I'm really confused and hoping for some clarification....

I currently hold a RN license in Utah. I haven't been able to work thanks to the MILLIONS, okay, maybe not millions, but it almost seems that way, number of nurses in this bleeping state. (Trying to hold my composure. Didn't come here by choice, but by the US Air Force.) Anyway, we might be moving to GA next year and I was looking at the GA BON website and came across the following information.

To receive an RN license by endorsement, they require that you had to have worked at least 500 hours. Well, since I haven't been able to find a job (and will no longer be looking because we don't have that much longer here), I will not have those hours. However, I will be completing an RN-BSN program (fingers crossed) this December. Once I dug through the website a little more, I found on a pdf form that it says you must have done one of the following in the past 4 years: graduate from an accredited nursing program, be able to show proof of having worked 500 clinical hours, or have completed an RN refresher/reentry program.

So, if I will have just graduated with my BSN, then do I not need to worry about the 500 clinical hours or the refresher program? Anybody else have any experience with this?

Thanks in advance for the input!

Oh, and just to add, we might be moving to Warner Robins/Robins AFB -- please tell me there are nursing jobs either there or in Macon. I was soooo disappointed when we got to Utah and I struggled and probably sent out close to 200 resumes, never to find work.

Ya, if you have just graduated, you do not need to worry about the 500 hours clinical experience. According to a lday I spoke to from the Georgia Board of Nursing, she said to ust put N/A and new graduate on the Employment history page, so they know why you have not worked yet. I myself, am also applying for endorsement from California.

Good Luck!

I applied for licensure by endorsement from another state (even after graduating from a nursing school in Georgia less than a year prior) and was told that I needed to have 500 verifiable hours of RN work experience. I'm not sure if that's because I was working full-time in that other state, but I had to have my employer sign a form and send that with my application. I would definitely recommend calling and speaking with someone at the BON and getting a straight answer from them.

I also live in Warner Robins and work in Macon and there are a bunch of RN jobs here right now. I work at a large hospital in Macon, and they hire new grads locally and have a lot from Atlanta and other areas around the state as well. There are also several other hospitals in the area. If you want more info on the local area, feel free to PM me :-)