Alert! GA Excelsior students

[consciouscuttie]

all ga nursing student should be very concerned that the ga board of

nursing has recently made a decision to no longer license excelsior

college associate nursing graduates by endorsement. like myself, this

should create an outrage for any current students studying and

planning to practice nursing in ga. from someone who is a current

student, who has spent thousands of dollars and only has 2 classes

left to completeni

was left speechless after i received this letter.

at this time i am trying to let as many people as possible know about

this current development in ga. please, we need to come together and

let our voices be heard. excelsior college is meeting with the ga

nursing board in september if you can be there please contact the

southern performance assessment center, gna office at 404-325-5536

(toll free 800-324-0462) or email [color=#003399]spac@georgianurses. org. for all

those who can't attend please contact:

sylvia l bond r.n. msn, mba

executive director

ga board of nursing

237 coliseum drive

macon, ga 31217-3858

ph: 478-207-2440

please everyone call or write as soon as possible. if you know former

students who have graduated and are working as r.n's in ga

have them call and write too, and let the board know how this

educational opportunity allowed them to become r.n. in addition, have

your supervisors write about there intentions to hire you after you

graduate. this is very important. like myself i

know many of you have invested time and money into completeing this

program and be coming r.n. below is the letter i received:

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 [color=#003399]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: [color=#003399][email protected]. gov

phone: [phone]; fax: [phone]

we are disappointed by this recent decision by the georgia board of

nursing that disqualifies graduates of our nationally accredited

nursing program from obtaining rn licensure. the unfortunate results

of this decision are a further reduction of the supply of qualified

nurses available to care for citizens of georgia and decreased access

to nursing education for individuals such as yourself who come to our

program of study with significant healthcare experience. graduates of

excelsior's nursing program are currently practicing successfully in

all 50 states and there is no objective evidence that our graduates

are unable to meet the critical demand for registered nurses in georgia.

i will contact you again after the board's meeting on september 17-19,

2008 to let you know the outcome of our request to the board.

sincerely,

m. bridget nettleton, phd, rn

dean, school of nursing

cc:

linda herren, rn, crna, president, georgia board of nursing

sylvia l. bond r.n. msn,mba, executive director, georgia board of nursing

cindy r. balkstra, ms, rn, cns-bc, president, gna

deborah hackman, cae, gna, chief executive officer, gna

debbie hatmaker, phd, rn, sane-a, chief programs officer, gna

[North Georgia]

I feel very idle right now---I am reduced to lurking around or being some sort of voyeur on this site. I'm not normally in front of a computer for this amount of time so this is awkward.

I am unable to locate something I read in one of these threads where one of "us" found info on exactly what happened in California(I believe). I would like to know what the final grace period or "grandfather" period ended up being if anyone knows what I'm referring to---maybe something that BBFRN wrote? All these different threads can be disorienting. In retrospect the real terror for me may be that my contract with RUE may not be enough for me to even be considered at all. So the excitement of only 7 classes left until I'm an RN is replaced with nausea and depression.

I have come to EC via RUE. My last exam was Micro on Aug 6th. I called my advisor immediately post exam and was told not to order CN1 because I may not be able to continue with the program. Needless to say, my heart broke. I called the GABON a couple of times because I had more questions and I guess I just couldn't believe what I was hearing.

My background is--EMT in the field for 5 years, BS in Psych, LPN from Tech School (well known for not letting rubbish through and brutal clinical hours---where we were not just lookin'), I have a toddler and a husband who desperately wants to come home so we can be a family. He works at sea and that makes me, essentially, a single mom for 3 months at a time. Our plan is for me to become a GA RN so he can come home to work and not have to worry about loosing our home due to lack of income. I feel fortunate to have found what I want to do with my life---most people just settle. This is worth fighting for, I just need to figure out where the field is and what the rules are.

My first thought is that if (and it seems to be happening here) we unite and are seen as real human beings---not just a group of unorganized, angry, knee-jerkers--The State of Georgia will have no choice but that we will be allowed to continue this path we have foraged or begun foraging to better ourselves and to attain GA RN status. Each one of us has to write down their story. Then we have to get it in front of people like our Governor, Sunny Perdue. Certainly there is a number of letters that when they pile up high enough, he has to look into the problem. He is responsible for appointing the eight members of the GABON. One of the first things he did when he came into office is issue ethical guidelines for his staff and the entire executive branch---he also created the office of Inspector General to investigate fraud, corruption and waste in government(HELLO). He has placed registration and disclosure requirements on vendor lobbyists---we need this info if we ever want to help to create a solution--as painful(more money and time invested on our parts). All of this information can be found on Governor Sonny Perdue's "Office of the Governor" site under "On the Issues"--just put in Governor of Georgia or Sonny Perdue.

I don't think this needs to be a blame game, I just think it should be investigated and we be given every opportunity to move "ever upward"-Ha!--I must need to go and get some air.

Governor Perdue is also responsible for proclaiming "Perioperative Nurse Week" Nov. 9-15 in 2003---He did this because of the shortage of nurses both in GA and nationally--and for many other very pertinent reasons! He and his wife are big into family and children----these are the motivations many of us have for taking this avenue to RN in the first place!

I don't care who did or did not do what they are supposed to do that caused this misguided decision to be made by GABON, I just want the opportunity to be made whole. I don't want to get my money back, I would rather be an RN in the state where I was born and raised. EC needs to know we want that kind of a solution---lets just move "ever upward" and fix the program to meet the standards!--I'm really going outside now. I know they are probably overloaded on this, who here isn't? We have to use all of our diplomacy and respect for each other to find the way to do something to be a positive part of this process.

I will write Sylvia Bond, our Governor's office and continue to lurk and research. There have been some good learning experiences on allnurses.com and for this avenue to be available to me, I am grateful. Thank You.

I will not be so long winded in the future.

[North Georgia]

Looking at my last message, I may be misguided myself. I think that it is really the lobbyist who basically make the rules and they are the ones who convince the legislature to follow. I can now see the value in joining a nurses organization, not that I was ever against it in the first place. Who are the Nursing lobbists?

[rnlately]

NorthGeorgia,

I'm with you; I want to be allowed to finish the program and obtain licensure. It's not enough to get money back because getting money back will not erase the hours of sitting up late at night reading, searching the internet for additional info, and the anticipation of obtaining a degree. I was finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and planned to have completed all course work minus CPNE no later than December of next year.

You're right, what it all comes down to is family time for most if not all of us. I graduated from an LPN night program. I took the night route because I have a medical office job that pays very well and I could not afford to quit that job and attend day classes. I have a duty to help my husband support our family. With that being said, there is still no way possible that I can quit my job and attend RN school full time on campus; it's just not feasible not to mention the long waiting list for acceptance.

Here's a likely scenario: quit full time job, in the process lose property, fall behind on bills, credit rating bottoms out with a possible bankruptcy, graduate RN school with possible student loans looming, and in the end become worse off than you already were. Scary isn't it but I'm sure it has happened to countless people. The goal is to become an RN to better myself and to contribute to the community by filling a nursing void; not to end up in the poor house or in worse shape than you were before you went to RN school.

If the responsible parties EC, the BON, the legislators or whomever else is at fault wants to make this thing right I'm sure that they are within power to do so but the question is will they? I honestly just hope and pray that all involved in this decision have a conscience and really consider the impact that this has on us. I'm sure that compromises can be made.

[ANPFNPGNP]

I feel very bad that all of you guys are having to deal with this. This is somewhat similar to what I had to deal with a few years back with the Texas Board of Nursing. I completed a dual Adult NP/Geriatric NP program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN and passed both of the exams. When I applied for both certifications through the Board of Nursing, they told me that I didn't meet the clinical requirements, because I had only completed 800 hours of clinicals (200 hrs short according to them) and they wouldn't let me overlap clinical hours. It was ridiculous b/c I could have gotten certified in both specialties in every single state except for Texas. The ANCC let us "overlap" clinical hours instead of making us spend a full 500 clinical hours in both fields...GIVE ME A BREAK...THE AGES THAT ARE COVERED OVERLAP! Long story short, I had to "choose" between the 2 licenses and chose the Adult NP, since I would be able to see a broader range of patients. So, I'm board certified as a Gerontological NP through the ANCC, but the TX BON won't let me use that title!

It gets worse, I found that I really liked working in the ER and urgent care, but I needed to be able to see kids under the age of 12. When I went back to school, the TX BON made me RETAKE CLINICAL HOURS IN ADULT AND GERIATRICS! Yes, I had to take the full 500 clinical hours and most of those were with ages that I was legally licensed to see!!! Of course, I wasn't allowed to get PAID for those clinical hours, so I was basically working for FREE (the preceptors LOVED IT - FREE LABOR). It was the most ludicrous thing I had ever heard of in my life. So, now I'm certified in THREE different specialties. If I had to do it over again, I would have just done the FNP from the get go...it would have saved me a time and money!

BTW, does the GA BON not like online programs or is it just a "clinical hours" thing?