Would An Lvn Be So Fortunate?

[lookingforward]

...as to be hired in newborn nursery or NICU? I am currently finishing up some PRE-reqs for nursing school and contemplating whether or not to work as LVN for a while before BSN. I think my prospective hospital hires LVNs in nursery and I wanted to know from the experts, what their duties called for and if LVNs were an asset to this particular "team". Thanks so much!

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

We have no LVNs/LPNs in our NICU, only RNs. When I worked in the newborn nursery, we had a couple of LPNs, but they had worked there for like 30+ years .... so they let them continue working there, but all the new hires had to be RNs.

I'm in AZ and I think that's the norm for most hospitals around here, at least in the NICU. I'm not sure how it is in other states.

[Imafloat, BSN, RN]

There are no LVNs in the NICU I work at. There are a few LVNs at the hospital I work at, they just don't work in the NICU. I work at a Children's Hospital in a middle size city.

[cathys01]

If you are only working on prerequisites, I would have to say you would be MUCH better off pursuing the RN than the LVN. There are things that LVNs can't do in their practice...and the transition from LVN to RN takes almost as long as a two year RN program anyway.

Lots of hospitals are getting away from hiring LVN trained nurses. The job market certainly won't be the same. I don't know of any NICU's in my city that use LVNs, only RNs.

[Amiejayrn]

There are also no LVNs in our level 2 NICU but there are LVNs in the nursery. There is always just as many RNs in the Nursery as LVNs, if not more. The LVNs assist MD with circs, PKUS, Hep B vaccines and any other heel stick for labs necessary. They also assess and feed. The previous posts are right, you are better off going straight for your RN or BSN. I was an LVN and transitioned to RN and it was another 15 months on top of the 13 I did to get the LVN. I wished I had the resources and was financially set to just go through the 2 year RN program initially.

[ncbeachgrl]

We have 1 LVN in our NICU, and she has been there for several years. In our nursery, LVN's cannot actively admit (they can do the work, but cannot chart the admission assessment, initiate a care plan, chart discharge needs, etc.), and an RN has to do their initial assessment every shift. They also cannot charge, take transport call, or precept (which isn't necessarily bad, if you ask me! :)). As everyone else has said, go for your RN! Good luck!

[Mags4711, RN]

We had one LPN (LVN to you) but she has since retired. She could not admit, spike and hang blood (but she could double check it and monitor it and take it down), nor could she take a verbal order or do the "A" and the "P" of a SOAP note. Other than that she could do everything else an RN could do. But in an ICU, those few things can be quite a hinderance.

I echo what the others here have said: Finish the RN now