When is a nurse not a nurse?
Many recent ads for employment, as well as those for Health Care Facilities, mention nurses — either L.P.N.’s or R.N.’s.  One thing that they do not mention is that there is a difference in backgrounds of these “nurses”.  L.P.N.’s are just that — Licensed Practical Nurses — and may work only under the direction of an R.N. or Physician.
R.N.’s come in different “sizes”.  There are some who graduate from a two-year program with an Associates Degree; those few older nurses that have graduated from the now defunct three-year hospital based programs; and the R.N. with a B.S.N. — a Bachelor of  Science degree in Nursing. Yes, they are different, in experience with what they can do, in their training and educational levels, and their positions in the nursing profession.
Please do not paint all nurses with the same brush!
Lois Farnham, R.N.
Middlebury