Re: Excelsior and Texas Originally Posted by karaelaine 
As much as I hate to say it....I am glad Texas BON is doing what they are. I live in Texas and am about to graduate from a BSN program here and honestly I would be worried about an new RN who is expected to really know assessment and have clinical judgement who had NO CLINICAL experience in school. I believe that clinicals are essential to developing sound clinical judgement and to just becoming a safe nurse. Even though Excelsior grads may pass the NCLEX like other RN's...answering questions on a test and actually being in a clinical situation are 2 different things in my opinion. If I were you...I would work on transfering to a program that has clinicals and is more respected whether its ADN or BSN. That would probably be the safest route. Good luck to you!
You really don't understand Excelsior's RN program. You have to have your clinical experience BEFORE you go into the program. You just can't walk in and take a written test and qualify for the NCLEX. Before I graduated from Excelsior I was a CNA, a medical assistant, an EMT, a Paramedic, Licensed Midwife Apprentice and LVN. The program was perfect for me as I had LOTS of clinical hours--more than you would ever see in a RN program. Excelsior also has a VERY TOUGH testing clinical in a hospital with pts. It is not a learning clinical but a real, repeat demo on all nursing skills. The 3 days that I took my testing clinical only 3 out of 7 who tested actually passed! (I did!) It would be interesting to see a study that showed problems with Excelsior grads vis traditional RN program grads. I've also never seen any headlines screaming Excelsior grad involved in a medmal case or had been implicated in a death or serious medical event. If there were problems with Excelsior grads the program would have been shut down years ago. They are also NLN accredited.
LOL! A "more respected" program. Hospitals want new grads to have warm bodies, they don't even look were they graduated from! If the BON will take someone from another country that graduated from who knows where, then they should take Excelsior grads.
The last time I talked to Excelsior I think, if I recall right, they said they graduate more RN's per year than any other program.
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