How to Achieve a Smooth Transition from LPN to RN

The prospect of advancing your career from serving as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to a fully Registered Nurse (RN) can be a little unnerving. A little unnerving because you are essentially moving from a simple level of healthcare service provision to a more complicated level that demands more medical knowledge and care. For many LPNs therefore, the transition from working as an LPN to RN can be very difficult.

Many LPNs struggle to adapt to the life of being a RN because they have to take time to complete a program that enables them to take up more medical responsibilities in health care facilities. On paper, the LPNs and RNs may have more or less the same duties but RNs have more medical responsibilities and their expectations for performance are therefore much higher. As a Registered Nurse, you will be required to see the big picture and analyze patient issues more deeply. So, now that we have seen that more will be expected of you once you have advanced to be a RN, how do you ensure that you settle in as quickly as possible? Here are 3 tips on how to achieve a smooth transition from LPN to RN:

Embrace Change

If you want to settle into your new career as a RN, you have to embrace a few changes around you. You have to accept the fact that there will always an air of expectation around you every time you are around your workplace. Your duties will be more than the ones you were used to previously. This is part of your new job and you will have to accept it if you are to have an easy time doing it.

Take Advantage of Training Resources

The reason why a large number of LPNs find it hard to settle into their new jobs as RNs is because they don’t take their transitioning programs seriously. If you want to make the most of your time as a student, now is the right time to begin networking with other professionals in your field. They may offer you the opportunity to shadow or intern with them, or even become an apprentice as you finish up school.

Build on Your Prior Experience

As earlier mentioned, RNs and LPNs do many of the same things in a hospital setting except for the medical knowledge that will have to go up a notch higher. A great way to build upon your prior experience is to find yourself a mentor who can give you a leg up on the competition. Another useful tactic is to volunteer at elderly care facilities or other places outside of your normal work zone. This gives you a way to learn new skills on top of those you are already using day to day.

The other important factor that will affect your transition is, of course, the institution where you take up the transitioning program. It is very important to ensure that you go to a good school which will equip you with the right skills and knowledge. If you are looking to advance from LPN to RN, check out the Athena Career Academy. Athena has helped hundreds of students go from LPN to RN in no time.