has anyone taken the online refresher course with..

mm071509 · Jul 26, 2009

Yes I have and I am outraged. I am an RN in NJ and FL, but kept my licenses active for the past 20+ years as I have left the clinical setting but continued working in other areas. I currently live in Arkansas and I have decided to return to patient care and investigated my options. I called the AR State Board of Nursing and they referred me to their website which listed 4 approved RN refresher course providers which they recognize. I just completed the online theory section of the course this month and have experienced the same issues you have. CLS was an approved RN refresher course provided by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing. It was one of only 4 approved, only 2 of which were online, the other 2 were snail mail. I thought that I had dligently researched each of these limited options. I even had spoken with Ms. Kelly Miller Martin on the phone prior to enrolling and explained to her my situation and location. She assured me that I could do clinical locally in Arkansas. After completion of the theory portion this past 2 months, I have been contacting various health care facilities locally to try and obtain a clinical rotation. I have received absolutely no responses. I tried to call Ms. Miller Martin and she refused to return my calls. She finally responded via email, first saying they have no open contracts in Arkansas, then stated it was the healthcare reform issue, then stated that since I held an active license I was legally barred from completing a clinical. I also had originally consulted with the AR Board of Nursing. I did as they advised. I applied for licensure endorsement in AR and received it. Now Ms. Kelly Miller Martin's position is that I cannot do a clinical rotation because I hold an "active" license. I subsequently spoke with the AR Board of Nsg and they are supporting Ms. Miller Martin's position and offered me no other solutions except to practically beg for a job. I sought clarification and an explaination from the AR Board of Nursing and was told that my only option was to try to convince potential employers to provide me with an extended orientation. What is the point of taking AND PAYING FOR a nursing refresher course if I am barred from hands recent on clincial experience to bring me up to speed. What potential employer would consider me employable without it? I currently have a BSN degree and three active RN state licenses and who would employ me without recent experience. I am not pleased that the AR Board of Nursing is siding with Consolidated Learning Services and I advised them that Ms. Miller Martin's power point presentations were nothing that I could not have obtained for myself from the new medical surgical nursing texts I have purchased. I also resigned my employment so I would be available to complete a clinical rotation and then search for nursing employment. Now all of that is obviously on hold. I feel that I was most definitely misled and given false information and I am now unemployed and unable to file a claim for unemployment compensation. This will most definitely be brought to the attention of the ANA and other agencies. If you have already paid your $700, which I am sure you have since you are in the online course......I would strongly suggest that be very very careful.

thekid · Jul 27, 2009

I'll pm you privately.

I wish I'd researched more as well:down: (is that emoticon a thumbs down or a descending colon?)