Help Needed From Virginia Rn's!!

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i am currently enrolled in the excelsior college lpn to associate degree rn program, a program that is fully accredited by the nln, a program now being rejected by my state of virginia's bon. i have been in close and frequent contact with the assistant dean of the excelsior college nursing program and the va bon. there is a growing movement developing to fight this new legislation and i implore my fellow va nurses of all degree levels to join in this fight! trust me when i say that you may think this ruling doesn't effect you, but it will effect you in regard to contributing to the already existing critical nursing shortage, resulting in continued short staffing and increasingly unsafe nurse to pt. ratios... just think... right now there are over 36,000 practicing rn's across the u.s. who graduated from this excelsior college nursing program... 36,000!! i have some extra of info about what's happening with the ec/va bon situation, but i know this site does not allow us to post links. in my profile you can visit my homepage and send me an e-mail from there if you are willing to lend your voice to help fellow nurses effected by this recent injustice. these kinds of changes have been happening in other states and i think excelsior college has had "just about enough of it". if you live in the state of va please please contact me!! please send me an e-mail!!

Obviously there are some folks who have replied to this with total ignorance about the EC program. The classes are the same as any ADN program. The vast majority of those enrolled have many years of clinical experience and are LPNs. I would rather have an experienced LPN take care of me anyday, than a fresh RN that went to a "traditional" school.

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I wouldn't want an LPN hanging blood for me...even if you have 19 years.

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Specializes in CHPLN- Cert. hospice/palliative care LPN.
I wouldn't want an LPN hanging blood for me...even if you have 19 years.

WOW... that was harsh. first of all, as an LPN I personally haven't hung blood on a pt., though I have assisted the RN with this task countless times. I think you're missing the point here. I'm not trying to change the scope of practice for the LPN. THIS discussion is about an NLN accredited associate RN nursing program. There is no reason for personal attacks here. I have never said that more education isn't needed to complete the bridge program from LPN to associate RN. On the contrary... that would be where the "EXCELSIOR COLLEGE" part (which is the whole point of this topic) comes into play. Nurses tend to "look down" on LPN's as though they are totally uneducated. That's an unfair assumption, considering we are required to pass licensure as well. So please understand that there is truly no reason to take such a defensive posture when folks who understand the LPN curriculum take a minute to give a compliment to the LPN in general. It in no way is meant to devalue the complete respect we all have for your level of nursing degree.

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I am responding specifically to:

"I would rather have an experienced LPN take care of me anyday, than a fresh RN that went to a "traditional" school."

And how about titrating vasoactive drugs or running the CRRT on me if I was in ICU?

I wasn't being harsh, just real. I apologize for sounding harsh.

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being REAL is the LPN would not be titrating vasoactive drugs in the ICU,nor would the new RN without specific training that goes way beyond nursing school clinicals.

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Specializes in Home Health, Med/Surg.
being REAL is the LPN would not be titrating vasoactive drugs in the ICU,nor would the new RN without specific training that goes way beyond nursing school clinicals.

I agree and personally as an RN student currently, I had the circumstance in which I went to get my series of Hep B shots for school and the RN on duty almost killed me and didnt even know how to draw blood. I had an LPN come in who was so good that I felt none of the needle sticks and her personalty was a thousand times better. From attending school and also being being a guest at allnurses for the last few months, I now see why many LPN's and new RN's say that they are eaten alive by the tenured RN's. This makes me very nervous about starting as a new RN....

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being REAL is the LPN would not be titrating vasoactive drugs in the ICU (EVER),nor would the new RN without specific training that goes way beyond nursing school clinicals.

This is true. I'm glad you got that.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

My biggest worry isn't the LPN with several years of experience. Many of those folks would be quite safe.

It's the people in other disciplines and/or LPN's with minimal experience.

I believe that nursing has to "draw a line in the sand" somewhere -- establishing minimal educational requirements that include BOTH "book learning" and "supervised clinical practice" as necessary components of the curriculum. Practicing on your own (as an LPN, Paramedic, RT, etc.) should not count because it was not practice in the RN role with RN responsibilities. Nor were those experiences directed toward learning/applying professional nursing content.

I fully realize that many LPN's are safer and more skilled than new grad LPN's -- but that is "comparing apples to oranges" and such a comparison should not be the foundation of our judgment about the establishment of nursing education standards and the direction that our profession is going to take.

As I have said many times before -- any program that is producing unsafe new grad RN's should face disiplinary action and be forced to improve or close. That includes BSN programs, ADN programs, Diploma programs, whatever. The fact that such schools exist can not be used as justification for EC to continue. The EC approach to education must be judged on its own merits -- not on the strengths or weaknesses of other programs.

.... And I believe that RN education should include supervised clinical practice in the RN role -- no if's, and's, or but's. For me, that's the end of the story.

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Specializes in CHPLN- Cert. hospice/palliative care LPN.
I am responding specifically to:

"I would rather have an experienced LPN take care of me anyday, than a fresh RN that went to a "traditional" school."

And how about titrating vasoactive drugs or running the CRRT on me if I was in ICU?

I wasn't being harsh, just real. I apologize for sounding harsh.

Thanks for the clarification. In my attempt to have a constructive conversation and was feeling a bit attacked. :)

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Specializes in CHPLN- Cert. hospice/palliative care LPN.
I agree and personally as an RN student currently, I had the circumstance in which I went to get my series of Hep B shots for school and the RN on duty almost killed me and didnt even know how to draw blood. I had an LPN come in who was so good that I felt none of the needle sticks and her personalty was a thousand times better. From attending school and also being being a guest at allnurses for the last few months, I now see why many LPN's and new RN's say that they are eaten alive by the tenured RN's. This makes me very nervous about starting as a new RN....

Delvenia... "Welcome to the wonderful world of nursing..." ;) It's an unfortunate reality that there is a bit of "nurse on nurse" abuse that sometimes occurs in this field. I try to turn it into a positive by using it as a reminder to never treat another nurse in a disrespectful manner. In the end, we're all SUPPOSED to be on the same team. The work I do now is hospice nursing and all the nurses are incredibly kind to one another. I guess it's just the nature of the specialty. We're all very good to each other, we share knowledge back and forth on a case by case basis. The RN's educate me on some things, and yes... sometimes there are opportunities for me to educate them. We're all open to simply being the best nurses we can be for our patients.

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I hope your bedside manners are better than your comments! FA TO CRNA

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:stdnrsrck:

First of all I want to say that I am so sorry for your dilemma. I do not know how close you are to completing. You are in a situation where acceptance may be the key. If you cannot beat them join them. Is there any way that you can transfer to an ADN Program in your area that is not facing such obstacles? You may be surprised by the fact that they will accept more of your completed credits than expected. You will not know unless you ask the question. The most important thing to know is that you are not alone!!! Many of us stand with you in this dilemma. It could have happened to any one of us so we must stand together and know that "There but for the Grace of God go I." It sounds to me that Nursing is one of your callings. Don't give up. If the door is closed, try the window. Something will open and a WAY will be provided.

Good Luck to you and God Bless!:nurse:

Seek Wisdom First!!

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