[elkpark]

Originally Posted by anotherneonurse

The whole thing is just a huge scam to pay nurses even less than they already do which is some of the lowest pay in this country as it is.

Little history moment here -- Actually, it's not a "scam"; GN status dates from the days when state boards were only offered twice a year and it took six to eight weeks to get results (and longer than that to get an actual, physical license) Depending on when you graduated (typical "graduate" time, May or June, or if you were on a different schedule for some personal reason), it could easily be six months after you graduated from nursing school before you got licensed. For that reason, most state BONs offered the option of working as a "graduate nurse" so that people could start earning some money PLUS they would not be losing their skills/knowledge during that interim period waiting for the license. "Graduate nurse" status was doing new grads a favor, and was based on the assumption that you were going to pass boards when you took them. A grace period, if you will. It also served as a valuable de facto internship for new graduates -- you could work as an RN but still needed to be supervised closely by a licensed RN. Once you took boards and didn't pass (and this is still true), you immedidately lost your GN status and could no longer work without the license.

GN status was never mandatory -- employers had the option of hiring new grads as GNs but weren't required to do so.

Now that grads can take the NCLEX-RN right away, whenever they want, and results and licensure are almost instantaneous, more and more states are doing away with GN status altogether, as the original rationale for its existence no longer applies. Also, even in the states that aren't doing away with it, more and more hospitals/employers are choosing not to hire people as GNs.

[caroladybelle]

Originally Posted by elkpark

Now that grads can take the NCLEX-RN right away, whenever they want, and results and licensure are almost instantaneous, more and more states are doing away with GN status altogether, as the original rationale for its existence no longer applies. Also, even in the states that aren't doing away with it, more and more hospitals/employers are choosing not to hire people as GNs.

I agree with this. In the days of 2 day long written Boards, I graduated in early 12/1993 and did not receive a hard copy of my license until 5/1994. There was also no website that my employer could check.

As an aside, GN status is a privilege and not a right. And many people abused this right. In the state of Florida at that time, you could be stuck on hold to the Board for 30 - 75 minutes straight to speak to someone (I have a few long distance bills to prove it). There were several instances in my facility alone, where GNs showed the "green slip" that said you were scheduled to sit for Boards, and allowed one to work as a GN. Then they didn't sit for Boards or they did and were notified that they failed. They continued to work as GNs, and it was nearly impossible for employers to check up on them due to inaccessibility of the Board. The legal issues involved when they got found out were daunting and led to many places refusing to offer jobs to GNs.

[blondegenius]

My stepdaughter graduated RN last Spring and didn't pass her boards the first time out of the gate. However, the hospital in Wichita did allow her to continue to work as a GN (at half RN pay) until she passed it a few months later.