Arkansas Board of Nursing released a notice on October 25th which stated that they now require an SSN for licensure application and applicants will not be permitted to sit for NCLEX without providing an SSN.
In addition, ARSBN now requires Credential Evaluation and English Proficiency from foreign educated RNs.
I have spent a few hours on the phone with Arkansas Board representatives to clear this issue up and can tell you the following:
SSN requirement is not part of the Board policy and is therefore not up to interpretation, this is a STATE LAW and must be enforced strictly.
Any applicants already granted eligibility prior to October 25th will still be allowed to sit for NCLEX but will NOT be issued licenses and must provide an SSN before the expiration date which appears on the letter of passing.
Any applicants who HAVE NOT been granted eligibility must wait for their INDIVIDUAL evaluation.
Currently there are more than 600 nurses pending applications, the applications will be evaluated one at a time to determine if eligibility will be granted (based on the stage the application is in the evaluation process) or not.
ARBSN has not yet determined if there will be any refund issued for those applicants who have not been granted eligibility. As of my last conversation with them, they are considering simply holding the applications and waiting for SSN to be provided in order to grant eligibility.
More info will be posted here as I receive it.
NOTE: I am NOT a representative of Arkansas or any sort of placement/staffing agency. I am a nurse advocate and career consultant.
