Difference between RN and RPN
When we look at these two terms, what we most likely would come up with is “Nurse”. Yes, both of them are nurses but have some similarities as well as differences. They have been both coined differently that’s why their meaning are far apart, yet both are in the medical field.
RN
RN literally stands for Registered Nurse. To become one, you must complete a nursing course in a college or university afterwards, take and pass the board license exam for nurses. What a registered nurse practices may vary depending on the institution they are with. Limitations are always present everywhere.
RPN
RPNs are Registered Practical Nurses, some call them Nursing Aids. Even though they sound a like and most likely work in the same area, they undergo only the basics of Nursing. This means that they earn this profession a lot more easier than that of what nurses went through. The number of years aren’t standard but in general, it would take 1-2 years to accomplish this while being a registered nurse would take 4 years to finish and still add a few more months to take the licensing exam, not to mention those who fail which take them more additional years in the making.
Most nurses in most parts of the United States and even the world are loosing jobs because of RPNs. This is because of the mere fact of drastically saving money on RPNs for their cheaper pay than that of nurses. Although nurses can save their job by studying a specific add-on to their profession, taking for example a Nurse Kidney Specialist.
Brief Summary:
-To become a registered nurse, you must complete 4 years of its program and pass the licensing exam while to be a RPN, you have to for study 1-2 years depending on the program of the school.
-RPNs have a smaller pay compared to those of the nurses, but they are more in demand.