Alert! GA Excelsior students

U.S.A. Georgia

Published

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: 478-207-2440; fax: 478-207-1354

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

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Specializes in Critical Care, Acute Dialysis.

Thanks for posting. I as well posted a message here the other day with no response. When are we all going to learn to support each other?

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Colleges in Georgia tailor their nursing programs to fit the requirements of the Georgia Board of Nursing, right? So I assume New York does the same? So that means Excelsior College meets the requirements of the New York State Board of Nursing . . . so if I graduated from another New York university with an RN, Georgia would "endorse" my license? But because it's Excelsior they won't? Is anybody else confused by this logic?

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The whole thing is absurd.

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Hello all,

I am a Georgia EC student. The GaBON states on there web page that the new law states "During the 2008 session of the Georgia legislature, a bill was passed that requires all applicants

for licensure by endorsement to have graduated from a nursing education program approved by

the Georgia Board of Nursing or which meets criteria similar to, and not less stringent, than

those established by the Board. This bill went into effect on July 1, 2008 and is codified in

O.C.G.A. 43-26-7©. " What does this mean less stringent !!! Anyone can interrupt this however they like.

My main purpose for this post, is to ask all of you to please start calling the different news channels. I want this situation exposed to the masses.

1. WSBtv Channel 2 clark howard- NOTE: Clark Howard cannot be reached personally by e-mail, fax or phone. For consumer advice, please call the Consumer Action Center at 404.892.8227 weekdays between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

2. I team reporter, Randy travis fox5 news 404-875-5555 e-mail [email protected]

3. channel 11 news 11alive investigator tip line 404-892-1611

Please join me and calling these different stations and more!! Let's make all aware of this injustice that is happening. I want as many tv reports as we can get in Macon in September covering this story.

If its really true about the clinical hours being the problem, Then if we get the clinical hours problem should be solved, RIGHT. I don't think its that simple at all. I think the right person hands aren't being greased. What ever the case its deeper then just The clinical s.

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I received my letter from Excelsior this past saturday. I am 3 tests away from completing. Since receiving the letter I have sent e-mails to the representatives that sponsered the bill. To get the names just google Ga. House bill 1041, their names are on the top. One senator is also conected with the bill. Senator Don Thomas. Go under Ga Gov. representatives and senators to get e-mail addresses. I have e-mailed the Gov. office and of course Sylvia Bond, executive director of ga. board of nursing. I have also contacted Ga. Secretary of State.While going through the list of government officals I came across Ga. House Resolution 758 that is in the house now for consideration. It urges the ga. board of nursing to consider a method by which LPN's with 15 or more years experience could become RN's upon the wavier of certain requirements. I e-mailed the people conected with that resoulution. I also have calls in to my own representative. The people I have talked to say the problem lies in the way the board is interpreting the wording in the bill. My family and friends are also contacting everyone who may possilbe help. The more people we can get the better!!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Acute Dialysis.

That would be great except for the fact that I do not have 15 years as an LPN!

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GaNurse31763 The point of mentioning the resolution, was to show that the board has already been ask to help alleviate the nursing shortage, but instead are further reducing their numbers. If you haven't already started, e-mail all the people conected with this bill. We have to all let them know how we feel.Not just the board, but all the state reperesentatives,etc....Print up the bill and the resolution, names are there. Good luck!!!

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important note* not only is the ga bon excluding the current ec students from getting their license by endorsement...that is an estimated loss of 1,100 new grads, but ga is losing those who are already licensed by ec who relocate to ga....only to find our they are unable to transfer their license by endorsement in ga. with the current extremely critical nursing bon??? they simply don't care if we have enough rn's in ga.....it seems like a personal vendeta against ec grads....no matter how much experience they may have. at this point and time, the ga bon isn't even willing to look at applications on a case to case basis....it's just a open and shut case. you get licensed by ec....regardless of experience, we don't want you!!!!!

i hope and pray that ec steps up to the plate on this one and their attorneys present a good case for them at the meeting in macon next month. i, personally, called the ga bon to ask "why" they were taking this action. i was told "after house bill 1041 was passed, they had no choice but to honor it and especially since "excelsior was never, ever a program accredited by the ga bon". i say, if the ga bon had been accepting endorsements for more than 25 years from ec grads, then it was chicken s**t of them to merely buckle under and lose thousands of new grads plus those planning on endorsing due to relocation>

let's let our voices be heard ec students and ec gradssss!!!! the nursing shortage is far too severe in ga to let this sort of thing happen and create a even bigger shortage of nurses in the near future!!! speak up...to the ga bon, the house who voted yes on it!!! it's time to get those emails flowing and snail mail piling up on their desks!!!! let's not just talk about doing something......let's make our voices heard and let the ga bon be on the today show and reply to them and the people around the country!!!!! speak up now, or forever hold your peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Here is the link to Bill 1041 that supposedly "forced" the BON to take the action against Excelsior grads. Read it, showing all the changes marked from the way it read previously, and see if anything stands out to you that screams 'aw shucks, we can't take EC grads any more.'

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2007_08/fulltext/hb1041.htm

This has to be someone's personal vendetta. And, PUH-LEASE - it takes 15 years working clinically as an LPN under the supervision of seasoned RNs to compensate for missing 250 clinical hours in RN school, the RNs who come out and have to get the LPNs who have only worked a year or less, to teach them what to do, what to look for, etc., (and I'm not knocking those poor RNs, just God bless 'em). That's an insult to LPNs. Group vomit please. These people think they are all powerful, all slick, and we're all stupid, literally.

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Here is the link to Bill 1041 that supposedly "forced" the BON to take the action against Excelsior grads. Read it, showing all the changes marked from the way it read previously, and see if anything stands out to you that screams 'aw shucks, we can't take EC grads any more.'

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2007_08/fulltext/hb1041.htm

This has to be someone's personal vendetta. And, PUH-LEASE - it takes 15 years working clinically as an LPN under the supervision of seasoned RNs to compensate for missing 250 clinical hours in RN school, the RNs who come out and have to get the LPNs who have only worked a year or less, to teach them what to do, what to look for, etc., (and I'm not knocking those poor RNs, just God bless 'em). That's an insult to LPNs. Group vomit please. These people think they are all powerful, all slick, and we're all stupid, literally.

I think you are right. Someone out there really doesn't like "EC" for whatever reason. I would really like to know who would lobby for this kind of thing to happen. If this has happened in other states prior to GA then there must have been some sort of warning or grandfather clause for those like us. Excelsior probably knows more than the "limited in what I can tell you because we are limited in what we know" they recite when you get them on the phone. I called on Aug. 6th and the person answering the phone at the GA BON actually told me that I may want to think about moving!!!!!!!

I think I am almost through the vomiting stage and now I'm getting mad so the focus will be good. I had no idea I am not so alone. I'm not as far along in the program as you are, but I have everything riding on my ability to become the best Georgia RN I can be. I'm not moving and I'm not stupid. Thanks for the motivation!

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Specializes in LTC, Acute Care.
I think you are right. Someone out there really doesn't like "EC" for whatever reason. I would really like to know who would lobby for this kind of thing to happen. If this has happened in other states prior to GA then there must have been some sort of warning or grandfather clause for those like us. Excelsior probably knows more than the "limited in what I can tell you because we are limited in what we know" they recite when you get them on the phone. I called on Aug. 6th and the person answering the phone at the GA BON actually told me that I may want to think about moving!!!!!!!

I think I am almost through the vomiting stage and now I'm getting mad so the focus will be good. I had no idea I am not so alone. I'm not as far along in the program as you are, but I have everything riding on my ability to become the best Georgia RN I can be. I'm not moving and I'm not stupid. Thanks for the motivation!

I guess you could say I'm at a halfway point in the program. I thought I was alone also. The BON said that this bill was placed on the table in January but not until recently (last few weeks) had I read anything on their website about the "changes". I even called when the OP of the thread on the Distance Learning forum said that she'd been denied endorsement and was told that we would still be able to apply for endorsement. I know there's the option of working for the federal gov't but I live in rural Georgia; the closest VA hospital is 2 hrs away which is also in the state of Florida which means that I would have to move either way. Then there's the problem of having to uproot my child from our family, husband would have to find another job to start over, and we'd have to buy a house (our current home was given to us). These people have no idea how this decision has adversely affected all of us. Talk about heartless. I'm sure something could/must be done. We need a strong advocate in legislation. This whole thing seems so underhanded and dirty.

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