You are interested in nursing but don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place. For those who are new, nursing is a surprisingly vast field with a lot of abbreviations: LVN, LPN, RN, MSN, BSN, etc.
First, it is important to understand what nursing is and is not. Nursing is a healthcare profession that is involved in supporting and carrying out patient care. Nursing is not a solely supportive role and nursing is also not a solely independent role. Depending on state laws, most of the time basic nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN), are required to work under Registered Nurses (RN) or physicians. However, some higher end nurses, especially ones involved in specializations can and do work without any supervision.
So, where to begin? Initially, if you do not have any education in nursing you have two basic options, to go for a vocational course (usually one year long) and become a LPN or LVN. This is a very common route that most people take. The advantage of this is that you get earning real money within a year or so. You can do the course wholly online, so you don’t have to quit your job to go back to school. After you do the course, you have to take an exam called the NCLEX-PN, pass that and you are a licensed nurse.
If you have the resources, and are willing to work harder and longer, you have a couple of other options. You can go for a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing or a Master’s of Science in Nursing. If you already have a Bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field you will be able to take certain exemptions (usually all the liberal arts classes like English and history). For exemptions, you will have to contact the schools as they vary from school to school. Overall, nursing is a very promising field with a lot of options, if you want a quick return LPN/LVN is for you, if you are willing to put in more effort for more return go for a BSN.
