What's the difference between a NP and a RN?

Whats the difference between an LPN and an RN?

• I'm seriously thinking about nursing school, can someone give me details about the difference in pay/difference the the courses?? THANX!!

• Answer:

  LPNs are not trained as extensively in things like anatomy & physiology, disease pathology, physical assessment, etc. as RNs are. LPNs can take vital signs and do wound care and pass some (but not all) medications and do basic patient care. They function at an intermediate level, trained to do more than a CNA but less than an RN. RNs have a profession based on what we call ADPIE - assessment, diagnosis, plan, intervention, and evaluation. We don't just take the vital signs and know normal from abnormal, we know what things mean, we have to create goals and a plan and take actions to correct problems. We don't do "medical diagnosis" where you would say to a patient, "you have pneumonia", as a nurse, we treat the responses to these medical conditions, so for example, with a person with pneumonia, a nursing diagnosis might be "ineffective airway clearance" and we would have to form interventions to improve that airway clearance. An LPN goes to school for about a year. An RN needs a minimum of a 2 year associates degree (usually takes 3 because there are pre-requisites to complete), but you're better off in the long run if you eventually earn a 4 year BSN. You can do the ADN first and there are RN to BSN completion programs offered everywhere or just go right into a BSN program. LPN courses are not as intensive and challenging, but it still takes work and practice with your skills. RN courses are very challenging, not because the content itself is extremely complicated, but it's hard because of the sheer volume of what you're expected to learn in such a short time frame. It's not uncommon to have 10 chapters of reading to cover in a week for just one course. You will quickly learn how to study effectively by not reading everything word for word but skimming the highlights. LPNs can make anywhere from $12-$20 per hour depending on where they work, experience level, and where you live. RNs make a starting salary of between $40-$60k per year. And contrary to what the first answer said, you do not have to start out as an LPN. You can go straight into an RN program. Many RNs never worked as a CNA or LPN before becoming an RN.