Why LPN??

maikranz · Apr 7, 2001

Originally posted by jo1998:
Here in NJ the pay difference isn't that much. After reading posts about salaries, I can happily say that I make more than RN's that posted. Our units are mostly staffed with 1 RN and 3 LPN's. LPN's are in demand in Phila., NJ, NY, what layoffs are you referring to? My practice allows me to practice the same as an RN, only difference is I can't hang the first bag of blood or push narcs. I find the only drawback is that the RN's purposely give the LPN's the harder, more time consuming patients. I get through this by concluding it is because of my skill, and am complimented by their laxidazial approach. Enlightened?????????
Jo

Well, aren't YOU special.

maikranz · Apr 7, 2001

Y'all, doesn't anyone want to know where you can make $4600 (or was it $4800)

as an LPN? An earlier poster said she made that much monthly!

That's what---$55,000-57,600/year. It's enough to make me reactivate my LPN license.

duckie · Apr 7, 2001

To Mommy2: First off, I am pleased you are going to go on and become a nurse. In spite of the many complaints you read from all of us nurses during our times of frustration, I could not ever think of anything I would rather do. Since you live in Canada, I would not even venture to guess what the description of an LPN would be there so I recommend you check with your local nursing board and ask them. I started my career in a hospital setting but found it wasn't for me. I deeply admire all the nurses that do work in hospitals but I found my calling to be with the elderly. I am a charge nurse in a Long Term Health Care facility for the elderly and I love it. I do everything that RN's do within our facility but I believe this might be different in a hospital setting with some limitations. What you can and cannot do is dictated by the state you live in and the best advice I can give you is to research your job description before you make your choice. On any given day, I make out staff assisgnments, give meds and do treatments,supervise the staff to see they are doing their job correctly, do mounds and mounds of paper work, wipe dirty bottoms, feed residents, and handle emergency situations such as falls and codes, the list goes on and on but I think one of the most important jobs I do is I hold the hand of many that are taking their final breath. I honestly feel the best when I am holding the hand of someone who is dying. You see, that way they know that someone loves them and there is much peace in not being alone. As a nurse, I feel responsible not only for the physical and mental well being of my residents but also their spiritual well being. When I am with someone that is dying, I make it my priority to help them go from this life to the next with no worries or fear. Becoming a nurse doesn't offer great financial gains but with me, it is the joy I feel when my residents look up at me and say "I love you" that keeps me going back day after day, and trying to do 10 hours work in an 8 hour day. If you have the heart of a nurse, then go for it and I know you will be wonderful. There are a lot of great nurses that post on this board and they give it good advice. I have also seem much compassion given to those in doubt so you can always look to everyone for moral support. Many prayers for you as you make your decision.

madcat · Apr 7, 2001

I see you have been bombarded with responses, but I have to add my 2 cents: I am an RN, and I teach LPNs. In this part of the country, any nurse, RN or LPN, who is willing to work can get a job. They can get their entire education (I mean including books and uniforms) for only $3000, and begin working in only 15 mos. I see you have not been a nurse very long. One day an LPN will save your rear, and you will love them too. It's also a great way to begin your nursing career if you're not sure about it.

Originally posted by Susy K:

I often wondered why some people choose to become an LPN verses an RN, or why go for a 2 year program and just not go for 2 more years to get your BS? Especially with the threatened LPN layoffs, the lower pay, the limited employment choices. Is it money? Is it wanting to get your ability to work sooner? Please enlighten me. Thanks.

[This message has been edited by madcat (edited April 06, 2001).]

theboss · Apr 7, 2001

THANKYOU MADCAT! i am an lpn and have been for 6 1/2 years now. when i first came to this website , the first thing i looked at was this post and i got furious. i work in the er and do everything the rns do. only because i have been taught by some awesome rns. i have 2 partners i work with and they have been wonderful to me and never once have i been made to feel beneath them..but reading this post made me realize that all rns are not that way , and that the ones i work with are great and i am proud to work with them.i have alot of respect for lpn friendly rns.. i plan to return to school next year for my rn and i wont forget where i came from. thanks again

Q. · Apr 7, 2001

Originally posted by jo1998:
Here in NJ the pay difference isn't that much. After reading posts about salaries, I can happily say that I make more than RN's that posted. Our units are mostly staffed with 1 RN and 3 LPN's. LPN's are in demand in Phila., NJ, NY, what layoffs are you referring to? My practice allows me to practice the same as an RN, only difference is I can't hang the first bag of blood or push narcs. I find the only drawback is that the RN's purposely give the LPN's the harder, more time consuming patients. I get through this by concluding it is because of my skill, and am complimented by their laxidazial approach. Enlightened?????????
Jo

Jo please read the post about "could this be the cause of the nursing shortage" and you will see that this BB is learning to get away from horrible generalizations about groups of people - in particular, the generalization that RNs are lazy. I am an RN, and I am NOT lazy.

jamistlc · May 1, 2001

Greetings Susy,

My rationale is simple! I was a HS dropout with a GED, my LPN school was the first to accept me wit that background and I did not have to have algebra! I have great people skills but thinking in that abstrct form of algebra messes with my small mind (order of operations, confusing without it you can not do Algebra). That is one of the rationales for my returning to get my ADN through the "REGENTS" program again no algebra! When I started school after about 2 months I knew that oneday to be happy I would have to be a RN!)

As a male, HS dropout at 15, Runaway at 16 and all that I never thought I would ever be a nurse. I had the dream of being since before puberty! Also I did not know the difference in RN's and LPN's! I went for my LPN when I was 28 and got it when I was 29! Yes I am sure there where other factors too, like I had 2 small children at home so time and money would have been one if I had the option of going for my RN back then.

I had started college in a Pre-Nursing program when I was 18 for a ADN but when I got to algebra and failed it twice (once dropped) I thought I could never be a nurse! Now I know differently! That failing grade raised havoc on my GPA it has taken my till now with 56 credit hours to raise it back to a respectable 2.9, I did not learn how to drop a class till after I needed to know!

I hope this explains about why I am a LPN and not a RN.

Peace, Jami

jamistlc · May 1, 2001

Originally posted by C.LO:
I feel that LPN's are not neccessary for patient health care. I understand the rationale for certain hospitals to eradicate LPN's. I feel they are more of an added responsiblity to the R.N. Now concerning 2 year programs, I feel that some of the best nurses have come out of those programs. I graduated from a 2 yr program and continued on for my B.S.N. and it was an excellent transition for me. I do not regret my path, and I feel as If the 2 yr program prepared me more for the clinical responsiblity as a RN.

CLO who are you to make such an absurd statement! :mad:

I only agree that ADN's prepare a different type of nurse than BSN's. The BSN prepares a Nurse who is ready to take charge and paperwork responsibilities. But I would put my bedside skills up agaist yours anytime and win, this I know! :rolleyes:

res04lly · May 1, 2001

Susy- I became an Lpn because I was told my act testing was not high enough for an ADN program. I was going threw a divorce and had a 3 year old to support so i went and got my LPN. i was out in a year and making enough to support us, I have been working on my ADN for years and since i have remarried and now have a 10 and 12 year old running me all over creation the regents program works for me for my completetion of my RN. Most if not all the Rn's i work with are very supportive of the Lpn and let's be real-we are in a nursing shortage would it be wise to get rid of the Lpn's? The Rn's are complaining now of overworked and patient ratio's, manatory overtime ect. I think C.LO has a behind the times idea most hosptials in my area have added the lpn's back into their hiring matrix and found out we are hard to find since the nursing homes and agencies are paying us anywhere from 15-21.00 an hour.

I enjoy what i do part-time in our local hospital and by the way we need Lpn's does anyone need a Job??? Come on over and work with us we Love Our LPN's. Suzy there will never be unity in nursing as long as there are organizations and R.N.'s who feel we do not belong in the system. Each level of nursing has it's own pitfalls. Don't be to hard on Iris she is only defending what we all love and that is Nursing. The statement that C.LO made was really just an ANA vision statement because they don't see L.P.N.'s as a part of the healthcare system and after how many years we are still here and still strong. When i graduate from Regent's I will still keep my LpN Liscense active.

Q. · May 2, 2001

Originally posted by res04lly:
Don't be to hard on Iris she is only defending what we all love and that is Nursing.

Thanks for your post res04lly - and I agree with you about nursing unity. As strange as it may sound, I think that is what the ANA is trying to do (with the BSN min requirement): make everyone equal and then there aren't any fights about "whose's better"

As far as Iris, I maintain my response to her and I'd like to argue that I too was only defending what we all know and love. It's just as wrong to generalize RNs as it is LPNs.

HazelLPN, LPN · Mar 15, 2003

I became an LPN because I wanted to be a nurse who just took care of the patients without ever wanting a desk job or more paper work. I thought that I could always go back to school to be an RN if I got tried of the bedside. Well, 45 years later I still love the beside and have no intentions of fully retiring. I am fortunate to be grandfatherd into a hospital which no longer hires LPNs for its speciality area such as ICU where I work. Since I have been working there for so long, I take my own assignment and can pretty much do everything an RN can except serve as primary nurse or charge nurse. By law an RN is supposed to read and sign my assessment too, which the charge nurse does. However, I've been doing this longer than many of our charge nurses have been alive and none of them actually read it. More times than not, RNs have asked me my opinion on what to do. Even though RNS have had more formal education, good nursing comes with experience and a keen intuition that I thnk we are born with. Before I was grandfathered, the hospital did try to get LPNs out of the ICUs and onto the floor or clinics. I kept bluffing that I was going to go back for me RN so long that they just kept me on board! Now I'm too old to go back to school and honestly, I don't think that I would learn all that much that I dont already know. Time and experience are the best teacher.

Ortho_RN · Mar 15, 2003

Well I chose to 2yr ADN route.. Why?? Because the college is 15mins away from my home, whereas the BSN program is 3hrs away... The community college also has a LPN program, but I don't want to be a LPN I want to be a RN, so I figured I might as well go for what I want...

The hospital I work at now still has LPNs, but several floors do not have LPNs on them.. I work on an Ortho floor, and the day shift usually has one LPN, who does nothing but pass meds... and on Evenings there are none.. Occasionally Staffing will call and ask if they want an LPN or another Aide, and the RN's always take the AIDE... I think this is mainly b/c most of our Ortho patients have IV meds, and it would be useless to have an LPN on the floor b/c they can't do IV's.. So I don't know.. I guess everywhere is different.