LPN-to-RN -- Does It Take More Than Years of Experience?

According to a story I read recently, there are disgruntled LPNs (also called LVNs in some states) out there who are not happy about the politics of their job. Some feel that they don’t get the respect they deserve and that they are capable of doing more than their scope of practice allows them to do.

Many LPNs are encouraged by their superiors to become RNs but the added expense and time is not something most can afford. One Connecticut nurse has a solution: test out.

Lisa Morell, LPN, thinks that given the chance, she could do the job of an RN. She has developed an online petition to present to her state legislators that would allow any LPN with at least 10 years experience to take the RN exam.

"Even if I don't get anywhere with this, if I can at least make some noise by just speaking my mind as a taxpayer and as a nurse who feels underutilized, I'll be satisfied," said Morell, a 30-year-veteran nurse.

There are plenty who disagree with Morell, including Patricia Bouffard, RN, chairperson of the state nursing board.

"The regulations are clear that an LPN program prepares you to be an LPN and the RN programs prepare you to be an RN," she said. "According to the regulations, the two don't mingle at all. While some skills may overlap from LPN to RN, the education preparation is different.”
Regina Thomson, LPN, president of the Connecticut LPN Association, said Morell’s proposal is like saying that an experienced nurse can be a physician, and thinks the chances of Morell’s proposal passing are “slim to none.”

I can see how the idea of challenging the RN boards would be very attractive to many experienced LPNs. If I recall, back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many returning men who served as medics in the Vietnam War challenged the LPN exam without further education and earned their licenses that way. They must have put in some book time before taking the boards, though, because their knowledge and skills, while advanced in some areas, did not match to those of an LPN.

I’d say the same about the RN boards. An LPN may be experienced in one area or specialty, but the RN boards test knowledge in many areas. I doubt an LPN’s information bank would contain enough to pass the entire board exam.

This is not to say that LPNs aren’t skilled at what they do and how they do it, and this is not to say that they aren’t needed and valued. Perhaps, though, in-charge RNs don’t recognize LPNs and their contributions enough.

Should experienced LPNs be able to challenge the RN boards?

What do you think?