Why are we in LPN school?

MedChica · Feb 24, 2015

Just curious as to why we are torturing ourselves to make 35K a year? Why are you going through with this? Having trouble wondering why I am doing this it's so hard and for so little money.

$35,000 a year?

Yeah, if you live in the country and work in a hospital or doc office. Those places drag average wages down. Anyway, there's a top and a bottom on the wage scale. Pay for nurses vary based on location, specialty, years of exp, etc....

If you're a nurse and can't do better than $35,000/year, that's on you. Sorry.

Nurses, in general, need to broaden their horizons. You can't expect anything but low wages if you're only concept of nursing revolves around critical care...as an LVN. You're not going to earn much as a LVN in hospital based crit care.

You can't rot in the hospital, LTC or HH as a floor nurse and wonder why your career is stagnant.

Some people act as though they have to remain floor nurses or else. In truth, there's always opportunity to move up in LTC. Do you actually think that LVN MDS and LVN ADONs or Unit manager or UM/case managers earn $35000/year?

Some people won't do well. Sometimes, they don't have it in them to 'go for the goal'. Sometimes, they want to and can't because they've pigeon-holed themselves with a bunch of a kids and/or a mostly dependent husband. It is, what it is.

No, everyone isn't going to earn $60,000 year. Most won't. It's nothing to do with you.

My coworker couldn't believe how much I managed to take home and save every month. Actually, requested a breakdown. Yet, he has three children and a wife that hardly helps. Of course, his money is gobbled away as soon as it hits his account.

Of course, I fare better than those like him. I have no dependents, own my car, had no rent to pay at the time and I'm single.

Every year, I make it my mission to be better than I was the previous one. This means that, every year, I need to either learn a new skill or earn more money. Experience breeds experience. Each notch on the achievement bedpost is just a step closer to better opportunities in nursing world.

There is a shortage (just not for new nurses). Nurses should start acting like it. I'd never work for

Per an agency aide, there's a hospital around here (I forget the name) that gets away with paying CNAs 8.75/hr.

That's a real shame. The only way that CNAs can make decent money is by going 'agency', actually. One of the agency aides at the rehab facility in which I work earns $17hr. They pay LPNs over $26, he said. The agency is based out of Jacksonville. Starts with an 'a'. Can't recall the name, however.

I wrote it on my hand in passing and forgot to put it on paper before I washed my hands. LOL

... and I became an LVN because I wanted to be a nurse. I took a pay cut to do this. Now, I work for money and work is just a place that holds more check hostage. I'm going back to RN school because I want to be a nurse with more money. I want to be better compensated for the liability - responsibility - that I take on.

You'll all get it once you hit LTC/some psych facilities/Rehab, etc...and your RN coworkers earn $4 to $15 more for doing the same thing that you're doing. LOL

You question 'why LVN school'? You want an incentive to go to RN school? There's a big one. LOL

NurseEmmy · Feb 24, 2015

Cost of living is what matters. $35,000in New York City won't get you far, but in a much smaller city it will get you further. A Practical Nursing degree/diploma can also be a stepping stone. If you are expecting big bucks you will be disappointed. There are too many nurses so that brings down pay. The days of HUGE sign on bonuses let alone decent benefits are fading if not over. I think you had a good reality check. Now it is time to decide. Do you continue or stop and figure out something else to do. Best of luck either way.

VAPrincess1036 · Feb 24, 2015

I graduated from LPN school in 2007 and started at $27K annually and I thought I was doing fantastic. Granted I was only 21, no kids, single, and lived with my boyfriend. I could never ever go back to that type of pay but I used it as a stepping stone. I went back to school and got my RN and now I'm enrolled for my BSN. You can find LPNs jobs and make more. For instance, I did contract nursing for the military and I ended up making $55K annually as an LPN. I went into nursing to help people and I absolutely love it but with that being said I have real bills now so I am not all money motivated by any means just a grown up with grown up bills. Honestly I loved being and LPN and probably would of stayed one if my husband wasn't in the military. We move every 2-3 years much easier to find an RN job than and LPN (well at least for me).

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Mar 2, 2015

I think $35k/yr is decent for a 1 - 2 yr program. That being said, I made $35K last yr and I didn't start my job until April and was PRN until

aug when I became full time.

Perhaps in your area there are other jobs available to you that pay the same as u get paid as a nurse.

In my area, this is not the case. You can't start at entry level, no experience and earn that kind of money. I'm in a high cost area: California.

Why did I become an Lvn? I wanted to become an RN-BSN, but I had a divorce while in prereqs. Becoming an Lvn meant I would be able to earn enough money to support my children within a year.

JoseQuinones · Mar 8, 2015

If you don't want to make $35,000 as an LPN, do something else. Like go to nursing school. Or apply to Harvard Medical School. Or whatever.

Now is as good a time as any to recognize that life will take you as far as you push it.

Lmomma · Mar 8, 2015

35,000 is on the very low end for a full time LPN. I am doing it because I want to make a living that can support myself and my children. My dh's career is in a dying field, he is no longer able to find work to provide for us comfortably. I had been working as an aide in an elementary school. Love it, love the kids, but it pays nothing.

Yes it's hard, school is very difficult but in the long run it will be worth it. I guess you have to decide if it is worth it to you

Lmomma · Mar 8, 2015

If you don't want to make $35,000 as an LPN, do something else. Like go to nursing school. Or apply to Harvard Medical School. Or whatever.
Now is as good a time as any to recognize that life will take you as far as you push it.

Umm. she is in nursing school? She's in school to be an LPN. Licensed Practical Nurse. did you not see that??

Red Kryptonite · Mar 12, 2015

$35,000 may not be much to some people, but it's still better money than I've ever made. With my husband's larger but fairly stagnant salary and very safe job, my ability to earn that much will put us comfortably into the middle class instead of hanging on by the bottom rung. We'll be able to pay down debt, help our child who starts college this year, etc.

lcalhoun · Mar 14, 2015

I'm not sure where you live but I made 35,000 a year as a cna.

lcalhoun · Mar 14, 2015

License practical nurse that is nursing school josequinones.

cinlou, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 19, 2015

The question you ask is the exact same question I ask my PN students on their first day of boot camp. Why do you want to be an LPN? Everyone has a little different answer but mostly it has to do with home responsibilities, needing to get into the job market while working towards their dream of becoming nurses. $35k is more than I made when I was a new grad RN starting out, and I had 10 years of LPN critical care experience at the time. generally what is posted in pay is starting salary, so depending on what you do, where you work, the hours of the day can make the number go up. The LPN programs are generally very fast paced, and you will be learning and doing skills in your second semester that the RN students are not even doing at that same time period. If you choose to go on for your RN, you will have already mastered those skills and will become a better nurse for it. I have been on every rung of the ladder, aide, LPN, ADN, BSN, MSN with a focus in nursing education. I am so very glad I worked on every one of them, because it provides me with insight for what my students are going through. The RN program would be just as hard, take you longer to get into the work force and cost more money up front while waiting to start working. Yes in your area maybe $35k, but that is $35K you will not have made if you were in the RN program or on a waiting list to get in one. Be proud of the choice you made, you could end up as an administrator in LTC as an LPN and make more than any of us, just depends on how you see your future and what your motivation is. Good luck, and no matter your choice stick with it to the end.