Washington, WA | LPN to RN Nursing School Program

For Licensed Practical Nurses that wish to take their career further, the next logical step is to work towards licensure as a Registered Nurse—the largest group of health care practitioners in the United States, and a group that is expected to grow substantially in numbers in the coming years. In Washington, a Registered Nurse’s average salary is over $70,000 per year (according to BLS.gov), well above the nationwide average, plus benefits. Clearly, nurses are in high demand in Washington and with only one more year of schooling required to become an RN once one is licensed as an LPN, the monetary benefits are obvious.

Because of their greater depth and breadth of knowledge, Registered Nurses are endowed with more responsibility than LPNs in Washington. In short, they oversee and manage Licensed Practical Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants in patient care, assess patient needs and create and modify a plan of care based on their assessments. While around 60 percent of RNs work in hospitals, job opportunities from doctor’s offices to long term care facilities and public settings such as schools and community centers are also plentiful. In addition, RNs can be community educators with regards to public health. From occupational and mental health to anesthesia, radiology, rehabilitation, and beyond, the opportunity for specialization extends to all areas of health care.

An LPN to RN program usually takes a year to complete, which can be done in a traditional classroom setting and also online. Prerequisites include current certification as an LPN and often a year of experience working as an LPN. Required courses build upon those taken during LPN training and include math, chemistry, biology, English, communications, sociology, and, of course, a bulk of nursing specific course work. Because LPN to RN training in Washington brings a nurse’s specialized education to two years total, it usually leads to an Associate Degree of Nursing, as well.

Upon completion of the program, LPN to RN students take the RN version of the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN), which carries a $90 application fee from the Washington Department of Health. Successful applicants are placed on the state nursing registry and eligible to practice as a Registered Nurse in Washington as soon as they receive their passing results.

An LPN to RN program in Washington is a great boost to a nurse’s earning potential and ability to pursue a specialized career of greater responsibility. But it is far from the end of the line—there is still a Bachelor of Science, Nursing available, and after that it is possible to enter graduate programs in both health and education, which lead to even more diverse careers in the education system, public health, and patient care and beyond.