GA BON no longer accepting Excelsior education; Speak up Cont. Updates!!

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• Here is the contact information for the GBON, hope this helps every one!!
• Georgia State Board of Licensed Practical Nurses
  
  237 Coliseum Drive
  Macon, GA 31217-3858
  Phone: 478.207.2440
  Fax: 478.207.1354
  Online: http://www.sos.state.ga.us/plb/lpn
  Contact Person: Brig Zimmerman, Executive Director
  
  Georgia Board of Nursing
  
  237 Coliseum Drive
  Macon, GA 31217-3858
  Phone: 478.207.2440
  Fax: 478.207.1354
  Online: http://www.sos.state.ga.us/plb/rn
  Contact Person: Sylvia Bond,
  

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mailto:stateboards@excelsior.edu/..... for any questions concerning the decision about GBON and EC grads!

FYI, for all interested parties, I have submitted my letter in support of EC to all pertinent representatives and GABON. I am prepared to follow up with a hard copy if necessary.

I've been watching this thread carefully since it first started, and I have to say I am appalled at the actions of the GABON and Excelsior College. It sounds like EC has known about this change and did nothing to notify students of a potential problem with obtaining a GA license. I graduated from EC in 2006 and I am currently living and working in GA. While this ruling doesn't affect me, I am deeply saddened for all of you that have been working so hard to complete your nursing degree. This is just bogus politics and it has the GABON written all over it! They have the power to interpret the newly passed house bill as they see fit. I may already have my license, but I feel it reflects badly on me because the state is saying they don't approve of the school I graduated from anymore! The fact that my degree is from EC doesn't make me any less of a nurse than someone that went to traditional nursing school. I am a trauma nurse at one of the largest trauma hospitals in the country and save lives on a daily basis, I mentor new nurses, teach TNCC and consider my self equal to my peers--all with my degree from "that online school." So don't lose hope you guys, hopefully they will work this out somehow where you will still be able to sit for the NCLEX. I'll be praying for you all!

BTW--GradyRN2b, I am glad to hear you passed the NCLEX and I am sorry to hear that this is happening to you--have faith that it will work out and when you get your RN, you can come work with me in the trauma bay at Grady anytime!

I would be honored to worked with you at Grady, I am just hoping that the GBON will consider a grandfather clause or give a time limit for everyone to finish the requirments for EC. Actually I have not taken the NCLEX, 6/30/08 is the date I passed the CPNE!!! I was about to pay my fee to Minnesota and schedule my test, but that is in limbo now! I hate the idea of leaving Grady and uprooting my children to go and practice in another state, but that may be what the GBON forces me to do!! Hoping for the best

Hello all,

This is my first time posting so hopefully I am doing it right. I have been watching this board for some time and it has been extremely helpful. I am finishing up Paramedic school in the next couple of months and I have already started on NC1 and NC2. It's funny, and first I was upset about having to do the new expanded curriculum but now I would happily add more.

Literally 24 hours before the letters went out I bought all the books for all the classes and some study guides. Talk about bad timing. I must say I feel terrible for those of you at the end of the degree who are now dealing with this. Some of my friends are in that boat. One of them went through TCN. Talk about a lot of money on the line.

Anyways, I know I am rambling but I thought I would post the letter I just sent on our behalf. Good luck to all.

To Ms. Bond:

I was recently informed that the Georgia Board of Nursing will no longer accept Excelsior College nursing graduates through reciprocity. With this news, all sorts of information has been bounced around between the large number of students this will affect. I wanted to make sure that I was correct in hearing that the Georgia Board of Nursing will not accept Excelsior nursing graduates under any conditions effective immediately.

If this is truly the case I am deeply disappointed. This has been a practice for I believe the past twenty-five years and many of us, LPN's and Paramedics, have spent large amounts of money in good faith with that practice. I currently work in Georgia EMS and want nothing more then to serve Georgia citizens in a nursing role. I have hundreds of hours of clinical time (many of which are in the hospital working with RN's) and thousands of hours of patient care doing a job very similar to RN's (assessments, IV's, medication administration, activities of daily living assistance, and much more).

The Excelsior program has allowed those of us with extensive clinical health care backgrounds to learn the nursing theory while still working in our professions. It then challenges us to prove that our clinical skills meet or exceed the standards of all other new RN graduates. This program is not only a benefit to us the students, it benefits the health care workforce by producing seasoned health care practitioners who chose nursing as their proud profession.

I hope that you will reconsider your actions, or provide some information as to additional requirements that you would like us meet. Excelsior nursing graduates are practicing in all fifty states in the nation. We hold positions as RN's, Managers, Nurse Practitioners, CRNA's, and many more. We have sacrificed thousands of hours and thousands of dollars to be able to serve as nurses in the great state of Georgia. Please allow us this privilege. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sounds good to me and is similar in content to the letter I submitted.

Hi there hobbit nurse, we encourage you to write from your heart...doesn't need to be textbook perfect...just address how your feeling about this whole situation and how it affects your nursing career and your lifestyle

thank you, from all of us at Excelsior College, School of Nursing

I can't believe GBON will allow nurses with no clinicals to continue to practice in Georgia...considering they didn't receive the PROPER clinical training in the first place...if by their standard EC grads don't meet clinical standards of Ga. what on earth will they do with all the sub-standard nurses?

Is there a way to find out through the BON how many EC nurses are practicing in GA? It would be interesting to see the numbers, and where they work...maybe patients should be informed too...we wouldn't want sub-standard care now would we...

It would be more than comical to find out that some of the board members have been previously hospitalized and cared for by EC nurses and the nurses provided "jam up" care as I'm sure they did/would.