Work as LPN for a while?

[nurse2324]

Hello all,

In Spring 2015 I started the ADN program at a technical school in Wisconsin. Surprising since I had only attended the school for 2 semesters prior to being accepted. The school is great and I love a job as a CNA at a local hospital on the float pool. The only downfall is that I HATE the city I live in and am unhappy here. I moved here one year ago and my sister lived here when I planned on moving here. But after moving she got a fantastic job offer and moved across the country. I miss my family as they live 3 hours in either direction. I am thinking of finishing out this fall semester, taking the NCLEX-PN and moving closer to home working as an LPN for a while and wait to get accepted to an RN program closer to home. Otherwise I have a year and a half left of school here. I have lived here a year and love my job and school is great but I have no true friends. Would it be foolish to give up my spot in the ADN program and work for a while?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

The first thing you should check is whether your school and the state you want to get licensed in allow you to take NCLEX-PN after completing a partial RN program. Not all states allow this, and even in the states that do, not all schools participate. If your current state does, any LPN who became licensed via the method you propose may have issues getting licensed in another state.

[AspiringNurseMW]

This may be a case of you should really make the best of it. It doesn't sound like the area is bad, but just that you are unhappy there. I think the method you propose is round-about, is adding potentially 2-3 years to get the SAME degree really worth it? I would hold on to the spot. I think that once you get into the ADN program, time will go by much faster, and the program might afford you opportunities to make some friends.

Also finishing out the fall semester alone will likely not qualify you to sit for the NCLEX PN anyway (usually one semester allows you to challenge/sit for CNA certification, again depending on the state), PN might require 2 semesters. And if it is a year, you'll already be done with half your program, it doesnt make much sense to start over somewhere else.

Regardless of what you decide, you are still going to have to live there for the next 6 months at LEAST, so make the most of it, and see how you feel then.