NEWSFLASH!!! THIS JUST IN....

[christopher w]

Let me qualify that. She is a 1099 hospice nurse. So she is basically self-employed with no benefits (she gets health insurance through her husband) and hospice care is very hard on most people. She is basically helping make the dying more comfortable. I don't think I could do it, but she feels very strongly that she is helping people in their final days.

Also, those numbers are based on a few years of experience, but even starting out you will be making 40k+ as an LPN. Which is great for someone your age.

[Hoosier4life2005]

You may not know, so,  if you could, when you get time,.. maybe ask her how much a typical LPN/RN starting out with no experience makes around that area?  Ide appreciate that.

[phlemboy]

Hoosier. Your numbers with the difference in pay are correct in the northeast. LPN's are starting out at about $17 - $19/ hr. RN's are in the $25 - $28 for new grads. Here's what a friend of mine did. He got his LPN. He was able to work 32 hr./wk on Nights & Evenings. He then started a Roofinf business on the side. When we were teenagers we worked for his uncle for a few summers doing roofing. Talk about ball bustin' work! But he learned it well.  I learned too. I learned I didn't want to roofing!! It took him about 5 - 6 yrs. to get his business up and running before he could quit the LPN job. He's since since expanded into home improvement and has built a pretty successful business. You'll have a chance to take a similar path. But in case you nobody ever told you about what you're getting into. Here some TRUE stories that I have seen personally in the past 2 weeks. I'm a respiratory therapist and work with RN's and LPN's all the time.

1. RN gets a FULL urinal thrown at her by a pt. who was confused due to a urinary tract infection.

2. LPN gets punched in the jaw by little old lady who said her meds were late.

3. Respiratory Therapist ( RT), my coworker gets stuck by a needle when the patient jerked AFTER he stuck the patient to draw an arteial blood gas.. Pt. has HIV.

4. Doctor yells at RN for not catching a med error that HE  made when wrote the order.

5. Man calls for Respiratory to give hime his breating treatment while he's masterbating! . That happened to ME last night. I told him I'll come back when he's all cleaned up. The CNA's are WAY underpaid!

You can ask some of the nurses you know for some other nice stories. The true work begins when you actually run the gauntlet and pass your boards. That's where you have to MENTALLY and PHYSICALLY tough. Good luck.

[Hoosier4life2005]

Yeah, in all honesty, I have no desire to be a nurse(which makes school even that much harder.)  However, my family is FULL of nurses, and I see how easy their life is compared to those who arent.  They get paid pretty good, physically easy work, and dont have to worry about getting laid off.  I may grow to like it when I get used to it, but im a typical teenage boy.. lol.  Thats the only reason im being a nurse. I HOPE I can quit being a nurse after 3-5 years, and do something else, but with my degree I know Ill always have something to fall back on.

One thing I DONT want to do, is work in a nursing home.  So much patience... Jesus.

And your right... roofing is HARD work, I did alot of it this summer, and I NEVER want to do another roof again!

Hoosier. Your numbers with the difference in pay are correct in the northeast. LPN's are starting out at about $17 - $19/ hr. RN's are in the $25 - $28 for new grads. Here's what a friend of mine did. He got his LPN. He was able to work 32 hr./wk on Nights & Evenings. He then started a Roofinf business on the side. When we were teenagers we worked for his uncle for a few summers doing roofing. Talk about ball bustin' work! But he learned it well.  I learned too. I learned I didn't want to roofing!! It took him about 5 - 6 yrs. to get his business up and running before he could quit the LPN job. He's since since expanded into home improvement and has built a pretty successful business. You'll have a chance to take a similar path. But in case you nobody ever told you about what you're getting into. Here some TRUE stories that I have seen personally in the past 2 weeks. I'm a respiratory therapist and work with RN's and LPN's all the time.

1. RN gets a FULL urinal thrown at her by a pt. who was confused due to a urinary tract infection.

2. LPN gets punched in the jaw by little old lady who said her meds were late.

3. Respiratory Therapist ( RT), my coworker gets stuck by a needle when the patient jerked AFTER he stuck the patient to draw an arteial blood gas.. Pt. has HIV.

4. Doctor yells at RN for not catching a med error that HE  made when wrote the order.

5. Man calls for Respiratory to give hime his breating treatment while he's masterbating! . That happened to ME last night. I told him I'll come back when he's all cleaned up. The CNA's are WAY underpaid!

You can ask some of the nurses you know for some other nice stories. The true work begins when you actually run the gauntlet and pass your boards. That's where you have to MENTALLY and PHYSICALLY tough. Good luck.

[phlemboy]

I don't know how it is in your area, but around here, the hospitals hire mostly RN's. The LPN's are forced to go to nursing homes. IMO as long as the means leads to the goal, you have to do what you have to do to get where you want to be.

[Hoosier4life2005]

Yeah thats pretty much how it is here too, hospitals really only hire RN's.  But LPNs can also do home-care or work at a mental hospital (like my mom does) and she says thats really fun/easy.