Is an associates degree in nursing the same as an RN?

If you go through an associates in nursing program, you are then eligible to sit for your NCLEX-RN (the RN nursing boards). So you get your ADN (associates degree in nursing) and then if you pass the NCLEX-RN you are an RN. You can also go to a 4 year school and get your BSN (Bachelors of science in nursing) and also be eligible to sit for your NCLEX-RN and be an RN. If you go to LPN school it is one year (not counting pre-reqs.) you don't get an ADN with an LPN program. It does make you eligible to sit for the NCLEX-LPN, which is the LPN boards. Some LPN's choose to bridge to RN (that's the LPN to RN program your school was talking about) later. They have to take another year of school to get their ADN and then sit for the NCLEX-RN to do that.

You are talking several different things; let me clarify. There are two ways to get a RN: through an community college associates degree and a 4 year bachelors degree RN. HOWEVER, neither of these is a LPN degree. AND, you MUST go through a nursing program that is for the RN degree. Going through a LPON course gets you a LPN not a RN and you would have to then do the RN. So find a community college that has a RN program, not a LPN one.

What you are talking about are two different things. The two major levels in nursing education are the AA and BSN. With an Associates Degree from an approved college, you can take the RN licensing test and upon passing have a RN license, which opens up a much larger scope of practice than the LPN. Just check with your state's Board of Nursing for their requirements.