When is it my turn to get hired as an RN at my work??

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2005

You're right. You shouldn't have to fight for an RN job in a place where you have worked for 5 years. That is a real slap in the face. I wouldn't want to work there after being treated like that. I'd go job hunting for an RN job at other hospitals. Time to move on. Go where you will be appreciated. Anyway, once you have your RN, don't you have to surrender your LVN license? I thought most states didn't allow dual licensure.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Dec 18, 2005

Let me get this straight: you completed an RN program, passed NCLEX and hold an RN license in your state?

But you are still employed in LPN position?

Once you obtain RN licensure you are held to the standard of an RN (even as new grad ) and should be signing your chart documents as such. This has legal implication for your facility. I'd seek an appointment with HR, no satisfaction then risk management.

What are they waiting for loosing time to educate a valuable staff member with longevity??? If no change in near future, start looking elsewhere.

cndynf · Dec 18, 2005

Hello again,

Thanks for your reply. Well, here in California. I am still a LVN, until I am "hired" as a RN. I still put lvn after my name whenever I chart, eventhough I hold a RN license. Where I am right now is I think as an RN, I use my critical thinking skills everyday at work. The hard part is I have to be careful and not step over the line because I am still a LVN (working under a teamleader RN).

cndynf · Dec 18, 2005

Hello again,

Thanks for your reply. Well, here in California. I am still a LVN, until I am "hired" as a RN. I still put lvn after my name whenever I chart, eventhough I hold a RN license. Where I am right now is I think as an RN, I use my critical thinking skills everyday at work. The hard part is I have to be careful and not step over the line because I am still a LVN (working under a teamleader RN). I have to check with risk management about this because personnel and human resources dept. can't help me.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Dec 18, 2005

an rn license supercedes that of an lpn in all states. same as when i went from lpn to rn in 1982. they might have you functioning in an lpn role, with change team leader rn but you are still an rn.

from ca regulations:

2732. licensure requirement; use of “r.n.” (return to table of contents)

no person shall engage in the practice of nursing, as defined in section 2725, without holding a license which is in an active status issued under this chapter except as otherwise provided in this act. every licensee may be known as a registered nurse and may place the letters “r.n.” after his name.

http://www.rn.ca.gov/npa/b-p.htm#2725

JentheRN05, RN · Dec 18, 2005

Alright, this is the dumbest thing I think I have ever heard! You ARE an RN. You cannot practice as an LPN/LVN anymore, you are ABOVE that! What in the WORLD is this place thinking? You should automatically be simply switched from LPN/LVN title to RN you should not HAVE to interview for a position you are entitled to! Get the heck out of there, and find a place of employment that actually honors what you have went through to become an RN. I would put in my 2 weeks notice yesterday and start a job hunt for some place that appreciates the work you put in to put those initials behind your name!!

Congratulations on going further, you deserve better than having an 'interview' at your place of employment. This completely :angryfire my butt!

catlady, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2005

Hello again,
Thanks for your reply. Well, here in California. I am still a LVN, until I am "hired" as a RN. I still put lvn after my name whenever I chart, eventhough I hold a RN license. Where I am right now is I think as an RN, I use my critical thinking skills everyday at work. The hard part is I have to be careful and not step over the line because I am still a LVN (working under a teamleader RN). I have to check with risk management about this because personnel and human resources dept. can't help me.

Being hired as an RN isn't what makes you an RN. The minute you passed your boards and received your license is the moment you became an RN. Whether your facility chooses to pay you or recognize you in that capacity doesn't take away your licensure. There is no line. You are an RN.

I once worked pool in a facility where some of my former LPN nursing students had been employed as CNAs. As soon as they passed their boards, they were no longer permitted to work as CNAs, even had they wanted to.

Your employer is getting away with having an RN work for LPN pay. You are NOT NOT NOT an LPN/LVN. If your hospital HR and risk management don't know this, then you work for a very dumb or a very crafty hospital...neither of which I'd want to be associated with. I agree with the previous poster who suggested that if you have to interview, you should probably be doing it somewhere else.

sharann, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2005

Congrats and time to move on. I would give my notice. 2 weeks. In California(me too) you will be snapped up in a second especially with your valuable LVN experience. What they are doing is unconscionable.

cndynf · Dec 18, 2005

Thanks for all your replies. Sorry for not elaborating further on what's going on with my situation:

My first instinct was of course to get the hell out of that county hospital. I was the "guinea pig" from what the DON said after she realized that changing the new graduate hiring process was a mistake this '05; She did apologized to me and she said for me to just wait and I will eventually get a position. In my case, I somehow fell between the cracks of the "new graduate" system. Since they messed up on not getting me in the program, the DON gave me an opportunity to go ahead and bid for an entry level RN, and to just wait for a position to open, which she said will eventually happen. Right now, this is what I have to go through: the position will be posted first for an advance level/ experience level, then if none of them takes the position for 5 days, it is now offered to an entry level RN. The new grad nurses that were already working on the floor(from what the nurse mgr. is saying) has a contract for only 6 more months and it's only a temporary position. After the 6 mos, they will have to bid for a permanent position. Right now, I am recently offered a position which I can refuse or take which will start at the end of Jan.

When the 12 months new grad program started last July, I did started looking around other hospitals. The only reason why I am still here is because of the county's Retirement package which I invested 5 years on. I did have a lot of support from my fellow co-workers who helped me in reversing the new grad program to how it should be again.

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 18, 2005

Let me get this straight: you completed an RN program, passed NCLEX and hold an RN license in your state?
But you are still employed in LPN position?
Once you obtain RN licensure you are held to the standard of an RN (even as new grad ) and should be signing your chart documents as such. This has legal implication for your facility. I'd seek an appointment with HR, no satisfaction then risk management.
What are they waiting for loosing time to educate a valuable staff member with longevity??? If no change in near future, start looking elsewhere.

I agree. And I would be concerned. In most states, you are held liable for the licensure you HOLD---e.g. RN, not LPN now. You need to and deserve to get the commensurate pay.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2005

I think there's more that your manager can do. I worked for the U.S. gov. and people who are managers in these systems usually know how to get around the red tape. Your manager should (IMHO) be making efforts to get you into any open RN position ASAP. I'm also thinking that there may be a way for you to ask for a review of your situation. Perhaps the way is to be classified as an RN and follow a different track of orientation besides that of a new grad. The county may be able to get away with not recognizing you as an RN because they are a state agency run by the state and the government has that power.

I don't know where you are in California, but if you're in one of the major urban areas there are plenty of jobs. Perhaps you could go on LOA while waiting to get into your county new grad orientation program while looking and working elsewhere. If the county is anything like the U.S. gov, you don't lose your senority or time worked just because you go on an LOA or leave their employment for a couple of years. In the U.S. gov, once you're back in the door as an employee your previous time of employment is reinstated on your record.