Why can't I do everything a RN does as a LPN? We should be equal.

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Why do RN's make more when we practically do the SAME THING. I don't understand how RN's having the ability to start IV's and give a few medications IV push make them more valuable than an LPN. Those extra courses you take to become RN's, heck even BSN's don't add anything clinically. When I am on the floor, WE DO THE SAME THING, yet I take home 30% less than my RN/BSN colleagues. Does anyone else agree that us as LPNS should be able to make the same salary? I hope the Affordable Healthcare Act (AHR) addresses this issue with EQUAL PAY for EQUAL work. We are a lot cheaper to higher than RN's so hopefully the (AHC) will realize this and create more of a demand for efficient LPN's that are easier to train, and cheaper to higher, thus bringing RN wages on par with our wages. It just doesn't make sense for the hospital to pay a RN $25-30/hr to start, while I make $22/hr and have more than 18 years experience. Any thoughts?

Specializes in NICU.

Saying an LPN should make as much money as an RN is like saying an RN should make as much money as a NP. Doesn't make any sense.

There are different skill sets and education for all involved. It doesn't mean that they are not EQUALLY valued for the skillset and education that they bring to the table. There is a place for everyone, and EVERYONE is a part of the team.

We need to respect and value each other as members of the healthcare team instead of belittling each other, or whining about our limitations.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Oh goodness OP. Most of us here, probably even those who are APRN, would say that NPs should not be paid as MDs.

As a RN with the equivalent of an associates, I would be an idiot to argue that a NP deserves the same pay as a doctor. Just like it would be ridiculous to argue that I should get the same pay as a BSN nurse. Or LPN should get same as RN.

We get paid based on experience and education. Not happy? Go back to school. I can be upset that people like me are getting phased out. But at the end of the day, I am smart enough to know that whining won't solve any of it. Unless I go back to school, I will end up losing my job at some point. Complaining won't change it.

So just shut the hell up, go get your RN, or find another profession. I think it speaks volumes for the state of education in North America that instead of encouraging people to get more education, we want to lower standards for everyone. Ugh.

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Specializes in CCU, CVICU, Cath Lab, MICU, Endoscopy..

Oh dear sweet Jesus, save me from the day my nurse is looking stuff up on

Wikipedia in order to determine my care! Really? This one made my head spin.

Hahaha. ...duskyjewel let's hope you are not going into a coma while she looks it up....smh

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Specializes in CVICU.
An ADN costs 20-30,000- and since the new requirement is a base of a BSN, does this make financial sense?

I'm in an ADN program and it's like $5600 for four semesters. Where on Earth are you that an ADN costs $20-$30k?

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I'm in an ADN program and it's like $5600 for four semesters. Where on Earth are you that an ADN costs $20-$30k?

Private not for profit colleges cost around that much.

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

Here is a reply given by BostonFNP on another thread I follow here. It has to do specifically with MAs replacing nurses. Let me emphasize I do not equate MAs with LVNs but her thoughts articulate well the difference in vocational skills training versus RN level training. I might add that this whole controversy would be much relieved by demanding BSN as entry level. As you ADNs out there know (former 20 yr ADN here), it's not generally 1 extra year, it's 1 additional year of educational after an average 1 year of pre-reqs meaning most ADNs have been through 3 years of college.

From BostonFNP:

Nursing needs to position itself so the value of nurses is not in tasks/skills but in critical thinking, patient education, assessment and intervention on individual, community, and population levels as these protect patients safety. You don't need to go to school for 2-4 years to take a blood pressure or give a shot (autocorrect tried to change that to another four letter s-word, which ironically also makes sense) you need to go to school to know what that blood pressure means or why that shot needs to be given or when not to give it. This is nursing's value: educated to assess and intervene. If you remove that then it becomes a skill or task-based job that employers can hire a $10/hr individual with minimal training to do.

What makes nurses worth $30 an hour versus $10 an hour? The education and the ability to assess, plan, intervene, and evaluate that it affords.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

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Specializes in Critical Care.
There is no need to be arrogant, we are both nurses, and a year of education does not separate us, I have 18 years of experience, I can manage any of those issues, what can another year add on how to manage a chest tube that 18 years experience have not taught me already ?

You're being pretty arrogant, actually. There is no way you do what I do or know what I know despite your 18 years experience, just as an RN with 18 years experience can't claim equality with an M.D.

You're discussing tasky stuff like chest tubes and equating that to the intensive training an RN ( ADN) gets in critical thinking or the leadership and development that a BSN gets. There is so much more involved with being an RN than managing a chest tube or starting an IV.

If you're that worried about the money then take the year and get your RN license.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

I really can't believe the audacity of the OP in thinking that RN's and LPN's should make the same amount of money! As everyone on this thread has indicated, you must have the education first! Then she explains why she can't go back to school?

Age is only a number, and other factors can be worked around if you truly desire to make it happen.

So her only course of action is to come here and present this outrageous complaint!

No one, in any profession starts at the top paywise, especially without meeting the REQUIREMENTS of said profession.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Oh dear sweet Jesus, save me from the day my nurse is looking stuff up on

Wikipedia in order to determine my care! Really? This one made my head spin.

I know right? Because for instance the distinction btw IV and SQ or regular vs humalog wasnt made, which makes a huge difference in mechanism of action and effect on lytes. Wikipedia IS hard if you use it wrong.

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Specializes in Customer service.

In some clinical settings, they do things similarly. Microscopically, RN does things that an LPN doesn't. They're both have their own scope that is prescribed by laws.

Why an LPN is given a mobility to become an RN? If you can answer it, you are not too far from an RN. Sign up at schools.

At my college, LPN to ADN program is convincing. An LPN student gets exempted in certain classes or trainings and no students whine about it. We know that an LPN has knowledge than we inexperience students.

Guess what, I will get through the hell in training because I have no background in nursing. I take a lot of classes and etc. Then, I will get paid as an LPN. SCREW the ADN or BSN if that is the case. We can do work uniformly and I'm fine with it.

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I think a key reason there should be a difference in pay is that there have been multiple studies showing that hospitals with More highly educated nurses have better patient outcomes. If LPNs want the same pay then they should present the evidence that they can not only perform the same tasks but also achieve the same outcomes.

This is also the reason that many APRNs feel they should be reimbursed at the same rates as physicians. There is almost 4 decades worth of evidence that they have equal or better outcomes as those physicians.

Its called evidence based healthcare.

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The main reason LPNs don't get the same pay/have same responsibilities as RNs is simply because they're not RNs.

While the work we do may look similar, it only looks that way. >90% of nursing care takes place between a nurses ears not with their hands. The OP may not realize the difference between RN and LPN education, this might likely be due to only having experienced one of these paths. While many years of clinical experience is great it doesn't replace educational experience and the knowledge gained.

I've worked with several LPNs with decades of experience (one was a nurse longer than I've been alive). But who did they come to when there was an issue they didn't understand or meds they were unfamiliar with? They were excellent nurses but part of that was that they knew the limits of their knowledge and skills. At least once a week I was able to teach them something they never knew about a disease processes, drug side effect, or unexpected assessment finding for one of their own patients.

With what you're saying, there'd be nothing to stop CNAs with years of experience thinking they can be LPNs. There are licensing, boards, and educational requirements for these very good reasons. If you want to be paid/treated equally, they you're obligated to put in the education equally as well.

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