.

going to LPN school and then RN school is totally YOUR choice. if you think it's the best for you, then do it. a community college usually offers a bridge option for LPNs to continue onto RN school. you would still need to complete the same pre-requisites as a pre-RN student.

imo, the benefit of being an LPN first is pretty much the experience you gain working as one. plus, schooling is shorter. it takes about 1.5 to 2 years to complete RN pre-requisites, whereas, i believe with LPN school you go directly into your LPN training -- unless you don't do well on the entrance exam, at my school they use the TEAS for LPNs. they will put you in remedial classes for reading and such if you don't do well on the TEAS.

another benefit is that your place of employment may fund your RN schooling.

anyway, i thought of doing the LPN-RN route, but decided to just dive into RN school. it took me 1.5 years to complete pre-requisites and now i will be starting RN school in the fall.

:)

centralflorida · Jul 9, 2007

I am planning on going to an LPN program, and then, when I get my license - (she says optimisticaly) taking an LPN to RN bridge program online, probably through Excelsior. My understanding is that I could work at least a few shifts a week if I do the online program - if I could just find a place where I can work as an LPN three 12 hur shifts and have that be considered full time that would be fantastic. I'm doing it this way because if I take the two year RN program I won't be able to work for two years straight and that would be very hard for me to afford.

However, I still have to take all the pre-reqs for the RN program. I've taken a few, plan to take some this year while saving up money, and then I hope to start an LPN program next summer.

tickledsilly · Jul 10, 2007

I guess I will start on some pre-reqs - my son's pediatrician suggested that I get those classes done online. My Dad asked me to please go straight to the RN program because he's affraid that I'll end up not following through. Smart thinking on his part... It really doesn't matter how long it takes me - as long as I stay focused and just DO IT! The final outcome is what is important.

Thanks for posting your opinions!

Kelly

centralflorida · Jul 10, 2007

Most of the pre-reqs seem to be available online - however I am pretty sure that Anatomy & Physiology I and II must be taken in the classroom.

As for LPN vs. RN pay - I'm in Florida and when I recently asked that question it seems like LPNs only start out at about 12 an hour and with experience, working night shifts (shift differential) and weekends, etc. can make at most 18 or 19 an hour. RNs seem to start around 20 to 24 an hour for base pay. And Florida is on the low side. Then again all the places where nurses make way more an hour - like California, New York, New Jersey - also have much more expensive housing.

As for private school versus community college or public universities - the private schools that I found in Central Florida cost $35,000 to $46,000 for an RN degree but you can get in pretty quickly. The public schools cost about $4000 for an LPN and $10,000 for an RN - but it can take two or three years to get in because of the long waiting lists.

Galen, a private school in St. Petersburg, is about $17,000 for the LPN.

tickledsilly · Jul 11, 2007

THANKS! Great information Central FL!!!!!

I'd prefer to go to the private school if I could just to get it done but.... we'll see what I can do.

Do you have to have your pre-reqs done before you can enroll in the RN program? I just need to take a day and go to Valencia to check them out for starters.

Thanks again!

Kelly

centralflorida · Jul 12, 2007

Here is what I found from searching for programs in Lakeland, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and a few in Orlando:

LPN programs do NOT require the pre-reqs, and take about a year (full-time) to 18 months (evenings - part-time). But the LPN pay is not great. If you get your LPN license and then want to go to school for one more year, plenty of places have LPN to RN bridge programs. BUT - you have to take your pre-reqs for that, just as you would if you were to go to a two year RN program.

Every public-school (community college or state college) two-year RN program that I checked with said that I had to have my pre-reqs finished before I could even apply - (and get good grades in them) and then I might have to wait anywhere from one to three years on a waiting list to get in, and some of them didn't even have waiting lists, they have hundreds of people competing for anywhere from 25 to 60 slots, and if you don't get in, oh well - try again next year.

That's why people are doing things like paying $36,000 to $46,000 to go to places like Galen, Keiser, or FMU. Because you can get in much faster and also, those three places offer the pre-reqs as part of the curriculum, rather than making you take them first like the public colleges do. BUT - and this is important - all of those pre-reqs that you take at Galen, Keiser and FMU are not transferrable to most other schools. If you were to go for a higher degree like a master's degree you might well have to retake them at a regular university. But if you're never going for a higher degree that may not matter to you.

Also, if you get sick in the middle of the program at Galen and Keiser and FMU and have to drop out, my understanding is you have to retake the entire program.

And you still owe them the tuition.

tickledsilly · Jul 12, 2007

Central FL - Thank you AGAIN for the awesome information! Have you started school yet? Where in Central FL do you live? Have you done any pre-reqs yet? Thanks! kELLY

centralflorida · Jul 13, 2007

I am in Lakeland, which is kind of a pain because there are more programs available in bigger cities like St. Petersburg and Tampa and Orlando. I have already taken psychology and A&P I at a community college - and those classes are transferrable to just about anywhere. I have a bachelor's degree that I got many years ago, so I can get out of at least a couple of pre-reqs with that - sociology and college-level English, anyway.

As far as I can tell, at a bare minimum, I still need microbiology, A&P II, possibly college level algebra, nutrition, and human growth and development, before I can get an RN degree.