Can I sit for Boards? 7 days from graduation, dropped

[studentinnursing]

I have had a medical issue come up, with just 70 hours (and 2 journal entries) of my internship, which is 1 class of the 3 separate classes of my last semester of my Associate of Science in Nursing. I have completed the other 2 classes, and we have already sat for exams and our standardized ATIs, and I was so excited I had 96% chance of passing NCLEX first try....Now, with 48 hours of my 120 required, I cannot/could not (happened last week) complete the other 72 hours of my "management"/internship with my school-appointed preceptor.

Because we already had exams, and those were for "Roles" and for "Nursing IV" which was theory, and I completed and did okay and everything, was good to go, just had to do 3 journal entries; I only did 1 of 3 because I realized I could not physically do the other 72 hours of my preceptorship, so I figured why do the papers; however, I still have time to complete those.

I want to know if I am still allowed to sit for boards; did my school send my name to the board after I passed exams? I think finishing this 72 hours would only be for my AS degree, not necessarily whether I can sit for boards or not? I am freaking out, had BSN all lined up, scholarship for this summer and another, separate recurring scholarship from Spring that would "recur" in August or January of my BSN, and now I cannot even finish this stupid 72 hours, cannot get out of bed, cannot even drive my kids to school; yeah, that freaking debilitated. I am going in to talk to the Dean tomorrow, if I can get out of bed, but I have to get there some how since my instructor (who seems to be nice and helpful) has not given me any information since she asked if I wanted to talk to the Dean and I said Yes, and asked what my options were; she never replied what my options were. She has called once in the past 3 days I should have been in clinical/preceptorship, left no message; she usually texts but hasn't. So I'm going in blind to speak to the Dean about hopefully getting a slot-in whenever possible to either redo the whole semester???!!! Or just the "management"/preceptorship class??!! (Of course what I hope is the case, just the one class).

At this point, though, I only have 3 days left, so no way I can get childcare nor physical strength to finish this by......Pinning is May 3rd, and instructor never gave me "due date" in which I needed to finish 72 hours when I asked....probably this Sunday I am guessing. But I am not physically able to jump back in and do it even if I had 6 days to do it in.

Can I sit for Boards?? I cannot believe this, four years I've put in, and (quite literally) a week from being done, I cannot finish. We used to joke about what we'd do if something happened, breaking our ankle and having to redo a semester, and I thankfully won't do anything crazy but I am obviously frustrated, angry, sad, humiliated, defeated, just feel horrible all around....

PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME I CAN SIT FOR BOARDS; 2 kids, no child support, and have worked about 20 hours since Thanksgiving because of nursing school, and my job is great so I can go right back to near full-time (which is at home and doable at this point), but I have no income coming in until I can get a few weeks in with pay period, etc., and I don't eve know how I'll pay May's bills, as I had to use loans to survive so far, but they last about a semester and the semester is up, had to turn down a job at the trauma hospital (my dream workplace but not dream position thank God), and I am ready to flip my lid of course if one itty bitty thing more happens.

I haven't had the strength or courage to call Board of Nursing yet, think I'm scared of what they might say, haven't been able to get out of bed until this evening and talking to the Dean tomorrow, but now I want to know NOW, ya know?

If anybody out there is awake in my time zone, or hopefully in another, please let me know either way if I can sit for boards. I do have my at-home job, so besides May, we will be okay because it's almost as much as I'd make as a GN/RN, but I really want to sit for Boards, obviously.

Thanks for any input! Really, please tell me either way; now I am feeling better, thinking clearer, able to come upstairs to office, and I DO have the courage to want to know what I need to do, but it happens to be 0130 EST and I can't ask anyone! Just my luck, huh?

[Hotfornursing, RN]

I wouldnt think you could sit for boards without a nursing degree, so my answer would by no, most nursing programs require x-amount of hours to earn your degree. If I remember correctly, your nursing program is responsible for sending your grad info to BON, so yeah, your name would need to be on the list of grads to apply to take boards. I had a classmate that passed finals, but hadnt turned in all her assignment, needless to say, she didnt graduate :-(

[Ryans1mom73]

Your situation sounds heartwrenching. I am so sorry that you are going through this. But, no I dont think you will be able to sit for boards. I am pretty sure you h)ave to have your degree. I really dont think they make any kind of exceptions. But talk to your dean, maybe just maybe they might make an exception this once. It does hurt to ask.

Hope all works out for you...you have come too far to stop now.

Sometimes our plans dont work out ( I know, i had a baby during nursing school and had to repeat a semester) but we keep moving forward.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[JerseyBSN]

You may be able to take the NCLEX for LPN/LVN. I have known other nurses who didn't finish school but were able to sit for the NCLEX-PN.

I'm not quite understanding your post. First you say you have no money, then you say you have a work from home job in which you earn as much as a GN/RN? You can't get out bed, but then you can.

[GoosbyLPN]

Like JerseyBSN said you can sit for ur LPN exam if ur going to school for BSN, but will u able to perform any nursing duties??? They wont send ur name to the BON untill u graduate cause u have to send transcripts to the state when applying for ur license. I hope they can let u make up those days so u can graduate...good luck Yeah I was kinda confused with ur story too...

[elkpark]

As far as I know (and I've practiced and taught in a few different states over the years), every US state BON requires that you have graduated from an approved nursing program in order to be eligible for the NCLEX. Your school has to send the info to the BON verifying that you graduated. It doesn't really matter how close you came to graduating if you didn't graduate. As already noted, in some states (not all) you are allowed to sit for the NCLEX-PN if you finished some specified amount of an RN program.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

As mentioned unless your school graduates you you can not sit NCLEX as the BON will not clear you

[caliotter3]

You need to speak to the people at your school. Do not waste any time. The longer you wait to resolve this, the less chance you have for this to work out in your favor.

[studentinnursing]

Yes, if/when I'm out of bed working I make the money; no, I have no money when I can't get out of bed. You have to get up and work, can't work from bed.

[studentinnursing]

How about diploma programs? There is no nursing degree to be had and students sit for NCLEX-RN? I could have sat for NCLEX-PN last semester, so I'd rather make up my one "I" in management than sit for PN. With medical documentation (once they freaking tell me what to bring, been doing this for week or two) I at the very least will have an I in only 1 of 3 classes, so far is what I'm told.

I passed all exams and end of program exam, just missing part of the preceptorship.

No, cannot do nursing duties as a floor nurse, but I can do many things with my AA, ASN, and RN.

[studentinnursing]

My income for this year, with 2 children, is less than $100. Obviously I had to have school loans to take care of 2 children by myself. I haven't felt like this the whole time; this just started happening a month, month and a half before graduation; some days I'm okay, most days I am not. So, after 4 years of school, $30k in loans, I cannot be a nurse because all of a sudden I physically cannot. Life's a *****, huh?!

Thanks for the answers. I was also wondering how the graduates of a private school (where none of the credits are transferable for a degree at a state university or community college) can take NCLEX-RN if they don't have an Associate of Science in Nursing? I am not sure if you all are talking about a degree and graduating as the same thing/interchangeable. If my name was sent to the BON at the beginning of April because we already took/passed all exams, then I didn't think they would keep me from sitting for NCLEX-RN with medical documentation showing why I couldn't go the last half of management; with my preceptor it was no different than what we did in 4th semester, did absolutely the same things with him that I did before we took exams.

I guess it depends on the school and/or circumstances. Or maybe I'm just screwed no matter what. Will find out next week.

[sandyfeet]

I hope it works out for you. Maybe you can make up the time as a summer graduate? There were a few people in my class who had medical

Issues and were not able to complete everything in time so that's what my school did for them.

My school (ADN program) sent something to our BRN (CA) in April so that we could apply for licensure, but will not send our transcripts until the semester ends. The BRN needs to know we completed all requirements. Hopefully something will work out for you! Good luck!