O/T Anyone an LPN?

[Jenny-momof3]

I'm currently a SAHM but am starting to get a little stir crazy and would like to venture out into the work force.

I'm interested in doing something in the health field. Our local vocational school offers a program to become an LPN.

I'd like to find out some info about how difficult the program is. Also, how easily can you find a part time position. I definitely don't want to work full time.

TIA!

 

[1PrincessMomma1]

You will likely NOT get mothers hours if that's what your in for it for. It's demanding so make sure you're dedicated.

 

[RobinFabulous]

I did LPN school and in our area, once you are accepted into the program (which is extremely competitive) you went to school every day 5 days a week from 8 to 6. It wasn't mother friendly at all. Then you add your homework, it's hard. Also in this area most LPNs work at the nursing homes. It's great for some people, but talk to nurses in your area and know what your part time job prospects are.

 

[Rootskate]

I am.

When I went to school the course was only 12 months. It was brutal. Non stop studying, sleepless nights, etc. The year after I graduated they must have realized they were packing too much information into the program and extended it to 18 months.

You could easily get a part time job or work Per Diem hours. If you work in a nursing home, most shifts are on the idea of 7-3, 3-11, 11-7. Most hospitals do 12 hour shifts.

Good luck to you.

 

[Kidnurse]

Although I'm not an LPN, I'm a RN and I do know a little bit about the LPN programs. First of all, LPN or RN schools are both very demanding. You can totally do it, IF you're dedicated to it. I went to nursing school with a 3 month old baby, my husband in Iraq, and my family 6 hours away. I am living proof that if you want it bad enough, you can do it. Secondly, you need to check out the laws/regulations of your state regarding LPN scope of practice. In some states, LPN's are licensed to do most of the same things that an RN would do, but in many states they are very restricted in what they're allowed to do. Thirdly, check out your local job market. Are hospitals actually hiring LPN's? Are doctor's offices in your area preferring LPN's, RN's, or do they hire unlicensed personnel primarily?


You were also asking about parttime work. I HIGHLY suggest that if you do the LPN program, for at least 2 years that you work full time. Nursing school doesn't even begin to cover everything you'll need to know in order to be a great nurse-you get that from experience. Working only part-time will greatly decrease your clinical time and slow down your progress in clinical competencies. You really do need to start out full time and then back off to parttime once you're experienced.

Regardless of your decision, I wish you the best of luck. Let me know if you have any questions....

 

[natenapril]

HI!! ANother SAHM (11 years) who is getting ansty here!
I am working on my prereqs and hope to apply for my RN in the summer of 2010. It seems a long time away but I have been out of school for awhile so I am taking it slow. But if you are accepted to the program then I will have to go fulltime.
Our university phased out the LPN program and only offer the RN. Check your schools and make sure they haven't done this as well.

 

[Alex&Evan'sMom]

Hubby is currently in an RN program(started in Aug.) which is the same as LPN except for a few extra classes and a couple of semesters so here's what I know. Not sure how challenging it is to get accepted into the school you're thinking about but where we live it's pretty competitive.(he attends a community college.) 400 applied and 50 were accepted. Hubby took all of his pre(co)requisites(everything except nursing classes) before he applied. Check into what they factor into acceptance. Hubby's school was on a point system for his bios(2 anat and phys and microbiology). So many points for an A, fewer for B and so on. He also had to take a test called a compass and that factored into his total points. He was able to work full time and take his preclasses thanks to online classes but he quit his job when he started nursing school. Hubby has always wanted to go into healthcare and most days he enjoys his classes and loves the field of study. However, nursing school is extremely challenging and time consuming. Hubby studies more hours than he used to work each day and even when we're both home he usually has to hole away to study. You also have to maintain a pretty decent average to continue in the program(75 but you'd be surprised how tough that is to do even when you're used to making A's.) The entire family is involved with his schooling. I work 3 jobs to make ends meet and that keeps me from my family a lot and our boys have to understand that daddy can't always drop everything and play. It can be pretty stressful but in the long run it will hopefully give my hubby a job he thoroughly enjoys and my family long term stability so it is definitely worth it. As long as you are completely dedicated it can be very rewarding. Not trying to dissuade you if it's something that you really want just wanted you to know all the facts!

 

[Jenny-momof3]

Okay... well obviously I have ALOT more research to do!

I was under the impression that it was an 18 month program.... and I didn't have to have any schooling prior to entering the program. I know it involves a TON of studying and I'm okay with that.

I know alot of the nursing homes around here hire LPN's and I'm completely fine with working at one. I actually used to take care of my grandma until she passed at 102 and miss doing so. And I'm not neccesarily looking for "mother's hours"... just looking to not work 5 days per week. I would be fine with even doing 3 12 hour shifts if neccessary.

Thanks for all the info. so far.

 

[jeankeri]

When I went to school (LPN) there were no prerequisites- each LPN program creates itself based on your state's requirements for licensure. Because of this, the credits are not transferrable to other schools for college credit. On the other hand, RN programs have college credit classes, so if you want to chip away at the sciences over time, you can do that and make the coursework lighter for when you enroll to take the nursing courses. I would encourage you to consider becoming an associate degree RN- the pay, job availability and advancement is so much more than what is available for an LPN. And, the ADRN program is only 1 semester more of college than an LPN program. Something to consider.

 

[Disneyfanatic36]

I'm a LPN or at least I have the license. I strongly urge you to not do LPN and go straight for an associate degree RN. The pay is nearly double as well as carrer opportunities. LPN work is so hard ( not to say that RN isn't) and the pay is so much less for normally harder work. I worked for several years and then quit nursing all together. I wish I would have just went on for RN.

 

[tmbrea]

I've been an RN,ADN for 10 years in Texas. I would recommend looking into an ADN program in your area. Classes are the same as regular college class schedules other then clinical rotations. A bigger scoop of practice and more job openings. The hospitals here are using fewer and fewer LPN/LVN. Most have to gone to all RN staffs. Working part time ususally isn't a problem. May need to look at full time for the first year or so though. I work full time on one job...36hours/wk. PRN on a second job and them I'm on staff at a staffing agency. So I can usually find 48-72hrs/wk if I want to work that.

 

[tmbrea]

I'm a LPN or at least I have the license. I strongly urge you to not do LPN and go straight for an associate degree RN. The pay is nearly double as well as carrer opportunities. LPN work is so hard ( not to say that RN isn't) and the pay is so much less for normally harder work. I worked for several years and then quit nursing all together. I wish I would have just went on for RN.

Why not look into a LPN/ADN transition course? There were several in school with us when I did ADN. The only had to do three semesters of classes instead of four.

 

[Jenny-momof3]

Just looked at my local community college and they do offer an Assoc. degree RN program... but no longer offer the LPN. I just looked at the course load....

I haven't taken any sort of science since high school! Maybe I'm in waaay over my head here.

I just want to find a fulfilling profession that isn't a normal 8-5 M-F job. I love taking care of people and really thought the health profession would be the way to go. But I'm just not quite sure I could hack all of those classes.

 

[emh1129]

Okay... well obviously I have ALOT more research to do!

I was under the impression that it was an 18 month program.... and I didn't have to have any schooling prior to entering the program. I know it involves a TON of studying and I'm okay with that.

I think it really varies depending upon your location. I'm in a RN program right now but DH was looking into the local LPN program at one point. That particular program only requires three pre/co-requisites (they just have to be completed before you are halfway through the program) and they are English 101, Math 137 (intermediate algebra, I think), and Psych 101.
It's an 18 month program.
Oh, and LPNs work all over the hospitals here. When I am at clinical, I'm often paired with a LPN for my co-assigned nurse.

 

[emh1129]

Just looked at my local community college and they do offer an Assoc. degree RN program... but no longer offer the LPN. I just looked at the course load....

I haven't taken any sort of science since high school! Maybe I'm in waaay over my head here.

I just want to find a fulfilling profession that isn't a normal 8-5 M-F job. I love taking care of people and really thought the health profession would be the way to go. But I'm just not quite sure I could hack all of those classes.

You can do it
Maybe you could just try one course at a time and start to chip away at those pre-reqs?
I have young children and plan to only work 2 or 3 nights a week. One of the nice things about nursing is that you really are in demand.. you can often choose the schedule you would like to work.

 

[tmbrea]

It's been 10 years now, but I took 4 years to do a ADN. I started when my DS went to school and took all my pre-req's first before appling to the program. But it can be done....

 

[Poohlovr]

I was an LPN for several years before becoming an RN.

In our state, LPN classes are 12 months, full time. We have schools that have part-time evening classes. Those are either 18 months or 2yrs, depending on the school.

Our state vocational schools are now part of our community college program, so the core classes (math, anatomy etc) are college credit hours and do transfer over to other programs/schools/degrees.

In my case, the first 3 months of school were grueling. After that was a piece of cake (maybe those first 3 months were so bad that it just made the last 9 seem easy ). Seriously, it wasn't that bad and the year just seemd to fly by.

Around here, the pre-dominant employers of LPNs are nursing homes, although some hospitals still hire LPNs. YMMV. I know I got my hospital job as an LPN. Also, in KY, the LPN scope of practice seems to be growing all of the time ( LPNs can now give many IV drugs, which, when I was a LPN, was not allowed).

It's true that LPNs don't make as much as RNs, but, it's certainly more than half of the RN salary. I'm guessing the starting LPN pay is about $15-$16 hour, but may be more in nursing homes.

I started out working part-time hours when I first got out of LPN school. I worked 3 days/week. Later, I went to a modified WOW program, where I worked every week-end plus one other day and got paid for 40 hrs.

If you do go to LPN school (and I did it because at the time, I didn't have time to devote to 2 yrs doing the pre-reqs followed by 2 more years of nursing classes just for an associate degree), you can become an RN with 1 year full-time in a bridge program (or 2 years part-time with evening classes) as soon or as late as you want after graduating from LPN school.

I got my RN doing the part-time evening program, but, all of my classes were on-line. I had to go to labs for A&P and micro for 3 hrs on Saturday mornings (1 quarter each) and I had to go for clinicals 2 evenings a week for 3 quarters (4 hrs each evening, although that has changed now to 1-8 hr evening).

If you think nursing is something you might be interested in, I say go for the LPN, if that's all you have time for now. If you like it, you can go for more later. One nurse I worked with got her LPN and went straight into a bridge program for her RN, because it was faster to get her ADN that way than by going through the 2 year ADN program (because of the pre reqs that are required for the community colleges). It was also easier to get in school that way. I, on the other hand, was a LPN for 17 yrs before I decided to get my RN.

If we want, we can take the accelerated BSN program and get our BSN in 18 months, going to school part-time.

The way I see it, it's a win-win proposition.

 

[Cindy F]

Just looked at my local community college and they do offer an Assoc. degree RN program... but no longer offer the LPN. I just looked at the course load....

I haven't taken any sort of science since high school! Maybe I'm in waaay over my head here.

I just want to find a fulfilling profession that isn't a normal 8-5 M-F job. I love taking care of people and really thought the health profession would be the way to go. But I'm just not quite sure I could hack all of those classes.

My best advice is don't let anyone or anything scare you off from trying something. In our area, the LPN programs are 12 months and are sponsored by technical and vocational schools, so you might want to check there.

Also, don't let someone else's experience determine what you do. I heard many "dire warnings" about nursing school and even more about the nurse practitioner program...if I had listened to all of that, I would have been too scared to try and be where I am today!

I personally think home health is perfect for moms because you can see the number of pts. you want, on the days you want, during the hours you want, and after you see them, you're done! I loved it

Don't be afraid, give it a try!

PS: I had to go to summer school to graduate high school and graduated with a 1.8 GPA. I never thought I could handle college AT ALL but.... I graduated the BSN program with a 3.22 GPA and the MSN with a 3.42. You can do it!

 

[Jenny-momof3]

Thank you for the words of encouragement and all the wonderful information! It really helps to hear about everyone's experiences.

 

[emh1129]

If you do go to LPN school (and I did it because at the time, I didn't have time to devote to 2 yrs doing the pre-reqs followed by 2 more years of nursing classes just for an associate degree), you can become an RN with 1 year full-time in a bridge program (or 2 years part-time with evening classes) as soon or as late as you want after graduating from LPN school.

I think that sounds like a good plan, too, although here it is a 1.5 year bridge program. The LPNs who are going for RN here skip the first semester of the RN/ADN program and then join in for the next three semesters.
Sounds like that also varies by location.