Originally Posted by lizz As of December, 2003, California doesn't accept Excelsior. There was a proposal to allow LVN's to enter the program as long as they did clinicals in California schools but Excelsior couldn't meet that requirement. That's why they pulled out of the state, as the OP mentioned. And, if you choose to move to California, you cannot opt in if you graduate from Excelsior.
As usual, more quasi-info and innuendo. There is a difference between opinion and fact. As somebody said earlier in this thread (paraphrasing here),
okay, lizz, we get it, for whatever reason you don't like Excelsior. Enough already.
Excelsior is perfectly legal, with and without your quotes, anywhere in the
world.
There is absolutely nothing in the link posted that is supported by any kind of evidence. Board minutes and all that mumbo-jumbo is about as dependable as any other campaign rhetoric. And if you believe that stuff, have I got a deal on a bridge for you!
California can decide who and when to license. That's their right as a sovereign state. It doesn't mean their decisions are correct, or even based on fact. If they think they know better than the NLN, well okay!!! That's good enough for me! (NOT.)
Some state (Wyoming? North Dakota?) has decided not to license grads of associate or diploma programs as RN's, only BSN's. Oddly, that doesn't mean
anything about the quality of any associate degree programs--or their graduates. It only means that state has made a decision, for whatever reason, right or wrong.
Excelsior has an excellent program. I'll match my credentials, accomplishments, and experience against anybody's, insofar as justifying my subjective opinion about the quality of education that Excelsior offers.
Ever hear of Mildred Montag? Look her up! This was one very famous, tremendous nurse educator. She really liked Excelsior--so much so that
she was instrumental in developing its program. One of the Excelsior board members who developed our program along with Ms. Montag is alive and well and on the board today. Mildred Montag was a
founder of the Excelsior distance learning program.
It just doesn't get much better than that.
Excelsior didn't "withdraw" anything in California. Excelsior, being a responsible school, has declined to enroll anyone in California since the decision, because it would be wrong to involve students who would then be unable to be liicensed in that state. Pure, clean and simple. Before that a warning was posted on the school's website that prospective students from California needed to be especially prudent in making a decision to enroll. I saw it. I was there.
Right now, a number of California hospitals (3? 4? somebody help me out) conduct the CPNE there. Since the storm troopers haven't shut that part of the program down (and they sure could, if California really believed--with evidence--that Excelsior College was substandard), I don't think much of the suggestion that Excelsior is "persona non grata" in California, as you strongly suggest. But the hospitals get money for letting Excelsior use their facilities for the CPNE. They also shoulder significant liability for being involved. And yet, they continue. Somehow it just doesn't fit with all the conjecture posted in this thread.....
Oh, and here's something for you to check out, lizz, what about the Excelsior students who were enrolled
prior to December 2003? I believe you will find that they (and this would include me,
and yes, I checked) can be licensed as RN's in California, no matter when they graduate from the program.
Wouldn't you think that if California thought that EC grads were sufficiently substandard, they would just put the kibosh on them all, straight away? How about the ones that are already licensed--if their education has been "proved" poor, shouldn't a responsible state review their credentials and their ability?
This isn't about quality nurses or quality education. This is about "guild issues," that is, California's decision had to do with
economic protectionism, not quality education.
Why anyone who doesn't "have a dog in this fight" would want to constantly deride something they clearly know little or nothing about (except maybe that they tried the program and it wasn't for them) is beyond me. If you don't like Excelsior, that's your right. Don't work with Excelsior nurses! Don't enroll in their program!
Sadly, some people who would otherwise benefit from the program will be scared away from it by the unsubstaniated slanderous maligning that goes on from time to time. Those people won't ever realize their dream of becoming a nurse, and someone, somewhere, will not enjoy the benefit of their professional care. Just like we never know where the result of our good actions ends (some say it never does), so we never know where the unfortunate effects of our bad acts end.
If you were a responsible person, would you want that?
Stony Brook
Nursing News