When are You Going to Become a Real Nurse?
The most offensive thing one can ask an LPN.
So when are you going to become a “real” nurse??
Whoa buddy…..each time I hear this statement, it raises my cackles, as I’m sure it does many professional Licensed Practical Nurses. It’s not only an insult, but it’s degrading! I feel the need to defend myself, and my profession, however it’s never the right time or place to do so, and I feel as if my defenses would fall on deaf ears anyhow. People are entitled to their opinion, however I would like to clarify, for both colleagues and the public, what my chosen profession is all about, and the reasons I chose to become an LPN, and why now, at this time of my life, I choose to continue this career path without advancement.
Many of us choose our career at a very young age, or have some vague idea of what it is we would like to do. Some of us take a bit longer, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of various career paths. For me, it was a little more cut and dry….I was going to be a nurse. I was going to help people, and there was very little anyone could have done to change that decision.
By the time I was a senior in high school, the path had already been chosen, the wheels in motion, and I was enrolled in a high school based vocational education program which would allow me to become an LPN after completion of the class, obtaining my diploma, and passing the state licensure examination. For those of you who are not aware, the LPN course in most states is one year, and you learn the basics of nursing….the real education starts there, and continues with experience! There is no way that all there is to know about nursing can be taught in one, two , or five years in a classroom. The same is true about RN’s….however it takes two years of community college to obtain an Associate’s degree as an RN.
I’m sorry folks, if this statement surprises you, but I AM a real nurse. There is not a specific place on my nursing license that demonstrates that I am not a “real” nurse. The nurse practice act regulates that I must practice nursing under supervision of an RN or an MD. That does not mean that I don’t have the assessment skills or the expertise to perform nursing duties. In most places, I am not allowed to start an IV or administer IV medication, however I can become IV certified and perform these skills with some limits. In fact, in most nursing homes and clinics, there is very little that a staff RN does that I do not do, with the exception of an occasional IV.
Why don’t I want to be an RN? I never said I didn’t want to be one, or that I have anything against them, with the exception of asking me when I’m going to become a “real” nurse. I did further studies in preparation of entering the RN program, however after 27 years of nursing, and semi-retirement approaching, I feel as if the cost vs. length of time left working full time would not be worth it, nor would the time, or the stress. Did I mention the drop in pay?? I am at the top of my pay scale, which is seriously much higher than a starting wage for an RN, and most places will not honor the time one has been in the field, doing the same type of work and using the very same skills, to give an LPN that obtains an RN degree fair wage.
No, I refuse to return to school to take a pay cut. By the time I catch up with the wage I now earn, it will be time to retire and winter in a sunny vacation spot.
I hope this will clear up the “real nurse” debate…I chose this profession, and you chose yours. If we all work together and provide excellent nursing care, hopefully you can learn to respect me. I always encourage the young to attend college and obtain their RN when they tell me they would like to be a nurse, because it opens up other opportunities that in the future an LPN won’t be able to take advantage of. I have had many unique opportunities as an LPN that many have not, because they limited themselves. I learned and absorbed everything I could, and after 27 years, I still know I haven’t learned it all, and I don’t know it all.
When I no longer learn something every day, when I think I know everything, it will be time for me to leave my chosen profession, a “real” nurse. Until then, please treat me with the respect I deserve, and leave the degrading comments at home.
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Glynis | Jun 17, 2008 | Reply
I LOVED THIS!! I trained as an ‘Enrolled’ nurse above in the UK, which took approx 2yrs, then there was the Registered General Nurse, the ‘Staff nurse to Sister’group who trained for 3yrs. When I qualified I was pestered to ‘better’ myself within the profession,I never did,I never wanted to, I did the same job as my ’senior’ for less pay and recognition. I didn’t care, I was doing what I loved most. I left to raise family only to return to find I had to become a RN the new grading system of the modern nhs in 2000, I went to university got a piece of paper found my ward and off I went with higher status,(and trousers)! I got promoted within 3 months, what do I do different now? NOTHING I AM STILL WAS THE NURSE I WANTED TO BE! There is only one type of nurse…one who cares. Brilliant article
M J Katz | Oct 11, 2008 | Reply
I’ve been an LPN since 1978 when I graduated from a very grueling one-year course that we were told was “very condensed”. It certainly was. We were told that, although we would not legally be allowed to perform certain tasks as LPNs, we were still required to have this knowledge.
Through the years either the money wasn’t there or children were so continuing my education for an RN license simply wasn’t feasible. I,therefore, settled for learning as much as possible from doctors, nurses, IV technicians, pharmacists, and anyone else who could teach me ’something new’.
During my career I have even taught Graduate Nurses how to give an injection, how to change a trach, and how to insert a G-tube…among many other things.
It basically comes down to this; if you want to learn and grow, you will do so, no matter what your title is.
After all these years there is still a lot of Ego and Politics in the nursing profession which is a shame. Years ago an attempt was made to bring in a union at one hospital where I was employed. However, quite a few RNs did not want the LPNs to be included in the possible contract under the heading of ‘Nurses’. Instead, we were to be written into the contract under that heading that included the Maintenance and Laundry departments. Needless to say, the union never got in.
As long as Politics and archaic laws continue to exist, the LPN’s full potential as a valued nurse will never be completely recognized.
A. Bondy, LPN, GC, IVC, NCP, DPT-ASCP | Dec 26, 2008 | Reply
I knew I wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember. When I enrolled with the Technical College, the waiting list for both RN and LPN programs was >3 yrs. I was “invited” to start the PN program after roughly a year, and instead of waiting and hoping that I could start the RN program, I accepted. I couldn’t have been happier with my choice.
I have been working at a facility coined as a “nursing home”, but in reality, it is a sub-acute hospital facility. We specialize in high acuity patients who need rehab, nursing and therapy services with the discharge goal of going back to their normal lives. We have a census of 138, 20 of which are LTC.
In the 6 months I have worked as an LPN, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I have learned there. In addition to using the skills learned in school, I have become IV/PICC certified which consists of starting/maintaining peripheral IV lines, placing/removing PICC lines and CVC infusions/maintenance. I am also a certified phlebotomist…I hear it from the RNs constantly…”Um, I don’t draw blood” or “it’s been 20 years since I did that…why don’t you do it?”
I met this girl when I was out one night who works at a hospital as an RN recently and she made some joke about me not being a “real” nurse. Well, we discussed things that we did at work, and I was surprised by how much she did NOT know. Book learning at school is only ONE aspect of nursing. The skills and experience you gain while working is a whole different part of it. It doesn’t matter if your an LPN or RN…we all have to take and pass the state boards. In the state of WI, LPNs can do everything an RN can, obviously with the proper training and/or certifications, with the exception of hanging blood products.
I have made the decision to take the LPN-RN bridge program at school which I will be starting in the fall of ‘09 only because my long-term goal is to become a Nurse Practitioner. If it were not for that, I would be more than thrilled to keep working as an LPN.