RN and LPN Differences
RN and LPN differences – what are they? That’s probably the one question that nursing school admissions counselors hear more than any other. There seems to be a lot of confusion and misinformation on this topic in the minds of people who are thinking about going to nursing school but aren’t sure if they want to study to be an LPN or an RN. Some of them even seem to have a vague notion that LPN’s aren’t “real” nurses. Which is nonsense. There are some real RN and LPN differences, but there aren’t as many as some people seem to believe, or would like others to believe.
The biggest difference, of course, is in the different educational paths that people will follow to become either an RN or an LPN. It takes four years of study to become a registered nurse (on average of course – some students will finish sooner and many will finish later), and requires earning a bachelor’s degree. Whereas most licensed practical nurse training programs take about a year to finish. At first glance, it sounds like the RN’s will be learning four times as much about nursing than LPN grads will. But that’s not the case. It’s true that they will learn quite a bit more, but certainly not four times as much. Much of their four years will be spent taking classes like foreign languages, calculus, and social sciences in order to qualify for the more well rounded bachelor’s degree.
But once nurses are out on the job, many LPN’s and RN’s will be working side by side in hospitals and clinics, doing many of the same tasks, and doing equal amounts in helping patients get better. There will be some jobs that LPNs are not allowed to do, such as draw up a treatment plan or run an IV drip, but most of their job duties will be shared. So, while there are important RN and LPN differences, there are many more similarities.
