Alert! GA excelsior nursing students

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][e-mail]. 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

[Leo2]

Does anyone know how many Ga. EC students there are? I wonder If the board even knows how many people they causing to lose thousands of dollars spent on their education, to take care of the people of Ga. I hope every EC student and grad lets them know how unfair they are being. I have been an LPN for 22 yrs. that should count for some clinical experince don't you agree. Leo2

[KellyCCRN]

Leo I definitely agree it should count for something! I don't know how many EC students there are in GA but we are willing to put up a fight. I was one class shy of applying for the CPNE when I got this devastating news, now it seems my whole career may be in limbo.

[FeFe23 RN]

GaNurse, I know the feeling. I too have only one more test to complete before becoming CPNE eligible. This recent decision made by the GBON has me so confused and disgusted. I don't like being kept in the dark, especially when there is so much at stake concerning my education and career. I am praying that GA will at least give us a deadline to complete EC's program as other states (VA, CA) have or even better allow additional clinical hours and continue to endorse EC students.

I am going to try my best to attend the meeting in September, because I firmly believe this situation is very crude and unfair to all who attend Excelsior College.

[serenity67]

]Good morning troops! I am still continuing to grow a national movement to fight this issue. This is ONLY THE BEGINNING! I first began this effort when the VA BON made a similar legislation, only to see that it has now happened in GA as well. It is IMPERATIVE that EVERYONE UNDERSTAND what is happening here. States aren't just "randomly" discrediting EC grads. It is coming from the TOP! I spoke personally to someone at the NCSBN (National Council of State Boards of Nursing) and THEY are the ones pushing ALL STATES to move to this new legislation. If it hasn't happened in your state YET, trust me when I say it WILL. These decisions are being made behind closed doors by a handful of "board members", only to be brought to public knowledge AFTER it becomes law. We need to join together and fight this! We must take it to the court of public opinion and pressure our elected state officials to, in turn, pressure the BON's to reverse this legislation. It is taking me a lot of time and effort to put this type of an organization together, but it is worth every minute! Even if some of us manage to earn our degree and become RN's in our current states, the degree/license will not be worth the paper it's printed on if you suddenly decide to move to another state. If you read these legislations CLOSELY you will see that they also say VERY CLEARLY that they will not grant RN licensure from educational distance avenues like EC EVEN BY ENDORSEMENT FROM ANOTHER STATE. They use the lame excuse of "required clinical hours" as the basis for this legislation, completely discounting our YEARS OF CLINICAL HOURS WORKED AS LICENSED NURSES. If I'm ALREADY LICENSED to be a nurse in my state, WHY ON EARTH do I need to be "retaught" the basic core of nursing?? That's why these programs are called "bridge programs" and RIGHTFULLY SO. I'm not disputing the need for more education, but the reality is the missing link for LPN's that needs to be taught is the "theory of critical thinking" piece. Programs like EC teach that. OK, I'm done with my morning rant. PLEASE SEND ME A MESSAGE... E-MAIL ME AND JOIN IN THIS FIGHT! LET'S TAKE IT ALL THE WAY!

]

"We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate." - Thomas Jefferson

[Leo2]

I 'am scheduled to take my CPNE Oct. 10th. 2008.then I'am done! for all the good it will do for me. It's enough to depress the smily face at Wal-mart.I have already cried about it but I still don't feel any better about it.just ranting a little sorry. Leo2:(

Leo I definitely agree it should count for something! I don't know how many EC students there are in GA but we are willing to put up a fight. I was one class shy of applying for the CPNE when I got this devastating news, now it seems my whole career may be in limbo.

[serenity67]

I 'am scheduled to take my CPNE Oct. 10th. 2008.then I'am done! for all the good it will do for me. It's enough to depress the smily face at Wal-mart.I have already cried about it but I still don't feel any better about it.just ranting a little sorry. Leo2:(

]I know how you feel Leo2, it's a bitter pill to swallow. I just went to the store and bought a memory foam pillow and bed overlay... was thinking of just crawling into bed and never coming out! I am continuing to grow my contact list in the hope of creating an army to overturn this legislation in VA/GA, but I know it won't be easy and or timely, if it happens at all. I don't know what else to do other than get involved from the poilitical angle.

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

ga is not being fair at all , i am not from Ga and i am a RN. you worked hard to earn your RN through excelsior ,and for Ga just to take away all you earned is not fair or right.

what will happen to all the people who passed boards in Ga who graduated from excelsior,? i would think once you had your license they can't take it away...

if there's anything i can do please let me know

i did live in fort benning Ga when my dad was in OCS .. and i loved living there it was beautiful..

[RESIAK1]

YES, I am now on the CPNE list waiting for my test date. This decision after 25 years of dealing with Excelsior Students is apolling. We should and must stick together. Those who have began and especially finished the program shall be rewarded our degrees ! I have been in the Medical profession since 1984. I am clinically prepared ,:zzzzz:coollook: wouldn't you think, but I am willing to do additional clinical rotations if it is mandatory. Let us pray the our Heavenly Father will intervene in this decision. We should and must rely on intervention from someone with a Higher Authority, (Our heavenly Angels ) to take care of this for us. On the day of the Meeting we should come together in prayer to reinforce our knowledge about Excelsior and look forward to leaving these meeting victorious. remember for" If God be for us , Who can be against us". "We are more that conquers through Christ Jesus who strenghtens us:bow:". We must have Faith and confidence in these words. This challenge is a opportunity for Georgia to accept Excelsior students not only by Endorcement but with a little revision they may License us in this state as well.

[willfinish2]

They are now doing the same thing in Virginia! I don't know about anyone else, but at my job in an Urgent Care center I do everything

an RN does except IV pushes. With some of the RN's I know much

more!!! All except one went to a 2 yr college.

[bobs201]

Good luck guys, im in sc and was just about to sign with EC until i heard this. Im gonna be a travel nurse and i particularly like the ATL. So ill be waiting until the summer to start my program.