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 Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.
when I spoke with EC counselors, they said EC is not willing to implement any clinical's, the counselors went on to say the school doesn't even have the funds for such a thing. Also , she said there are 50 states in the Confederate and most of them accept Excelsior grads. So I took that 2 mean the Heck with the states that don't. I personally feel that EC should implement some kind of optional clinical, for students who want to take them, or for those whose state require them to have them. This way the student pays the clinical fees. I know EC has been around for years with a good rep ( thats why i choose the school) but, times change, and you have to change with them or get left behind!!!
One of the reasons people choose EC is the $$$. Think how much the CPNE cost. Now imagine how much that kind of clinical will cost each student. How many people are going to be able to come up with that kind of $$$. EC has a finite amount of resources and with 50 states plus a couple of teritories, they can't cover everyone. If you go back and search some of the other threads, you'll find that a couple of the distance ed programs, gave up trying to meet all the criteria of just the states around the campus. They couldn't meet the variety of the requirements.
It's not just EC. My wife is faculty at a reasonably large SE school. She's sat through some of the admissions meeting and they don't want to recognize anything but traditional brick and mortar classes. Some people who were applying to grad schools, (MS and PhD) were put to the bottom of the pile because some of their classes were "non traditional". Those of us who are distance ed are on the cutting edge, and sometimes you get cut and bleed when your on the cutting edge. But persistence and solid logic can prevail.
i have been in both a rn program and a lpn program, and i wouldn't say there was that much difference during our clinical rotations. for rn clinicals we were there from 7-3:30 and during lpn clinicals we were there from 7-7. we had to perform complete patient care, handle multiple patients, interact with the patient support team, chart,give medications and interpret lab results-- all under the supervision of a rn.(one instructor per 8-10 students. just like in rn clinicals.) believe me, we worked our tails off. it is hard to believe that they aren't giving credit for any clinical hours for lpn's/paramedics.
we need to continue to raise awareness and educate people about the truths of ec.
lpn students ( i was one)
736 clinical hours
720 class room hours
4pt's including complete assessments, personal care, wound care, adl's, meds , all procedures iv"s ngt, foley's, dressing changes, etc, etc, etc.
now where i did work, would get rn students ( adn &/or bsn) 1 pt, med pass and assessments only because per nsg instructor" we don't want to scare them off".
now who has more clincil experience??
sorry just had to get that off my chest.
not flaming or dogging rn students but come mrs. copper!!
One of the reasons people choose EC is the $$$. Think how much the CPNE cost. Now imagine how much that kind of clinical will cost each student. How many people are going to be able to come up with that kind of $$$. EC has a finite amount of resources and with 50 states plus a couple of teritories, they can't cover everyone. If you go back and search some of the other threads, you'll find that a couple of the distance ed programs, gave up trying to meet all the criteria of just the states around the campus. They couldn't meet the variety of the requirements.
It's not just EC. My wife is faculty at a reasonably large SE school. She's sat through some of the admissions meeting and they don't want to recognize anything but traditional brick and mortar classes. Some people who were applying to grad schools, (MS and PhD) were put to the bottom of the pile because some of their classes were "non traditional". Those of us who are distance ed are on the cutting edge, and sometimes you get cut and bleed when your on the cutting edge. But persistence and solid logic can prevail.
AS a matter of a fact, I have checked around and I saw that chamberlain stopped their distance learning program, because of trying to meet the needs of different boards of nursing. But ISU is still going strong with their LPN to BSN program, and they have clinicals. I know for a fact because I just got off the phone with them today. And, don't pass over the fact that I said optional clinicals, of course I don't run any schools or set up any programs, But i think something is better then just saying move to a state that accepts us.
i was wondering how many hours ga rn's are required to complete. a lpn has to complete 700 hours under a rn supervision. why wouldn't that be enough? it is almost twice the required hours as a rn. it is very frustrating.
as lpn students we did clinicals 3 days a week ,6:45- 1530 for each and every clinical day!
so now that i have completed my reg of 700 hours and have been an lpn for 5 years ( 4.5 of those as a med/surge primary nurse) i would think that counts for more than enough clinical experience!!
this whole thing is frustrating me and causing my bp to go up!
Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.
Having been an independent EC student in the past, actually helped me to get into grad school. Thank goodness my admissions committee members knew about the program, and promote a technologically rich program.
Very well done!!!:yeah:Excellent points. I would love to see her reply.
I was considering moving back to Georgia. Of course that was/is one of several considerations.
Perhaps I'll have to write and see if my " multi-state " license will even be accepted there.:chuckle I wonder what their stance is on experienced nurses from other states who just happened to graduate from EC is????? Not that I am experienced yet. ( still too new ) But it would be 2-3 years before we move. :typing One of the colleges I wrote to was Medical College of Georgia because I had previously taken some courses through them. ( I plan to continue for FNP ) I had plans to go back there since my parents live down there and are not doing well. Seems like I have a letter to write, too.
With the new interpretation you could have 10,000 clinical hours as an RN in another state and not be granted endorsement into GA if you graduated from EC. Doesn't matter if you have a BSN from another school or a MSN from another college. If you got your orginal RN from EC then you cannot endorse into GA.
AS a matter of a fact, I have checked around and I saw that chamberlain stopped their distance learning program, because of trying to meet the needs of different boards of nursing. But ISU is still going strong with their LPN to BSN program, and they have clinicals. I know for a fact because I just got off the phone with them today. And, don't pass over the fact that I said optional clinicals, of course I don't run any schools or set up any programs, But i think something is better then just saying move to a state that accepts us.
I know several people around my area who decided to go with ISU and are having a horrible time getting someone to precept their clinicals....it is a very involved process. At this point I do not think any of them have finalized a preceptor.
I know several people around my area who decided to go with ISU and are having a horrible time getting someone to precept their clinicals....it is a very involved process. At this point I do not think any of them have finalized a preceptor.
I wish them luck, but the point of my post is it doesn't seem to be a problem with the fact of a distance learning program, ( because ISU has been accepted by georgia) the problem is EC has no clinical's, and are not trying to make accommodations to set any up, at least on a optional basis. I may be wrong but the different state boards don't seem to be close minded 2 the fact of online school, just to the fact of no clinical. Let's all be realistic here, if you enter into a traditional lpn to rn bridge, no matter if your an lpn with 700 clinical hrs(and some schools here even want you to be an lpn for 2 years at least) you still will have to do clinical's. I don't want you all to get me wrong, i am currently a enrolled student of EC living in Georgia, so I'm not against EC, and yes i'm mad as heck, the GA BON pulled the rug from under us with no warning, and yes i am hoping they can work something out so I can continue my education with EC. But if they ask for some clinical's to be implemented, cant EC, come off their high horse and meet us half way, that's all i'm saying. IT CAN BE DONE, IF THEY WANT IT 2 BE DONE.
I agree it could be done. I can also see their point of view as well. I have completed everything except my CPNE at this point ( which I'm holding off on now) Believe me it's extremely frusterating. I am holding out hope that we will get some good news next month but I'm already working on plan B and have applied to an online program that requires clinicals at a local college here. Lets hope me declining the spot in their traditional program 2 semesters ago wont come back to bite me in the butt!
I agree it could be done. I can also see their point of view as well. I have completed everything except my CPNE at this point ( which I'm holding off on now) Believe me it's extremely frusterating. I am holding out hope that we will get some good news next month but I'm already working on plan B and have applied to an online program that requires clinicals at a local college here. Lets hope me declining the spot in their traditional program 2 semesters ago wont come back to bite me in the butt!
Can you pass along the information regarding the school you are looking into with clinicals. I have two exams and the CPNE left. Thanks,
Unfortunately they will not accept any EC credits it will be starting all over again in order to graduate. It is Darton College in Albany GA, this is a fairly new program for them...all theory is done online and then you meet for clinicals as they schedule them. They only accept students to the online track once every 2 years and the next on starts Spring 09. I would love to think EC will work something out w/the BON but moving isn't an option for me and I WILL become an RN one way or another.
There was something about that here on allnurses about a year ago, I think. Someone was ticked because as of XX date, Excelsior would no longer be considered a valid clinical education, etc etc. Upshot was that if someone graduated from Excelsior, they could get licensed in another State, then after something like two years, could apply for an endorsement back to the State in which they were currently living. Basically, if you graduated from Excelsior, the only option you had was to move out of State, get licensed, work, and then see if you could go home again.
But if I know about that, and I live in NY (and have nothing to do with Excelsior) I can't imagine you had NO indication this would be a potential problem for you? Did Excelsior not tell you anything? How can this be?
There are other threads regarding this problem. The states that I know of not accepting excelsior are
California
Georgia
Virginia is trying to pass this same stipulation
There is another thread on here about a petition to the GA BON here is the link http://www.gopetition.com I have signed the petition and placed it on the yahoo boards for excelsior groups that I am with. Hopefully this will get around and the decision can be reversed.
. 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.
CraigB-RN, MSN, RN
1,224 Posts
One of the reasons people choose EC is the $$$. Think how much the CPNE cost. Now imagine how much that kind of clinical will cost each student. How many people are going to be able to come up with that kind of $$$. EC has a finite amount of resources and with 50 states plus a couple of teritories, they can't cover everyone. If you go back and search some of the other threads, you'll find that a couple of the distance ed programs, gave up trying to meet all the criteria of just the states around the campus. They couldn't meet the variety of the requirements.
It's not just EC. My wife is faculty at a reasonably large SE school. She's sat through some of the admissions meeting and they don't want to recognize anything but traditional brick and mortar classes. Some people who were applying to grad schools, (MS and PhD) were put to the bottom of the pile because some of their classes were "non traditional". Those of us who are distance ed are on the cutting edge, and sometimes you get cut and bleed when your on the cutting edge. But persistence and solid logic can prevail.