My friend took her board before she started her GN orientation/position and failed. She wanted to know if she's required to let them know that she failed the boards. Her job is offering a huge loan forgiveness program and she's afraid of losing it. I believe she should tell but I don't honestly know what the protocol is. If anyone knows please reply. TIA.

Yes, she does, especially if she is working as a GN. In most states, the GN status is dependant on the fact that that she has graduated from an RN program and takes the Boards and PASSES them a t the first possible opportunity. In most states, GN status ends when Boards are passed or failed - the nurse is either an RN, or if failed, may be changed to a senior nurse tech or other title.

In some states, GNs are permitted to do some nursing procedures or give meds w/supervision, that are not permitted to nonRNs/nonGNs. If your friend is no longer legally entitled to GN status, and continues to act as one, she may violate law and if caught and reported to the BON, may not be able to write Boards AT ALL. Not to mention, that a facility employing said GN, has possibly put the other nurses that work w/ the nonGN in some legal danger and the facility itself will be held increasingly responsible.

GN status is a privilege, not a right. Many facilities refuse to offer GN status, or rarely hire nurses until Boards have been passed, because of people that fail Boards and do not report it as appropriate. While your friend may or may not have problems w/the facility and loan forgiveness, if she tries to "coast" or cover up that she failed Boards, the penalties can and will be severe. Such as never being able to work for the facility at all, or, if she practices as a GN inappropriately, the BON revoking her ability to ever take Boards at all.

Carolina (who has worked with GPN that failed and lied about it)

thanks so much for writing back (and so quickly) and I completely agree with you. I'll make sure and let her know so she can call as soon as possible.

The other issue is that some states requiring an extensive wait between when you failed and when you can retake Boards - anywhere from 30-90 days. What would she do, duck HR or lie for that time period? In many hospitals that ask for proof of when you are scheduled for Boards and know when you should be getting results.

Better to be honest and upfront than be caught in a lie.

I called her and she's still not picking up my phone calls (just quickly answers my emails) so I left her a message. I really don't think that she's thinking at all right now and just might be overwhelmed. I wanted to make sure and have something else to say other than that I didn't think it was a good idea.

If she is caught lying about this, chances are she will be terminated. She must own up to this and go on with life. Otherwise, it is practicing nursing without a license (since she knows that she has no license).

I believe you only can work as a graduate lpn/rn for 90 days...call board of nursing to get advise! I would just be honest & tell them you are set to retake the exam. good luck

CT. General Statues Sec. 10 P.A. 04-221:

"Graduate Nurses cannot practice for a period greater than 90 CALENDAR days after the date of graduation."

"...all temporary practice privllidges shall automatically cease upon notification that the graduate nurse has failed the licensure exam."

As the other posts have stated, if "your friend" continues to work s/he may be putting their carreer in jepordy.

no need for the quotes around the word friend, i posted a while back in the nclex boards saying i passed, my friend took her test about 2 weeks after i took mine. and i have no idea what she decided regarding her job, she will still not answer our calls so we have stopped trying to reach her. i have emailed her that information from the ct.gov website but have not received a response from that either. i have noticed that people who have failed really don't want people to know and don't want to talk about it. on the other hand i have another friend who failed who calls consistently and does not care who knows (but i'm sure that's rare). Thanks everyone for all the replies but b/c she doesn't answer our calls, we cannot pass on the information (at least not anymore than we have).

She is taking an enormous risk. Her graduate nurse temporary license is invalidated the moment she receives notification of failing the NCLEX. She may be under the impression that she still has until the 90 days is up before she has to stup using it, but that is not the case. If she works even one hour as a graduate nurse after failing the NCLEX, she can be cited for nurusing without a license and have to wait two years before retaking the boards. This happened to a former coworker of mine. My coworker worked one shift after finding out she failed- just one shift because it was the last shift on that pay period. The BON apparently checks on the new grads who have failed the NCLEX, and they realized the discrepancy and charged her.

She has got to tell. Her reputation is on the line.

On the West Virginia temp permit it states that you have 2 days from the notice of failure of the nclex-pn to mail back the temp permit to the Board of Nursing of penaltys will result.

Just curious ... why isn't "your friend" the one posting these messages? It seems to me like she is the one who should be asking these questions directly, as this issue affects her as a professional and really has nothing to do with you. Just wondering why "your friend" isn't taking a more active role in her situation, and why you seem to be a bit overly active in trying to help ....