Discussions

I cant seem to find specifics online.  
 
Can someone tell me the difference between the two?  
What would an RN do that an LPN wouldn't and vice versa?  
 

Not much but one thing I can tell you is the extra 2 years of schooling to become an rn is a lot more worth it pay wise.  
An lpn can't pronounce death. An rn is always the head nurse.

Lpn is a 2 year program at ACC and rn is a 4-5 year (depending if you do your pre-nursing in one or two years) and is VERY competitive to get into after your pre nursing year. I'm currently doing my health care aide at ACC and some of the things I've read in a textbook are: 1) RN is the superviser that aides, lpn, nurses assistant, social workers etc report to. 2) RN tends to deal with more of the unstable patients and LPN deal with more stable patients. Don't quote me on these, but this is just from what I've read through out my course

There is a big difference in the job duties and medical responsibilities. One ic clinical (BN RN) which requires more extensive education. The LPN is a support position, and works under the supervision of someone with more extensive training (BN or RN).  
 
BN/RN - Administer medication and treatment to patients, coordinate plans for patient care, perform diagnostic test and analyze results, instruct patients on how to manage illnesses after treatment, and oversee other workers such as LPNs, nursing aides, and home care aides.  
 
LPN - Provide basic medical and nursing care such as checking blood pressure and inserting catheters, ensure the comfort of patients by helping them bathe or dress, discuss health care with patients, and report status of patients to registered nurses and doctors.

there are a few differences between RNs, BHs and LPNs  
 
as far as I know there is not a course in MB for just RN but a few places like ND can transfer to Mb with an RN course. Job descriptions of RNs are basically the same as someone who graduated with a BN degree except a few select jobs like public health nurse ect are required to have the full 4 year course  
 
LPNs are now a 2 year course and many places allow LPNs to do the same skills as RNs but a few more restrictions on jobs as someone with just an RN associates degree but they are responsible for supervising HCAs and can be the charge nurse on at the time but at this time most places still need one RN charge nurse responsible for the facility, i suspect in future years the government will allow places like PCHs and Lodges will do away with that requirement since LPNs skills are now up to as surpassed the olden day RNs, AB is already trying to change  
 
BNs can do any job that is available to nurses, sometimes you need a few extra courses tho  
 
If you are considering nursing I would suggest getting a job as an untrained aid,even if its just for a few months, you will learn a ton about patient care and what area you may like to work.  
 
Another thing you should know is if you cant get into the BN program, which would be my first choice imo (more money, more options and not as heavy of a course load) is that you can take the LPN course and then Bridge either through Athabaska online or BU or you can go to Bottineau and upgrade to RN so you do have options

If you check out www.setyourcourse.ca and put 'Nurse' in the search bar you can pull up the goverment profiles on both RN and LPN. The site also tells you which schools offer the specific training, the outlook for each profession as well as the ranges for wages.

Is LPN is an old title but the titles will very from province to province. It all comes down to how much time are you willing to go to school for and how much you want to make. Plus most places will take the RN RPN over the LPN because of the need for someone on the floor to always be able to pronounce death. All other restrictions can generally be lifted after additional training.

some of the provided information in the above comments is incorrect. It depends what province you are planning to work in. Also, depends what Health Authority you work for and the scope of practice within the facility you are hired.  
 
LPN's can be Charge Nurses (the course is offered within certain facilities). LPN's are able to obtain certain competencies same as an RN/BN. If a policy states "Nurse" than an LPN can perform that task too.

Really the only difference is pay lpns can now do the same duties as an rn or Bn really only other difference is rn or Bn can take management jobs where lpns can not yet

In my workplace they do the exact same job. This was not the case many years ago though. There is a huge difference in pay so they seem to be hiring more LPN's than RN/BN as it's cheaper to hire. There are more opportunities though for BN with management, staff educator, public health, and other such type jobs.  
 
So really the choice is yours depending on how long you want to go to school for, pay scale etc.

I am an LPN and there is not much difference. Lpns DO administer medication we do the exact same things. There are only some certain specialty skills we can't do at the beginning, but there are courses you can get to be certified. Lpns can also be charge nurses if u take the course. The only difference is that RNs can go into management, and up higher in that aspect. Rns can also work in ICU or emerge or cgp. But again lpns can do some upgrading courses to qualify for those areas!  
Otherwise pretty much the same except u cram 4 years of schooling into 2 years for the ACC program. Good luck!

In terms of ward nursing. Manitoba's scope of practice for lpns is broad. I'm not sure about other provinces tho. I have heard that some provinces don't allow Lpns to perform as much as they do here. Maybe someone could clarify this. If you are wanting to move and have a full autonomy and perform all nursing duties maybe rn is the way to go?

if you really want to look into the difference look up or phone the collage of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses and ask them the entry scope of practice in MB (if you plan on going to a difference province then phone them too because there are differences) you could also phone the RHA that you are near, they might be willing to talk to you about the differences in their policies, defiantly worth the work to look into before you make a career choice

LPN does all the physical grunt work.  
 
RN does the brain grunt work, and writes a chart novel about each patient, available at the gift shop upon exit.  
 
RN then decides to become a nurse manager.

It all depends on where you work. It's different from ward - ward, facility - facility and province - province. I work in a specialty area and the LPNs do the exact same skills/patient care as the RNs. They can even be in charge! The only difference is the pay.

Here in Brandon there are few differences between the workload of an RN and an LPN, but this will vary from facility to facility, region to region and province to province. LPNs can, and do, pronounce death and work in the role of "charge nurse" in Brandon hospital and personal care homes. Always best to do some research into where you plan to practice as a nurse to find out the difference in expectation, pay, etc.

They can pronounce Death. I know this because I do almost daily in my job.

Well that's good to know! A bit ago where I worked lpns weren't able to be charge nurses or pronounce death. It definitely depends on where you work I guess.

Here in Brandon LPN's can do practically any skill an RN can do. You CAN be a charge nurse and you CAN pronounce death. On a ward you cannot tell the difference between the two RN's ask LPN's for help and vise versa. The only real difference is the pay.