I aM floored. I just received notice from GA Board of Nursing that they denied the endorsement of my MN RN license because I did not meet clinical practice requirements . When I called the board, they transferred me to a their Legal Nurse Consultant who stated that effective July 1, 2008 GA would no longer endorse RN license from Excelsior College students with no previous RN experience. She suggested that I go to my licensed state and work for a while then try again, but she could not give me a time frame.
Has anyone else experienced this. I thought we should at least have gotten some sort of notice/warning before this type of rule be adopted by the board. I am going to file a motion for reconsideration using an Attorney. Before I entered Excelsiors program I called GA Board to verify acceptance. I had been accepted to a traditional LPN to RN bridge program; I could have been almost finished their too. I am so sad right now. I have been crying for two days. I think I will need to see my doctor for Zoloft.
I have been an LPN for over 13 years doing Med/Surg for at least 10. I work on a hospital unit right now. THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!!:banghead:
Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
the board has established rules that state the requirements for board-approval for nursing education programs. these rules can be found on the web here (see chapter 410-3, nursing education programs): http://rules.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/page.cgi?g=georgia_board_of_nursing%2fnursing_education_programs%2findex.html&d=1 the board may waive rules, but only when doing so will not contradict the law. if the board waived a rule so that applicants whose education did not meet board criteria are issued a license, the board would be breaking the law and endangering the public’s health, safety and welfare. the board has a mandated duty to protect the public under o.c.g.a. 43-26-2, which states, "the purpose of this article is to protect, promote, and preserve the public health, safety, and welfare through legislative regulation and control of registered professional nursing education and practice. this article ensures that any person practicing or offering to practice nursing or using the title registered professional nurse, as defined, within the state of georgia, shall be licensed as provided in this article."
(3) the course of study for initial licensure may be offered through an approved combination of on site, distance learning, or online teaching/learning strategies. neither class nor clinical learning activities may be offered exclusively through electronic modalities. the majority of learning activities in practice settings must be taught by nursing faculty members according to rules 410-3-.05 and 410-3-.06
(5) the curriculum must be inclusive of learning activities in class, simulated settings, and practice settings, in reality-based situations, incorporating caring and the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health or end-of-life care with people of all age groups who have commonly occurring acute and long-term physical and mental health problems,
illnesses, and experiences
(6) practice-based learning activities shall occur in diverse settings representative of the continuum of health care and with opportunities for students to engage in learning activities that enable the goals of the curriculum.
(8) teaching/learning strategies, activities, and interactions must include opportunities for praxis, reflection, critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making.
[ praxis -definition:
1:action, practice: as a: exercise or practice of an art, science, or skill b: customary practice or conduct
2: practical application of a theory]
these are issues ec needs to address before ga bon in order for its graduates be recognized for licensure.
Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.
These are issues EC needs to address before GA BON in order for its graduates be recognized for licensure.
Yes, and EC needs to be held accountable for all those GA students they didn't inform of this before it was too late. How many GA students here called them when Zimsaint posted about her problems with the GABON, and were told that there was no problem w/EC licensure in GA? I have never had anything bad to say about EC before, but this really, really irks me.
The expectations of each Board can be defined as they see fit, in order to standardize education in their state. I truly don't think these changes were made as a conspiracy against EC students. I believe most of these changes are made in response to the proliferation of distance programs we've had in the past few years, as well as the introduction of technological methods, such as sim labs, etc. into more programs. Naturally, Boards are going to have to set standards that address this. This is probably not going to go away, and will most likely spread further, as more distance programs develop, and as educational technology develops.
EC may have to make some changes, and (I can't believe I'm about to say this) update their own standards to reflect this (gulp)- at least in those states where there are more stringent requirements to be met. That was really hard to say, because I know they have very high standards. I just feel they need to be more proactive, so that more students don't end up in this situation. Passing the CPNE is enough of a gamble. Adding this kind of stuff into the mix is going to lose them a lot of potential (and current) students.
This is not a slam on EC's curriculum or thier students. I really do feel I got a great education from them, and I have never met a bad nurse that made it through their program. I have recommended EC to literally hundreds of LPNs/EMTs who wanted to get their ASN in a way that was workable for them. If they don't make you guys whole in this, I will no longer be able to recommend them in good faith. And that makes me very sad.
I didn't call EC after Zimsaint's post but I did call the BON and was told that Georgia residents could still obtain licensure by endorsement. I wish I'd gotten the name of the person I spoke to.
]I am an EC student in VA and I have been researching the issue ever since I was informed a few weeks ago about the VA BON's legislation to no longer accepting EC graduates by NCLEX-RN exam OR endorsement. I am sorry your wife did not get a response back from EC's dean. I have been corresponding with EC's assistant dean, am working to "organize the troops" and will be making a public comment at the next VA BON meeting in Sept., where the EC assistant dean will also be present.
]The most disturbing thing I have come across in my reasearch is that the driving force behind individual state BON's moving in this legislative direction is coming from the NCSBN (National Council of State Boards of Nursing). I spoke with a representative of the NCSBN who "gleefully" confirmed this. They are encouraging ALL state BON's to create this legislation. This fight is bigger than VA or GA... it's a national fight. The reference you made about the estimated increase of the nursing shortage by 2020 is spot on, and the reason why all of us need to lobby to ammend this legislative trend.
Did the representative ever explain why they are lobbying for this kind of legislation in place?
So working under the supervision of RNs as an LPN doesn't count I guess??? EC works with those who are already practiced as clinical nurses. I don't get what the problem is - can they not delineate between RNs with no clinical experience and practicing, licensed nurses?
Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.
So working under the supervision of RNs as an LPN doesn't count I guess??? EC works with those who are already practiced as clinical nurses. I don't get what the problem is - can they not delineate between RNs with no clinical experience and practicing, licensed nurses?
So working under the supervision of RNs as an LPN doesn't count I guess??? EC works with those who are already practiced as clinical nurses. I don't get what the problem is - can they not delineate between RNs with no clinical experience and practicing, licensed nurses?
Don't forget the paramedics in the program, too ...
I want to know why the NCSBN's representative "gleefully" owns up to lobbying for this legislation to be in place across the U.S.
I have just started looking into why the ncsbn has a problem with excelsior. As of yet--there are meeting minutes from a 2005 North Dakota BON meeting where EC is present. I will follow up on this later, I'm cooked.
What exactly are you doing, serenity67, when you say you are working to "organize the troops"? I am not being ugly, I am just trying to understand. I signed the petition--is this what you are talking about?
The Georgia General Assembly passes house bill 1041 (as passed house and senate). There is nothing specific in this bill that leads to the conclusion that the Georgia Board of Nursing can no longer accept licenses through reciprocity with Excelsior College as the educating entity. So we go the the "Important Announcement Concerning Statutory Changes to RN Licensure by Endorsement in Georgia".
The only thing the GABON stands on is"The Board has a mandated duty to protect the public under O.C.G.A. 43-26-2, which states, 'The purpose of this article is to protect, promote, and preserve the public health, safety, and welfare through legislative regulation and control of registered professional nursing education and practice. This article ensures that any person practicing or offering to practice nursing or using the title registered professional nurse, as defined, within the State of Georgia, shall be licensed as provided in this article."
(Emphasis added.)
This is totally subjective unless they have a large number of documented instances where specifically Excelsior students have been directly responsible for the deaths of their patients. We come back here in a minute.
Next we go to the "Rules" that are established by the GABON to see if there is anything there that specifically mentions EC students. This is specifically chapter 410.3-.02 Nursing Education Program Approval as referred to in the "Important Announcement". There is nothing specific and what is there is subject to interpretation, again they claim power to make the rules---and by the way it would not be a bad idea for everyone to get familiar with these rules, myself included.
We stop here. We have a law that allows us and rules and regulations that allow us to continue. There have been no laws violated and no laws that have to be changed. This is a matter where the GABON has simply "awoken on the wrong side of the bed" one day and is also able to "awaken on the other side of the bed" the next.
I have seen some really good points made in this forum with ample evidence to support them. We have to get unemotional about this or we will loose. Looking into what happened in other states is key. I personally think we could in the least hope for some grandfathering in period.
I am looking into how we best go about presenting our case. I need your help. I also think we should make every effort to have as many people at the meeting in Macon in September as humanly possible.
Specializes in CHPLN- Cert. hospice/palliative care LPN.
Hi serenity67,
I want to know why the NCSBN's representative "gleefully" owns up to lobbying for this legislation to be in place across the U.S.
I have just started looking into why the ncsbn has a problem with excelsior. As of yet--there are meeting minutes from a 2005 North Dakota BON meeting where EC is present. I will follow up on this later, I'm cooked.
What exactly are you doing, serenity67, when you say you are working to "organize the troops"? I am not being ugly, I am just trying to understand. I signed the petition--is this what you are talking about?
Thank you.
]Hi! I guess I have been a bit "general" in my posts regarding "organizing the troops". What I'm trying to do is organize students on a national level to try to bring awareness to this issue regarding the disenfranchisement of EC students. I cannot speak for ALL distance learning programs, as I have not researched them, but we ALL are aware of the NLN accredited status of EC. It is my belief that if we don't create some sort of national awareness, the current educational avenue of EC's nursing program will soon become obsolete. While it appears on the surface that I am fighting "in representation" of EC, that's not necessarily the case. I am fighting for "us as students" to be able to continue the EC curriculum. It is not something that will be easy or expedient, but I think it's a fight worth trying. I'm completely new at trying to do something like this, so it's taking me some time to put together. Here is what I am thinking so far:
]-create a network of students nationally
]-create a platform that defines our issues/goals
]-collectively gather info/data to defend our position
]-begin massive letter-writing campaigns to legislators
]-begin contacting local and national media outlets for
]exposure to enlighten the public regarding this issue
]That is a basic outline of my thought process up to this point. I am open to suggestions from all of you. As far as your question regarding the NCSBN's "gleeful" response to me on the phone, let me explain this in more detail. I had both a telephone conversation and e-mail correspondence with a nurse at the NCSBN when I first learned of the new law here in VA that will shut out EC RN graduates from ever obtaining licensure. Her "gleeful" attitude (which, perhaps would better be described as "condescending and smug") was in reference to the difference between LPN clinical hours and RN clinical hours. Their position was that due to the difference in our scopes of practice, we as LPN's needed to REPEAT all clinical hours in an RN curriculum when enrolled in an RN program. Those of us that have actually endured LPN clinicals and have been working as licensed professionals out in the field would beg to differ. The missing link between the LPN and the RN is not as much a "clinical" issue, but an issue in "applied theory"... a theory more commonly described as "critical thinking". EC provides the needed theory concepts to bridge that gap, and those of us who have been part of the nursing community for any length of time have already grown toward that direction of thinking as a result of real life working experiences. Let me be clear when I say that the NCSBN is not "endorsing"... they use the term "we have taken a 'stand' on this issue". The problem is that this "stand" now gives credence to individual state BON's to move forward with creating legislation that will disqualify RN graduates from programs such as EC from ever being licensed RN's. You know, the same way it works when a lawyer wins a historical case... suddenly everyone uses the outcome of THAT case as the "new standard". There is a complete "mindset" that needs to be changed/disproven within the nursing community itself. This will obviously take a lot of work, time, energy and exposure to try to change. Meanwhile, we can work as a collective to create this change nationally, as well as work collectively to help those individual states as they fall victim to this disenfranchisement (like the current states of VA and GA). There is power in numbers. We can all help each other to acheive a higher "noise level". We would be working to ammend the law... which is a tall order, but the only way to secure the future of the current EC curriculum.
]In closing, here are 2 links. One is a link to a news article about the governor of Wyoming who REFUSED to sign the similar legislation submitted by their state BON (this is what we need more governors to do, and it's OUR job to educate them BEFORE the submission for legislation arrives on their desks to be signed). The second link is to the study done by the NCSBN committee that I referred to earlier in this post. I hope this makes my mission a little more clear and PLEASE offer any suggestions you may have! Thanks! :)
]Hi! I guess I have been a bit "general" in my posts regarding "organizing the troops". What I'm trying to do is organize students on a national level to try to bring awareness to this issue regarding the disenfranchisement of EC students. I cannot speak for ALL distance learning programs, as I have not researched them, but we ALL are aware of the NLN accredited status of EC. It is my belief that if we don't create some sort of national awareness, the current educational avenue of EC's nursing program will soon become obsolete. While it appears on the surface that I am fighting "in representation" of EC, that's not necessarily the case. I am fighting for "us as students" to be able to continue the EC curriculum. It is not something that will be easy or expedient, but I think it's a fight worth trying. I'm completely new at trying to do something like this, so it's taking me some time to put together. Here is what I am thinking so far:
]-create a network of students nationally
]-create a platform that defines our issues/goals
]-collectively gather info/data to defend our position
]-begin massive letter-writing campaigns to legislators
]-begin contacting local and national media outlets for
]exposure to enlighten the public regarding this issue
]That is a basic outline of my thought process up to this point. I am open to suggestions from all of you. As far as your question regarding the NCSBN's "gleeful" response to me on the phone, let me explain this in more detail. I had both a telephone conversation and e-mail correspondence with a nurse at the NCSBN when I first learned of the new law here in VA that will shut out EC RN graduates from ever obtaining licensure. Her "gleeful" attitude (which, perhaps would better be described as "condescending and smug") was in reference to the difference between LPN clinical hours and RN clinical hours. Their position was that due to the difference in our scopes of practice, we as LPN's needed to REPEAT all clinical hours in an RN curriculum when enrolled in an RN program. Those of us that have actually endured LPN clinicals and have been working as licensed professionals out in the field would beg to differ. The missing link between the LPN and the RN is not as much a "clinical" issue, but an issue in "applied theory"... a theory more commonly described as "critical thinking". EC provides the needed theory concepts to bridge that gap, and those of us who have been part of the nursing community for any length of time have already grown toward that direction of thinking as a result of real life working experiences. Let me be clear when I say that the NCSBN is not "endorsing"... they use the term "we have taken a 'stand' on this issue". The problem is that this "stand" now gives credence to individual state BON's to move forward with creating legislation that will disqualify RN graduates from programs such as EC from ever being licensed RN's. You know, the same way it works when a lawyer wins a historical case... suddenly everyone uses the outcome of THAT case as the "new standard". There is a complete "mindset" that needs to be changed/disproven within the nursing community itself. This will obviously take a lot of work, time, energy and exposure to try to change. Meanwhile, we can work as a collective to create this change nationally, as well as work collectively to help those individual states as they fall victim to this disenfranchisement (like the current states of VA and GA). There is power in numbers. We can all help each other to acheive a higher "noise level". We would be working to ammend the law... which is a tall order, but the only way to secure the future of the current EC curriculum.
]In closing, here are 2 links. One is a link to a news article about the governor of Wyoming who REFUSED to sign the similar legislation submitted by their state BON (this is what we need more governors to do, and it's OUR job to educate them BEFORE the submission for legislation arrives on their desks to be signed). The second link is to the study done by the NCSBN committee that I referred to earlier in this post. I hope this makes my mission a little more clear and PLEASE offer any suggestions you may have! Thanks! :)
Wow i read the article about the governor. I am going to include it ,in my letter to our governor here in GA, I am also going to include it in my next e-mail to the GA BON, and the news stations!!!
I really like when it said ,and I quote ""They basically were done in secret," he said. "I thought that was kind of a poor way to do business and was reflected in the quality of the rules they developed. That's why I got involved and complained about it."
. When I called the board, they transferred me to a their Legal Nurse Consultant who stated that effective July 1, 2008 GA would no longer endorse RN license from Excelsior College students with no previous RN experience. She suggested that I go to my licensed state and work for a while then try again, but she could not give me a time frame.
Grapenut
85 Posts
Also, I thought Ga. House Bill 1041 is what we were dealing with regarding "changes" to the state nurse practice act. http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2007_08/versions/hb1041_HB_1041_AP_4.htm
Is there more they have added elsewhere, because this is what the Georgia Legislature posted?