Graduate Nurses...?

[hillaryd]

Someone told me today that Kansas passed a law disallowing GNs to practice before they have passed their boards. I've searched several news sites but haven't come up with anything.

Can anyone verify this? If so, I'd like to see the source if possible.

Thanks :)

[suzanne4, RN]

Just go to the website for the BON, any new regulatiosn will be posted there.

And there are quite a few states that are actually doing away with this practice. Many now want the NCLEX to be completed before begininng your new job.

[hillaryd]

KSBN was the first place I checked...if they have any such changes in the works they've either hidden them, or I'm blind.

Thanks anyway. :)

[SherBearRN]

So far it hasn't been approved through the Kansas BON. There is talk about it, though. I sat in on a nursing faculty meeting at Butler Community College a year ago (before I graduated from nursing school) discussing this very issue. I am opposed to it.

If you would like to get the latest information/status on this, go to the KSNA website. You should find a list of members with contact names under the title "Leadership." One contact is this member: http://www.nursingworld.org/snas/ks/terri.htm

Good luck!

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

kansas state nurses association or ksna

http://www.nursingworld.org/snas/ks/

__________________________________________________

also, here is the kbon if you need it.

kansas state board of nursing

landon state office building

900 s.w. jackson, suite 1051

topeka, ks 66612 phone: [phone]

fax: [phone]web site: http://www.ksbn.org/

here is a questions, comments, feedback form for that bon to submit if you wish as a start.

http://www.ksbn.org/feedback.htm

[jess_m]

I am currently working as a GN.

[RNGrad2006]

Washington State does not allow for Graduate nurses to work either prior to taking the NCLEX and actually having the license. If you think about it the policy makes sense as you need a license in order to practice nursing. But some places will allow you to work under your LPN license (if you have one) with LPN pay until you get the RN license. But personally I tried to take the NCLEX-RN ASAP as it is such a relief to have that license in hand and getting the stress of waiting for your results while you feel like you failed over with. I felt I was ready and took the exam within about 3 weeks of graduation. I am really glad I did it that way and would encourage it.

[LSH RN]

As far as I know, you can work as a GN but a LPN or RN would have to sign off for you. In other words, they are taking responsibility for your work.

[queenjean]

I've heard this, too.

The kansas board of nursing website hasn't updated in years--the latest regulation updates are from June of 05.

[anotherneonurse]

There is no such law and none being passed. However I would support it if there were because I think nursing students would be so much better off. I think its ridiculous to have to worry about getting a job in March that won't even start until June and graduation, exams and the NCLEX all on top of that. Then the stress until you finally take it because if you fail it after you're hired they make you an aid or fire you. The whole thing is just a huge scam to pay nurses even less than they already do which is some of the lowest pay in this country as it is.

[elkpark]

The whole thing is just a huge scam to pay nurses even less than they already do which is some of the lowest pay in this country as it is.

Little history moment here -- Actually, it's not a "scam"; GN status dates from the days when state boards were only offered twice a year and it took six to eight weeks to get results (and longer than that to get an actual, physical license) Depending on when you graduated (typical "graduate" time, May or June, or if you were on a different schedule for some personal reason), it could easily be six months after you graduated from nursing school before you got licensed. For that reason, most state BONs offered the option of working as a "graduate nurse" so that people could start earning some money PLUS they would not be losing their skills/knowledge during that interim period waiting for the license. "Graduate nurse" status was doing new grads a favor, and was based on the assumption that you were going to pass boards when you took them. A grace period, if you will. It also served as a valuable de facto internship for new graduates -- you could work as an RN but still needed to be supervised closely by a licensed RN. Once you took boards and didn't pass (and this is still true), you immedidately lost your GN status and could no longer work without the license.

GN status was never mandatory -- employers had the option of hiring new grads as GNs but weren't required to do so.

Now that grads can take the NCLEX-RN right away, whenever they want, and results and licensure are almost instantaneous, more and more states are doing away with GN status altogether, as the original rationale for its existence no longer applies. Also, even in the states that aren't doing away with it, more and more hospitals/employers are choosing not to hire people as GNs.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Now that grads can take the NCLEX-RN right away, whenever they want, and results and licensure are almost instantaneous, more and more states are doing away with GN status altogether, as the original rationale for its existence no longer applies. Also, even in the states that aren't doing away with it, more and more hospitals/employers are choosing not to hire people as GNs.

I agree with this. In the days of 2 day long written Boards, I graduated in early 12/1993 and did not receive a hard copy of my license until 5/1994. There was also no website that my employer could check.

As an aside, GN status is a privilege and not a right. And many people abused this right. In the state of Florida at that time, you could be stuck on hold to the Board for 30 - 75 minutes straight to speak to someone (I have a few long distance bills to prove it). There were several instances in my facility alone, where GNs showed the "green slip" that said you were scheduled to sit for Boards, and allowed one to work as a GN. Then they didn't sit for Boards or they did and were notified that they failed. They continued to work as GNs, and it was nearly impossible for employers to check up on them due to inaccessibility of the Board. The legal issues involved when they got found out were daunting and led to many places refusing to offer jobs to GNs.