CA BoN asks for individual courses, but do they exist?

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Hello everybody,

I'm a foreign educated nurse applying for licensure in CA. After I submitted all the paperwork to the CA BoN they sent me a letter that states the following:

"An evaluation of your application for licensure as a Registered Nurse in California indicates that your nursing education does not meet the minimum requirements in Obstetrics, Pediatrics and Psychiatric nursing.

In order to meet this requirement, it will be necessary for you to make up these courses, both theory and clinical practice, in an accredited school of professional nursing in California. [...]"

ok.... so after calling several colleges from the list the CA BoN provided I must say I'm rather surprised by the fact that there are absolutely no colleges offering individual courses. I don't understand, why would the CA BoN tell me I have to take courses that are impossible to take??? ... unless of course I join a 2 year program (added to my 3 year degree, and I'm not even going to mention the costs).

Does anybody know of ANY colleges in South California that offer individual courses?

I'm stuck and don't know what to do or where to go from here :uhoh3: I can't be the only one going through this... can I????

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Hi, Im having the same as yours but mine is only Pscyhiatric clinical and theory.. I dont know what to do.. i called some schools and they told me that i should enroll for the whole program. heeelllppp.. :(

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Hi RLuiii, I'm sorry to hear you're going through it too...let's hope we'll find a way...

Is there nobody out there who knows why a state governmental agency would send foreign nurses literarily 'cow tipping' ? Is the CA BoN aware of the fact that one cannot take individual courses in the state of California? Or am I in the dark and are there in fact colleges that offer these types of courses?

There has to be a way...

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Yeah.. I hope so.. you received list of schools that you can go to.. along with the letter?.. Are we allowed to enroll in a school not included on that list?.. Cause I think we can have bigger chances if we can find a school that's not included on the list..

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Specializes in NICU.
...why a state governmental agency would send foreign nurses literarily 'cow tipping' ?

Off-topic, but I don't think that's quite the phrase you're looking for there.

Anyway, from all I've heard (although not in my personal experience, fortunately), the CA BON is not the most extraordinarily helpful body of folk. You'll notice that their letter (at least what you've quoted from it) makes no mention of there actually being schools offering individual courses like you're looking for; they're just stating, from their point of view, what the deficiencies are in your academic record. Unfortunately, I've never heard of any schools that are structured to offer courses à la carte -- that's just not the way nursing programs are set up here. I'd advise you to call around, especially to community colleges and maybe online programs, and see what they say...but don't hold your breath.

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Sorry about that.. Thanks.. I see.. so its fine to take the said course even they're not on the list together with the letter.. anyway... thanks for the help Coffee Nurse! :)

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Specializes in NICU.

Not quite what I said. It would be fine to take those courses individually, if you could find an accredited place that offered them individually -- but you're unlikely to.

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Coffee Nurse, I think there are some colleges who offer individual courses.. especially community colleges.. check it.. they offer different subjects but first you should have the needed prereq subjects.. they will first evaluate your transcript if you have those pre reqs subject.. if you have it.. then good.. :) .. hope we can make it.. :)

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@ Coffee Nurse: 'cow tipping' was the only thing I could think of that would be equal to an impossible to accomplish mission a gullible person is being sent off to do :D after the first 10 colleges I called told me they didn't offer what I was looking for I got really frustrated. Also I'm not sure what they meant by "it will be necessary for you to make up these courses" ... talking about language barriers, huh? To me 'make up' only pertains to the courses mentioned...but then again english is my third language :confused:

Thanks for your advise though! I will call all accredited colleges in the state of California and make sure I try every possible scenario before I give up!

There's a 'myth' about an institution in L.A. that used to offer courses like that to foreign nurses but of course they have been out of business since '09 so... SIGH!

@RLuiii: Yes, I got and additional 7 pages that contain all CA accredited colleges. To be honest with you I'm not going to research colleges that aren't on that list. If you find a college that offers individual courses (with both theory & clinicals) 1. PLEASE let me know!!!! and 2. you can always write CA BoN an e-mail telling them that you found a college that offers individual courses and ask them if they would accept and recognize transcripts from there ;) I've noticed they are really good about answering e-mails as long as your question is clear and has a definite yes-no answer!

I'll definitely keep you posted on what I find!

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I have never heard of a school that offered individual courses. If that were the case, many, many people would be able to complete their degree requirements and get their license. The BRN does not care that this is impossible for you, only that they are using this as a means of saying you are not qualified.

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What's wrong with foreign nurses being able to complete their degree requirements and get their license?

Maybe the state could benefit more from them working and paying taxes than having them pay a private school and be unemployed for another 2 years... just saying...

PS: the waiting lists for community/state colleges are 2 to 3 years long IF you get accepted; so naturally anybody willing to have a life and earn money will chose a private school.

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Specializes in NICU.

It's not a commentary on the skills/aptitude of foreign nurses; the plain fact is that there is a discrepancy between your training (specialized, I assume) and the general training that is the standard in the US. It is not the Board's job to bail out the state by creating more taxpayers -- their job is simply to enforce the laws that dictate the required level of education for licensure.

(P.S. -- Cow tipping is not a metaphor. I believe the phrase you were looking for is being sent on a wild goose chase.)

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