Help! Done with ASN program since July and still not able to take boards.....

[LPN_SLIM]

Good Afternoon Fellow and Future Nurses.

I been coming on allnurses for months now and finally decided to post, hoping to get the help I need. So I attended this school in South Florida it's not accredited btw. Last day of school was the first or second of July. Took Exit at the End of August or maybe the beginning month of Sep, passed first time with a 961 (Hesi). So far im the only student in the class who's paid all financial obligations, first and the only one to take exit because the other students still haven't paid all their tuitions. Im ready to take boards and the owner of the school doesn't want to jusr send one student name. Is it legal or fair for him to do so? A graduation date has yet to be told and this owner make changes with each passing day. Please if someone or anyone can help I'd really appreciate it.

[WanderingWilder, ASN]

You are so wrong and clearly don't understand accreditation. Every job posting in my area states that you need to have graduated from an ACEN accredited school. You also need regional accreditation to transfer credits.

Do not come on this site and tell students that accreditation is meaningless and all you need to do is to be able to sit for NCLEX.

I've never seen a job posting in my area that required accreditation and as a new grad I've looked at a lot of job postings recently. I had no problem getting a job and neither did anyone else from my class.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

I've never seen a job posting in my area that required accreditation and as a new grad I've looked at a lot of job postings recently. I had no problem getting a job and neither did anyone else from my class.

SOME hospitals list "Graduate from an accredited nursing school in the state of xxxxx." It's just like the entry level jobs that require 2 years of experience. It's a preference.

But no hospital is going to pick the person who barely got through a nursing program with no references over someone that graduated from a diploma program who was able to bring references from unit directors from clinicals and references from where they worked as an aide, all because they made the wrong choice of school. The NCLEX is the same test no matter where you graduate. Where you're going to see these requirements are in extremely competitive areas. But even still that's only a "requirement," someone with references and a positive work history is typically going to be able to still be considered. Now, if you're lazy and didn't think to network while you were in school so that you can get those recommendations, you're going to have trouble, but that also applies to BSN graduates

Remember, every single nursing school in existence had to have a period where they were not accredited. It's impossible to gain accreditation before having a graduating class. If it was true that you're not going to get good jobs, then that raises the question of "where are all of these people working?"

Healthcare has an ego. And you will see it between nurses. You'll see it from the BSN towards the ADN. And you'll see it from RN to LPN. Nurse to aide. Accredited school to non-accredited. Don't listen to other people's stories. They're 1 school and one hospital out of thousands.

And even if you ARE limited at first. So what, work a crappy job for one or two years, and move on with a good reference from your management. A work reference weighs infinitely more than what school you graduated from. If a hospital cares whether or not the school you graduated from 10 years ago was accredited, and overlooks the fact that your old manager is willing to speak positively about your work performance and competence, you don't want to work at that hospital anyway.

A quick search for jobs and some emails pretty much cleared that up. It's rarely set in stone that you have to graduate from an accredited program, and in the state that the hospital is in.

[Luchador, CNA, EMT-B]

Community colleges commonly don't pursue accreditation..

On what planet? You're just making things up and trolling. The community college in my town is accredited. The community college in the next town is accredited. The community college in the town two hours away is, too.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

On what planet? You're just making things up and trolling. The community college in my town is accredited. The community college in the next town is accredited. The community college in the town two hours away is, too.

Sorry, I was reading the AACN's website where they pointed out that almost a third of ADN programs haven't pursued accreditation. Sorry. You're right, the accrediting body is wrong.

[Luchador, CNA, EMT-B]

Sorry, I was reading the AACN's website where they pointed out that almost a third of ADN programs haven't pursued accreditation. Sorry. You're right, the accrediting body is wrong.

The colleges around here (Colorado) are accredited by Colorado B.O.N., The Higher Learning Commission, and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, (Formally National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission).

So they would not show up on the AACN website but they are still accredited and held to standards. If the original poster had gone to any of the community colleges within a four hour drive of where I live I assure you she would not be having these difficulties. That is the bottom line.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

The colleges around here (Colorado) are accredited by Colorado B.O.N., The Higher Learning Commission, and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, (Formally National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission).

So they would not show up on the AACN website but they are still accredited and held to standards. If the original poster had gone to any of the community colleges within a four hour drive of where I live I assure you she would not be having these difficulties. That is the bottom line.

The Colorado B.O.N. is not an accrediting body.

The higher learning commission, while they do accredit schools, they're not what people are talking about with accredited nursing schools. They mean nursing accreditation, like AACN's accreditations or CCNE.

For the accreditations that matter, almost 1/3 of ADN programs are not pursuing accreditation.

Trust me, I promise that the accrediting organization knows way more about their own statistics than you do.

[Luchador, CNA, EMT-B]

The Colorado B.O.N. is not an accrediting body.

The higher learning commission, while they do accredit schools, they're not what people are talking about with accredited nursing schools. They mean nursing accreditation, like AACN's accreditations or CCNE.

For the accreditations that matter, almost 1/3 of ADN programs are not pursuing accreditation.

Trust me, I promise that the accrediting organization knows way more about their own statistics than you do.

Many schools are accredited by the ACEN, which I mentioned, not the AACN.

A. Accreditation is a voluntary, non-governmental, external peer-review process that promotes institutions and academic programs embracing quality assurance and quality improvement to become stronger and better institutions and programs by setting standards of educational quality specific to nursing education. There are three (3) different types of accreditation used for institutional and academic programs; (1) Regional, (2) National or Institutional, and (3) Specialized.

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing – Page not found

Trust me, you don't know what you're talking about.

Sure you can get your RN via an unaccredited school and have a fine career. But it's not a risk (or expense) I would take when graduating from an accredited school is an option.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

Sure you can get your RN via an unaccredited school and have a fine career. But it's not a risk (or expense) I would take when graduating from an accredited school is an option.

What risk? Seriously, do you honestly believe that in 15 years anyone cares whether or not your school you went to was accredited? Is a hospital going to turn down a nurse with years of experience because of the school he went to?

NO! It doesn't happen in the real world. Prove me wrong, email those hospitals that require it. Ask them if they consider experienced applicants who maybe graduated from a community college that isn't currently accredited. Post their response.

You have a lot to learn about the real world. After your first job, nobody cares what school you went to. It's all about how good of a worker and how good of a fit you are. In 5 years, that diploma program and a degree from an ivy league school hold the same exact weight in getting a job... Absolutely nothing.

And once again, if it's so much harder to get jobs when you graduate from non-accredited schools, then where the hell are all of those graduates working? What happened to all of the people who went to school when a program first started, when it wasn't able to get accredited yet? I guess they'll never work in a good hospital, right?

[Luchador, CNA, EMT-B]

What risk?

Did you even read the original post?

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

Did you even read the original post?

You understand that non-accredited doesn't automatically mean degree-mill, right?

Remember that thing where AACN said that almost 1/3 of ADN programs (ADN = LEGITIMATE REGIONALLY ACCREDITED COLLEGE) don't apply for accreditation?

Or have you looked at the requirements? You can't just open a school and be accredited.

You're looking at this from the huge healthcare ego view.

Again, and please, answer this question: If graduating from a non-accredited school screws you so much, where are all of those graduates working?

Is it clicking yet? Are you finally grasping that in the real world your education doesn't matter. Outside of very specific situations, like working for the VA, a lack of accreditation isn't what's stopping you from getting hired, YOU ARE. Once you've put some time in working, you should be able to get into almost any hospital you want. If you can't, the problem is you, not where you went to school. And countless working nurses are proof of that.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

Many schools are accredited by the ACEN, which I mentioned, not the AACN.

I also made a mistake about Colorado BON not accrediting. I didn't realize some states use that phrase instead of approved.

This is important. When your state or jobs in your state require that you "graduated from an accredited nursing school," that usually means on the state approval level, as in "you were allowed to take your NCLEX."

The ones that expect an progammatic accreditation will actually specifically mention it by name. You'll usually see "Graduated from a CCNE accredited nursing school." BSN or higher. Then you'll typically also see a state law where BSN programs have to be accredited.

Your biggest problem with accreditation is going to be in transferring credits or moving on to higher degrees. But it's very doable. For working or transferring a license, an RN is an RN

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I also made a mistake about Colorado BON not accrediting. I didn't realize some states use that phrase instead of approved.

This is important. When your state or jobs in your state require that you "graduated from an accredited nursing school," that usually means on the state approval level, as in "you were allowed to take your NCLEX."

The ones that expect an progammatic accreditation will actually specifically mention it by name. You'll usually see "Graduated from a CCNE accredited nursing school." BSN or higher. Then you'll typically also see a state law where BSN programs have to be accredited.

Your biggest problem with accreditation is going to be in transferring credits or moving on to higher degrees. But it's very doable. For working or transferring a license, an RN is an RN

Completely apart from this debate, I'm just curious, what is your background? Do you work in healthcare administration? You often purport to know how things are done "everywhere," whether it's how all nursing schools operate, to how student/administration squabbles are handled, and on and on, yet I know you are a student. I was surprised to see you admit that you made a tiny mistake above, because usually you project an air of knowing it all. I say that gently, not ultra critically. No one is never wrong, so I'm trying to get a sense of who you are and what backs this strong sense that you always know how nursing, nursing education, nursing hiring, nursing day to day, etc. works in pretty much all parts of the country.