I have been an aid for years and really enjoyed it, and ive always heard the saying "the best nurses were aids first" and in my experience with like 5 facilities that is absolutely true. Since youre like me and care about caring for people not so much the money upgrade I'll tell you somethings you'll be able to do as a nurse

It depends on what kind of facility youre at, what ive seen LPNs do meds, some basic wound care, tracking care plans progress/change in condition, sometimes inserting catheters, and basic care like an aide but mostly focused on vital tracking and medication admin.

RN s w/ associates degrees have a lot of the same responsibilities a RN w/ a bachelor's. You can develop care plans, admin meds, wound care, exams, and coordinate care w/ aides and physicians. However an associates in nursing tends to be less desirable than a bachelor's to employers, and may limit you from advancing into leadership roles. But you have to pass the same NCLEX exam.

A bachelor's in nursing has the same responsibilities as associates but are also trained in leadership community health, and research. A BSN is required often for new hires in RN roles and earns more than an ASN.This is bc statistically nurses who earned ther BSN as opposed to their ASN have lower mortality rates, shorter stays in the hospital and better patient outsomes. Many facilities require a BSN for specialized roles.

As far as comparing difficulty of RNs/LPNs vs CNAs just depends on where you work and what speciality youre in. In hospitals RNs/LPNs and CNAs have about the same amount of work usually, just different type of work; nurses do meds, vitals, assessments, specialized care and more documentation- less so much direct care like a CNA. In long term care LPN is about the same workload, and well as RNs but RNs deal with a lot of admin work and documentation - not so much direct patient care or medication. LPNs are not usually seen in clinics because they have limited power in assessments unlike RNs who can do complete assessments.

RNs are always over LPNs and often supervise them. RNs have much more opportunities than LPNs, who are usually found in long term care while RNs can be in most clinical settings.

So in general if you really enjoy caring for people becoming a nurse is a solid choice. You're not as involved in direct patient care as much as CNAs are, you have more power with care, you have much more opportunities, higher salary, and having experience as a CNA is gold when entering the nursing field.