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2012 is the year I am going to stop being an MT, but - sm

Posted: Jan 06, 2012

if you were me, a 34-year-old single mother, would you go back to school to finish your LPN degree (one year left) or finish your HIT degree (one year left also) and become an RHIT? Or maybe do both?

LPN or RHIT? - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm not sure if I would bother with the RHIT at all, but given the two choices, I'd go with LPN first, because direct patient care cannot be offshored. It isn't a perfect profession, but there's a definite need for LPNs. Some places, like doctor offices and clinics and some homecare situations even prefer to hire LPNs instead of RNs because they think the LPNs should be paid less than the RNs.

Girl, skip the LPN and go directly to RN - Pay is way better

[ In Reply To ..]
You can find community colleges hooked into hospitals and sometimes hospitals even have RN programs. I would not hesitate to do this.

MT is moribund and if you are the breadwinner, it would be financial suicide to stay in MT.

Best wishes for success.

LPN - JR

[ In Reply To ..]
Poster asked LPN vs RHIT, not RN vs...

Maybe she's actually wanting to not spend too much time away from her kids studying then working weird hours in a hospital.

If you're wanting to spend any time raising your own kids, just do the LPN or RHIT, but I think the LPN would be more valuable.

With the LPN, you can get a decent clinic job with decent hours. You can still make a living and be there (sort of) for your kids.

LPN versus RN - Cathy

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't think it's a bad suggestion to go for your RN. RNs make a lot more than LPNs. It doesn't mean that you have to be there less for your kids. More money per hour may mean less hours that need to be worked and more free time to spend with your family.

There are schools who will let you - bridge into a

[ In Reply To ..]
RN program. You still have to take the core classes, but I think it takes almost a year off of the nursing portion, which for an associates is only 2 anyway. You can also do an online program once you have your LPN to get your RN. I'm the same way with the hopsital hours, but clinic hours can be really bad too. I have worked at doctor's office that were 8-5, but really the medical assistants/LPNs were there until 6 or later lots of nights. I started schooling for my RN but decided to wait until my kids are a little older as there is no way I want to work nights, and sometimes starting out that is all you can get.

LPN or RHIT? - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't know about the others, but I wish I had taken an LPN course INSTEAD of RN. That is, unless you plan to go for BSN, MSN or even a doctorate. In that case, RN may be better. However, with just an associate degree RN, there's not too far you can go. I wanted to work in a doctor's office, so LPN would have been better for me, as I find it difficult to get hired as an RN for a doctor's office or clinic. But, that's just me.

A hospital RN job is no piece of cake. In the old days, you could get a full-day as an RN working in homecare for one patient. Nowadays, those jobs go to LPNs and CNAs.

So, I guess it depends on the type of nursing job you want, as to whether RN or LPN would be better for you.

It may be that you can start as LPN an then go to RN. However, once an RN, you actually have to take another course in order to step down to LPN. At least that's what the law is in my state. I know, because I called the state licensing board and asked how I could easily get my LPN license when I was already an RN. I know it sounds odd, but I really disliked the kind of RN jobs available to me, and thought I would enjoy being an LPN. Now, I'm considering taking a CNA course.

To get back to the original question, I'd still choose LPN over RHIT.

Alice D.

Thanks, Alice! - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Regarding what you said about RNs needing more training in order to work as an LPN - I am not a nurse but it sounds incorrect

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't want to be rude, but that just doesn't make sense to me. I'm very skeptical about whether it's really true. I wonder if you might be incorrect about the part you said about RNs requiring additional training in order to work as an LPN. If that's true, I would be shocked. I've certainly never heard that one before.

I'm right there with you. It requires less than - half of the schooling

[ In Reply To ..]
I know all of the doctors I have worked for would be more than happy to hire an RN at LPN pay, but I have never seen any RNs come in and apply for a clinic job. The state I live in LPNs are becoming more and more limited on what they can do. The hospitals near me really don't hire many. Most ICU/CCUs won't hire LPNs. If you can land a job in maternity, it is only post-partum care. Some of the ERs are getting away from the LPNs too. Most of the ones I know have went either to nursing homes or clinics. I know one that works in med/sur, but the LPNs make way less than the RNs.

I can't figure out what they would have to retrain for. I posted above about the bridge programs available, and they will accept 1 year of nursing courses for the RN program.

Well in my area - mt

[ In Reply To ..]
The two area community colleges in my area that have really good nursing programs (and whose graduates regularly get hired by the local hospitals) require an LPN license prior to admittance into the RN program, so you might want to research that in the event you are considering the RN down the line.

Personally, I would go for the RHIT, if given the choice only between the two options and given that you only have a year left in the each. I had a hard enough time changing my childrens' diapers, lol.

What I would really do though is go through a coding course, like Andrews, sit for both the CCS and CPC, get hired preferably at a hospital doing inpatient coding, and then have Them reimburse me for going back to school to get the RHIT (or RHIA if you already have a BA).

Good luck!

Nursing is no better than MT. Don't be misled. - see message

[ In Reply To ..]
I have several family members who are RNs and LPNs, both are overworked and underpaid. The hospitals and other facilities don't want to pay the money for a full staff so they double up on the work on one nurse; it's cheaper for them. It's a stressful job, and while the money might be better than MT, you still get treated like sh**.

I agree with that. Nurses seem to get - burnt out pretty quickly

[ In Reply To ..]
but I also think it is becoming pretty common in the workforce to feel overworked and underpaid. It is like this in about every position in the hospital. You just have to decide if the stress is worth it. You can get your ASN in about 2-3 years and make fairly good money. I honestly don't know many jobs now that people don't get treated like crap.

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