Is it better to be an LPN first and just continue school later to get a RN degree?

im still undecided if i should take an associates degree first so i can have a job after 2 yrs of nursing education. and then continue my education to take an RN degree while working as a LPN...or just take a 4 yr degree/ RN from the very start..what will be better? any nurse out there! help me!

btw im only 18

That is where I am right now as well. I could not decide, but it made more sense to me to go for the LPN first and that way not only will I be able to work and have experience after 2 years, but I will have the chance to know whether or not I enjoy it before wasting 4years and all of that money just to find out that it's not what I want. It made sense to me, and I hope that it helps you.

Good luck!!

Get the RN.

Go straight for your RN. If you lower your standards and only get an LVN you might stay there instead of moving on. An RN is only a two year program anyway!

Youre already 18, good. Which means you are probably like the rest of us college students, eager to get on with life. I personally recomend going for your RN. I started pursuing my RN at 18 with a BSN. Hopefully, I will be done in about 2 or 3 years.

Its worth it in the end. Best wishes to you nurse. From another prospective nurse. Nurses rule, whoooohoooo!

Go to a community college, get your RN in 2- 2.5 years. If you get your LPN, will you get college credit? If you get the 2 year RN, you can get a job at a higher pay scale while you continue to get your 4 year degree.

If you have the time and resources it's better to wait and be an RN because many people who try and do it the other way never make it to being an RN. They get tired from working and since they're earning a pay check they drag their feet and are not as motivated to become an RN.

Go for your 2 year RN first. Then you can do a RN to BSN bridge program online while you are working. Getting your LPN is a waste of time when you are going to be an RN.

I'm a nursing student and soldier.

Get the RN - some schools will do intensive courses where you can do your RN in two or three years. The pay difference and the way you are treated is huge.

Get the BSN (4 year) if you want to go eventually go into administration or nurse management. For "floor" nurses, an RN is an RN - the people with the BSN are treated no differently then someone who got their RN in three years. They also are generally paid about the same.

Good luck - its a wonderful career!

If you can get through the LVN program, you can get through the RN program! Do not think the LVN program is easy by any stretch of the imagination. Its HARD HARD HARD! Be prepared to for having no life until you get out of that program. My girlfriend went through it and will not become an RN simply because she had such a hard time in the LVN program. Any type of Nursing is very stressful. They make good money for a reason. Just be "aware" of what you are getting self into. Good Luck.

Do not take the shorter route, complete your degree! My friend got her A.A. and became a LPN and she ended up doing all of the sh!t work (literally) for two years until she could get her RN. She said she did mostly CNA stuff because the nurses are so short staffed. Also, you will be way more valuable to an employer with a 4 year degree. You will be ahead of the other people who chose to take the short route and you will make more money.

i am not a nurse but i work in a long tern health care facility, the lvn's where i work at in west Texas start at $18 per hour, the R.N.'s make $25 and up. also after working at the l v n job for 6 months and seeing how much more paper work the RN has beyond your astronomical amount that the Levin's have to do some think that the extra $7-$9 per hour isn't worth the added expense of the two years at school. myself i will tell you that the paper work will only get more and more, we have to save it for seven years now instead of five and there are more & more copies. the list goes on & on. good luck with your education.

In most states becoming a LPN is a less than 1 year program. You can become an RN in 2 years in most states. Given the choice take the RN route get your RN and then finish your BSN which I am assuming you are talking about with the 4 yr RN. You can become an RN without the 4 years, go to work and most classes to go from RN to BSN can be done online. You only go in for testing. That way you are working making great money and still finishing your education.