A friend bought her degree from the Philippines.

[thatgirlisangel]

So I have a friend who I have known for a fact didn't go to nursing school in the Philippines because she was here in the United States working as a caregiver and mind you it takes 4 years to finish a bachelor's degree. She was taking this shady online classes and telling people that she's in nursing school. Now she miraculously applied for Florida license. Hence, she lives in Michigan and was approved to take the NCLEX. Of all the years I've known her, I have never seen her study or actually be enrolled in school. I am so upset as I worked so hard for my degree. I became an ADN first then went on to pursue my bachelor's degree. Now, she even have a private staffing agency that she poses as a graduate nurse. It baffles me to no end that a person could do all of these things and not bat an eyelash. I need an advice on what to do or should I just cut off all ties with her and let karma do their work. I never wished for anybody to fail NCLEX but in her case I hope she does. It's not safe, fair and for me, it undermines all the hard work nursing student does.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

2 minutes ago, Dani_Mila said:

Yeah I asked him about it and apparently someone has taken the class and passed their boards, working as an RN. It felt like a slap on the face because it took me 2 years to get my degree compared to someone who only did it for 6 months

Not to be difficult, but seriously, to help your friend, I would ask for the name of the website and look into it. I don't believe this happens in the US. That's why Excelsior has been in trouble and their graduates can't practice in several states (or require supplemental preceptor hours). All states have pretty consistent standards on what they require for taking NCLEX. Part of that is graduation from a state-approved program. Because Excelsior didn't have precepted hours for students, they started getting in trouble with different States (they contend that the student's prior and ongoing clinical experiences are sufficient along with a high-pressure clinical exam at the end: CPNE).

Another possible explanation is that the friend that actually completed this program isn't an RN but choses to call themselves that; I've certainly encountered that before. If further questioned they might finally admit they are an MA ("but I do everything an RN does").

But hey, if your friend really has the "in" on a 6 month fully online program, they need to let some people here know about it because there are plenty of desperate people who truly need to get their RN to take care of their families. Am I truly advocating for a possibly slip-shod program, of course not, just saying that if it's true, let it stand up to scrutiny.

Once more Dani_Mila, I am not trying to come after you, just injecting some healthy skepticism into this claim that seems counter to everything I've ever heard about US based RN education.

[Dani_Mila, BSN, RN]

15 minutes ago, TiffyRN said:

Not to be difficult, but seriously, to help your friend, I would ask for the name of the website and look into it. I don't believe this happens in the US. That's why Excelsior has been in trouble and their graduates can't practice in several states (or require supplemental preceptor hours). All states have pretty consistent standards on what they require for taking NCLEX. Part of that is graduation from a state-approved program. Because Excelsior didn't have precepted hours for students, they started getting in trouble with different States (they contend that the student's prior and ongoing clinical experiences are sufficient along with a high-pressure clinical exam at the end: CPNE).

Another possible explanation is that the friend that actually completed this program isn't an RN but choses to call themselves that; I've certainly encountered that before. If further questioned they might finally admit they are an MA ("but I do everything an RN does").

But hey, if your friend really has the "in" on a 6 month fully online program, they need to let some people here know about it because there are plenty of desperate people who truly need to get their RN to take care of their families. Am I truly advocating for a possibly slip-shod program, of course not, just saying that if it's true, let it stand up to scrutiny.

Once more Dani_Mila, I am not trying to come after you, just injecting some healthy skepticism into this claim that seems counter to everything I've ever heard about US based RN education.

I remember he mentioned that it is based in Florida. He travels there once every month for clinical. IDK the name of the company, I too have skepticism about this.

[Megarline, CNA]

2 hours ago, ocean.baby said:

No. It is not required for all ADN programs. They are still RNs.

I noticed that a lot in the ADN programs. In my town, it's not required either. In the BSN program, patho is one of the required courses when in the program. We're comparing differences.

Nobody claimed that they're incomplete RNs if they didn't have pathophysiology in their curriculum. We're talking about prerequisites. In fact, you can't tell which one is an RN with ADN or BSN when he or she is on the floor. Our hospitals where I'm at, they want RN with BSN.

I want you to find a person who said that an RN without a patho is NOT an RN.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

29 minutes ago, Dani_Mila said:

I remember he mentioned that it is based in Florida. He travels there once every month for clinical. IDK the name of the company, I too have skepticism about this.

I really went down a rabbit hole for this. The closest I found was an Allnurses link suggesting that there might be a 6 month RN school in Florida. No one could confirm but they threw out Sienna College and Med-life Institute as possibly being the place. If it is Med-life institute, there's an enlightening longish thread about them here on Allnurses going from 2017 to just a few weeks ago.

I looked them on up FL BON pass rates though the most recent I found was 2017. From their 5 campuses, they had 55 students take the NCLEX and 9 pass (that's 16.33% pass rate). Needless to say, that may have been contributing to their problems which have become acute.

It seems I was wrong (not afraid to admit when I find it's true), some programs are very fast because they have testing-out options, some people mentioned 6-7 months though I couldn't find out if this was initial licensure ADN or LPN to ADN. Either way, that's fast. They do seem to be in that status of State-approved, but not accredited, so you might have trouble if you want to go to another State or if you wanted to pursue a higher degree though some on the thread said they had been able to do both.

Their website isn't working and the end of the thread had people posting what they had been told when they called (that the school was not enrolling new students), and finally a letter from the administrator saying the initial licensure ADN program was no more. Some of the posts seemed to confirm your friend's experience, that students attend a weekend clinical once a month, so I bet these are the same people.

Overall, best of luck to your friend. I hope she/he finishes before the school closes down for good. You can't stay in business with NCLEX pass rates that low but even then it doesn't mean people can't learn enough to pass the boards (16+% have after all).