Excelsior Grads - Where are they now?

WE need previous grads help here..... i know i am posting in the wrong place but the state of GA has just decided to stop taking excelsior grads by endorsement in JULY...!!!!! this is the letter we recieved.. we want them to know that excelsior grads are not just good but greeeaaattt!!!! maybe even better than traditional grads...please help...
Important Update: Recent decision by the Georgia Board of Nursing

August 5, 2008

Dear Student:

I am writing to make you aware of a recent decision by the Georgia Board of Nursing (Board) that impacts you as an Excelsior College associate degree in nursing student.

In July the Board made a decision to no longer license Excelsior College graduates by endorsement, a practice that they have followed for more than 25 years. It is important for you to know that Excelsior College and the Georgia Nurses' Association (GNA) are working together on your behalf. We are asking the Board to change their position and to allow licensure of our graduates. Our request is well supported by evidence focusing on our accreditation status, admission eligibility requirements, curriculum rigor, NCLEX-RN pass rates, and employer data.

The Board has agreed to allow GNA and Excelsior to address the Board at their September 17-19, 2008 meeting. It will be helpful to have students attend the meeting to lend their support to our efforts. If you are able to attend the meeting, please contact a staff member at the Southern Performance Assessment Center, GNA office at
404-325-5536 (toll free 800-324-0462) or spac@georgianurses.org. They will let you know the exact date and time that we will be on the Board's agenda and the location of the meeting.

The impetus for the Board's action is unclear. At this juncture, it seems that a change in statutory language is being interpreted by the Board in a manner that is not congruent with the original intent of House Bill 1041 that passed in July 2008. Thus, in the best interest and safety of the citizens of Georgia, we will be providing the Board with additional information and will carefully address all their questions so that it can make a decision on complete and accurate information.

If you have questions about the Board's recent decision, please address your concerns to the executive director at the address below. I am enclosing a fact sheet for your use when contacting the Board.

Sylvia L. Bond R.N. MSN, MBA
Executive Director
Georgia Board of Nursing
237 Coliseum Drive
Macon, GA 31217-3858
Email: slbond@sos.ga.gov
Phone: 478-207-2440; Fax: 478-207-1354

Hi, Thanks for the advice and enthusiasm. I am just about finished and hope that I pass the CPNE exam. Any suggestions. Should I take the practice CPNE or just study? It cost 795 now but if I need to do that I will. I have been a LPN for 30 years in a lot of different specialty areas.
Thanks for the support.
Go EC, pray that Georgia changes its mind or I will have to move either way I will be an RN.

Graduated from EC almost 4 years ago, work in Level 3 NICU in Atlanta GA

I was just wondering if u could tell me what exactly the CPNE's including when u had to do yours. I understand it's like 3 days of this, is this correct? Thanks for info is appreciated.

BBFRN, how did you get into your MSN program? I just graduated EC and was an LPN for 5 years prior. However, as I look at the program requirements I see alot of " must have had labs ". How did you get around that? And how was the GRE? I still have to do the BSN thing and am working thru the choice of going traditional vs. online? Any advise on getting started? Ultimately I want to be an FNP.

Hi:

I graduated from a community college with an ADN in 2001. I graduated from Excelsior College with a BSN in 2007.

I work as a home care nurse full-time in Connecticut.

I'm doing the BSN-PhD program.
I did all my science courses w/labs in trad schools, because I knew I was going to continue with my ed, and didn't want that to be a problem. I did CLEP Biology & Chem, though.

I hated the GRE, because I was really rusty on the Math. But DH is an engineering student, and helped me out there a lot. The stats part, I was fine with, but had forgotten most of the Geometry, etc.

I did the BSN in a blended program. Some courses were on Blackboard, but most were in the classroom. I went 1 day a week, full time, in a well respected private school. I originally had plans to continue there with the MSNed program, but then I saw the BSN-PhD option at my local university, and thought that would fit my plan a bit better. I did the LPN-ASN-BSN thing already, so I was glad to be able to shave off a year toward the PhD. We do the MSN core courses, but don't do the year 2 concentration courses.

There are some very good online BSN programs out there, so I wouldn't rule them out as options. I know plenty of people who have gone on to get their Masters after finishing an online BSN, so that shouldn't pose a problem for you. I just wanted to be in a classroom with other students. It helps me in the creative process to engage in class discussions, so I think it works better for me.

did you graduate from excelsier program, I am lpn and want to finish my rn how does this program work, thanks

Everyone, I dont have much experience with EC but came from a traditional program, am a Nurse Tech (3 yrs.), previous CNA (8 years) worked very closely with RN's. I feel schooling is the basis for learning but getting out on the floor is a different world, I will say in the last month since I started EC I learned alot more than the years I spent behind a desk at a traditional program through EC's materials. I guess Im a straight forward, no nonsense person. Im enjoying the learning through EC and hope to be a good nurse someday. I feel even in the working world "You get out what you put in." And to be frank, isnt it foolish to put down on a nurse who has potential but hasnt been shown the right thing, we all might have to stand next to him/her one day as a team member in an emergency. I feel we all must try to stick together. What I know you might not because lack of experience in the area. Nursing working together.

so you have been doing excelsior for a month now and you are very happy with it that is what i believe you are saying, and yes I agree we all should work together we are all here for the same goal