Published
I haven't decided if I'll change what I'm doing now. But a big part of why I'm going for my RN is there are so many more opportunities. I love hospital nursing (I work on a tele unit) but I see a lot of hospitals are not even hiring LPNs these days or are giving them piddly positions. The hospital I work in is small and at times I wonder if it will stay open forever. I figured it was time to get to work so if I ever have to look for another job, I'll have plenty of areas to choose from.
Becky
I have a position in CCU right now but being an LVN I don't get first priority. We have a lot of travelers and they have in their contract that they only will work in critical care. I expected that I would not be in the unit all the time because I am an LVN. But, I am a very experienced LVN and I function well in the unit. But of course I am limited in my scope. That is why I am going back to school because I am tierd of having RNs give my IV meds and sometimes I feel like I'm a burden but I try to use the barder system and trade off an IVPB for a FSBS. And I help everyone as much as possible. All the nurses that I work with in their are great! They know what they're doing and they treat me like another nurse. But I am very unsatisfied with being an LVN and I wouldn't recommend anyone to become an LVN first because they make it so hard to become an RN and you get treated like you're stupid. I have been an LVN in acute care for 24 years and I work in all areas of the hospital. I can work med/surg, tele, icu, ccu, post partum, peds, and when we had our burn unit I held a position in there. When I'm not in the unit I float out or the supervisor floats me out in the whole hospital with a beeper and I help out where ever I'm needed, and just in case someone doesn't show up or gets sick well I go take their place, because I can work in almost all the areas of the hospital. But after I get my RN I will work in CCU with all my good buddies in there! And they are the best group of nurses I have ever worked with and they really know their stuff. One thing you learn when you work critical care or with tele pts. is that you better have a good IV or preferably 2 good IVs!So if I'm on another floor and if my patient happens to code the nurses from CCU come to the code and if my pt's IV is no good they would probably tease me about that for the rest of my life! Because I always hear about the pt on 3rd floor that coded and when the nurse comes back she's telling all of us "that patient that coded his IV was infilitrated!" I do love my job but right now I'm limited and I am on the road to change that now!
When I first graduated I worked a Med/Tele unit at two different hospitals, but when I had a chance to work as a Hospice nurse, I made that my specialty, including getting my CHPN cert. I loved Med/Tele, and if I had not the opportunity to go Hospice, I would have stayed that for a long time. That was because yes, you had hearts and that possibility of edge of crisis situations, you also got whatever ER sent, from gunshots, to hangover drunks. It was always interesting and gave you a taste of everything. But now, It is the love of Hospice that makes it for me.
luv4nursing
546 Posts
Hey everyone, just trying to get some discussion going on our new forum! My question is where do you work now or where did u work before transitioning? and what area do u want to work in as an RN?
Im in peds home health now. As an RN Im pretty sure I want to do L&D or postpardum. But Ill probably start in med surg to get a strong general background first.