<p>Nursing in general seems to be attractive to many as a second career, and getting the LPN or ADN and then bridging to the RN or BSN is actually extremely practical as the nurse can work in that career earlier rather than postponing his/her earning power for 4 years. Many second career nurses HAVE to be able to work as soon as possible, since many of them already have children and other financial obligations. The LPNs and ADNs in my BSN program were some of the top students in the program because they had the practical experiences to make what they were learning even more meaningful.</p>
<p>LPNS & ADNS/RNs do the same thing in many settings. With the exception of supervising. There are very few things that an LPN can’t do here in CT. With the exception of TPN therapy. Most hospitals are no longer hiring LPNS, & ADNS. For some reason, they don’t have the skill set that they ALWAYS had before. YNHH required all the ADNS to go back and get there BSNs once they bought St. Raphael’s hospital. The more mature nurses refused as they had always worked as ADNS, their entire nursing careers. They had no desire to go back to school so late in the game. They lost their jobs.</p>
<p>I have several nieces who are nurses with their BSN working in large teaching hospitals and in graduate school to become NP. During college they worked summers and school breaks as a CNA and were then hired directly after graduation / passing of Boards at these same hospitals. .After 2 years they were hired by the large teaching hospitals and a year later started their graduate programs. None of the hospitals they work at or worked at will hire an LPN- only BSN.</p>
<p>Our friend’s D went from wanting to be an MD to wanting to be a NP. She got her undergrad degree and then was required to put in many 100s of hours before she could apply to NP school. She is currently enrolled in NP school now. She has never been a nurse but decided she didn’t want to be a MD or researcher, after she got extensive exposure to research in undergrad.</p>
<p>Some areas have better opportunities for nurses than others, obviously from these posts.</p>
<p>I think because CA has more limited nurse training opportunities, lack of supply of nurses does raise pay/benefits. However sometimes the collective bargaining is necessary for many reasons - thus the use of unions.</p>
<p>I got my BSN in 1978 and worked in a lot of different nursing areas before getting graduate business degrees. However NP (which was not available back then, at least where I was) is definitely something to consider for promotion of pay and other opportunities. There are a lot of MD offices that now have NP working with them - including many specialty areas. It helps going beyond having nurse ‘physician extenders’. When I worked for a specialty physician group, we expanded the number of RNs we had (we had one Assoc-degreed RN, one very smart LPN, the rest were BSNs). Now the group has NP too.</p>
<p>Some have UG degrees in the sciences and go on to PA schools. Those have been around for a longer time.</p>
<p>My DD is in nursing school now - so I hear her perspective.</p>
<p>One often has to direct their career - look at supply and demand, industry and local trends, etc. </p>
<p>When one discusses education - being a teacher or in the education hierarchy - there is a great big paradigm shift in that ‘industry’ too.</p>
<p>Every career has its own set of expectations, demands. Some you know going in, some you learn as time goes on…</p>