The Nature of LPN to RN Programs

August 16th, 2010

With a new demand for nurses of all educational backgrounds, new nursing assistants, vocational nurses, and licensed nurses have emerged with all types of backgrounds, ready to jumpstart their career in the nursing community.  This is great for the health care industry, since there may not always be a demand for RNs, but there is clearly a demand for nursing assistants, and LPNs or LVNs.  This type of variety allows hospitals to fluctuate their salaries and give different responsibilities to different nurses, depending on the experience.  While this may seem like a headache to the head administrators, it has worked out well for many hospitals and clinics, although after a few years, many LPNs are ready to take the next step to becoming an RN.  Thus, many colleges began creating LPN to RN programs to expedite this process.  Online education has only increased the prevalence of these programs by making nursing students’ certification easier to gain without missing too much work.

LPNs typically care for people who are sick or injured, under the direction of RNs and doctors, and are in charge of many of the duties we typically associate with RNs.  However, LPNs are confined to a more general area of medicine as compared to RNs, who are able to become more specialized because of their degree and experience.  This is only one of many reasons nursing students decide to take a new career path and earn their RN degree.  Other reasons circle around the heightened responsibility they will receive as RNs (no more supervision) and the salary increases.

Most LPN programs last for a year, and are intended to ensure that the student will be able to handle most types of medical emergencies on the spot.  However, RN programs last two years or longer, causing many students to choose an LPN certification solely because of the time factor.  LPN to RN programs now get rid of any time constraints and allow students to put their previous educational experience in nursing towards their new RN degree.  This saves another year of education and allows students to earn their RN degree much faster than they would have if they had to enroll in RN classes.  LPN to RN programs therefore attract more nursing students who previously did not have the time and money to commit to a full RN program.  This in turn has helped our health care industry and economy because of the new influx of nurses.  Online LPN to RN programs are the most popular source of this degree program, and have helped many nursing students earn their dream job as an RN without the stress of a full RN program. 

Did you enjoy this article?