This is it. Over the past +4 months I have struggled to get myself into a private LVN to RN program in my home town. In a nutshell, the program is in California, costs half way to 6 digits, and graduates LVN candidates as newly grad RNs in a matter of 10 months.
To make it happen, I had to move from an area with cheap cost of living where I made nearly 45K a year, had my own apartment, and I ended up making way more than my standard salary with all the overtime. I just started making wonderful friends and I was accepted into a prestigious university where I could finish my non nursing bachelor's degree and get a decent job instead.
However, I valued my education as well as my material wealth. I also wanted to move back to my hometown. Everything about the RN school looked reasonable at a glance, and whenever the school asked me to put in extra money or effort I complied like a mamma's boy. When I was told the prerequisite course from my community college was 0.5 semester units short, I happily paid out of pocket to retake the same class again from University of Phoenix. When I was told that I had to study hard for the TEAS 5 exam, I took their advice happily and scored an 87 overall way past the minimal score of 62.
Now, everything went south after the fact that I don't have my IV certification. Being new to California, I underestimated the lengthy process of applying for a state license. And no California license means no IV certification class. I called the LVN board and found out that they are still processing the applications that were submitted 2 months before mine was.
I explained my situation to the school and described all the effort I had taken to overcome the difficulties like I am writing an incident report at work. The school rep still acted like they have zero flexibility. They keep on making up excuses about how flexibility could get both the school and myself fined and locked up as if all the state and federal prisons have a high priority of locking up nurses and nursing educators.
I have the money to pay for the tuition, and they have the degree I need. There are many worse rules to break in life, but they are too racist or sexist to trust a male minority nurse to stay silent when an individual holding my lifeline could look the other way processing my application. At the same time, they feel so self righteous about being law enforcement volunteers who vigilantly protect the community from hard working nurses who are having bad luck furthering their education.
Until now, I planned on becoming a nurse practitioner or a bachelor's degree holding RN who specializes in a high technology/skill setting. If I can't even obtain my associate's degree in nursing, why should I believe in what my LVN instructors back in the day told me? The education process today just gets more and more expensive to afford, and harder and harder to apply for admission. The longer the schools I work with stall me, the more money I would pay due to the inflation. There is only a bigger obstacle after another, and I simply don't have 1000 years as my lifetime to complete my educational goals. The private school loses its value by denying me of the guaranteed admission and the early start. They believe that I would remain interested no matter how long they stall me, to them they see me as a lousy student who will never be accepted at a community college or university with a bridge option.
It is true that I could obtain a license from another state with more staffing and faster licensing process and apply at that state, but I just gave up so much to be closer to my family. Without my family I would never have came back to California where the high cost of living makes my LVN salary unqualified even for a one bedroom apartment. I am not a lousy student, but there is no community college or state university that would guarantee admission solely based on work experience or decent grades. One can only go so far to apply for admission and compete against hundreds of other applicants who have have equal or more science courses or work experiences.
As a matter of fact, having completed my general education up to a bachelor's degree only means that I could finish any associate's degree besides in a term or two. Right now, any non medical career is much more rewarding with progression opportunities for anyone who keep their noses clean and work hard. As long as I have an academic interest and reasonable occupational potential for a career field outside of nursing, I would excel and still bring home a paycheck to keep a roof over my head.
As I research about my career change, I do wish the rest of the nursing and medical community the best to take care of the patients I will always care about.
A young and frustrated nurse with a brief 1 year of full time work, signing out.
I can understand your frustration but I'm not clear on why you think the established BRN rules and regulations don't apply to you, or what your being male or a minority has to do with that. You need the LVN license/IV certification, and you don't have it. I've been in and out of nursing education for a long time, and I've never heard of an LPN-to-RN program that accepted people who didn't have an active, valid LPN license in that state. You want the school to "look the other way" when processing your application? Wow. That's pretty scary, coming from a nurse. What inconvenient rules and regulations are you willing to overlook in your practice? I hope you'll find something more satisfying and that suits you better. Best wishes for your journey.[/quote']
A school denies you because you are NOT qualified, and you say that they are discriminating against you? Members of AN point out that they denied you because you do not meet the qualifications and you call them discriminatory?
What makes you think that you are better than other students, and that the school should just "look the other way" and let you into school without a CA license?? I am a white female and if I did not have a license in the state for the school that I was applying for, I am sure they would not let me attend nor would I expect them to. I see though, you are a male and a minority so you should be allowed to have the school "look the other way". Oh wait, am I oppressing you?
In your attempt to vent frustrations at a learning institution, you actually insulted Medical Professionals all around the country. To suggest race or gender helped someone who burnt the midnight oil to achieve there goal cheapens their hard work and dedication. As for "looking the other way", do you think a man like Dr. Ben Carson would advocate a medical school "looking the other way" or bending rules? I don't think so. I'm a male student in pre-nursing, I work full time, and I'm raising a family. I study very hard at night and during breaks at work. I understand the competitive nature of the schools in my area. If I make it into a program, I want it to be because of my own merit, Period! Not because I think I'm entitled to having the school look the other way. My wife is a BRN, working on her Masters. She is a white female and let me tell you something, she worked her tail off to get where she is today. I've been with her since she first started taking pre-Reqs for Nursing School, so I know how much effort she put into her career. Nobody looked the other way for her, so why you think someone should let you break in line is a mystery to me. I think, at least I hope, after your frustration level subsides, you'll realize how your post came across. Good Luck.
Well, those board people sure didn't have a problem giving him the run around and taking his money. Those people like to play games and leave out pertinent info. If they knew they didn't have his license from the get go, why even let him get that far and put all that effort in? I knew a girl who was applying for a job and they let her make it all the way to orientation day before asking for a copy of her licensure for a particular state, which she hadn't received yet. Needless to say, they made her leave. But seriously, why mess with peoples livelihood? I totally understand where this guy is coming from, and as a young black female who also wants to start a bridge program next year, I feel race and gender play a part in almost everything. Especially when you wanna better yourself.
Well those board people sure didn't have a problem giving him the run around and taking his money. Those people like to play games and leave out pertinent info. If they knew they didn't have his license from the get go, why even let him get that far and put all that effort in? I knew a girl who was applying for a job and they let her make it all the way to orientation day before asking for a copy of her licensure for a particular state, which she hadn't received yet. Needless to say, they made her leave. But seriously, why mess with peoples livelihood? I totally understand where this guy is coming from, and as a young black female who also wants to start a bridge program next year, I feel race and gender play a part in almost everything. Especially when you wanna better yourself.[/quote']
Well, those board people sure didn't have a problem giving him the run around and taking his money. Those people like to play games and leave out pertinent info. If they knew they didn't have his license from the get go, why even let him get that far and put all that effort in? I knew a girl who was applying for a job and they let her make it all the way to orientation day before asking for a copy of her licensure for a particular state, which she hadn't received yet. Needless to say, they made her leave. But seriously, why mess with peoples livelihood? I totally understand where this guy is coming from, and as a young black female who also wants to start a bridge program next year, I feel race and gender play a part in almost everything. Especially when you wanna better yourself.
But stating that these instances occurred only because the individual is a male minority is just making a stereotypical assumption. There are many schools that let you continue with the application process while you are waiting for your license, but it is a students responsibility to understand that you can not proceed without a license and that if you do not have a current license while applying then you are taking a risk.
It has nothing to do with race or gender why he was not allowed to proceed. As I said before, I am a white female and I am allowed to proceed with the application process for out of state schools without a current license, but if I do not have my license when school starts then I would not be allowed to continue. I would not ask them to "look the other way", so why is it that they refused "to look the other way" for him when he didn't meet the qualifications that it turned into a race issue? I really don't understand how race stopped him from continuing in this instance.
I am a white female and I have gone through plenty of hardships, having a difficult time switching social classes is not something exclusive to "minority" groups!
Well, those board people sure didn't have a problem giving him the run around and taking his money. Those people like to play games and leave out pertinent info. If they knew they didn't have his license from the get go, why even let him get that far and put all that effort in? [...]
But stating that these instances occurred only because the individual is a male minority is just making a stereotypical assumption. There are many schools that let you continue with the application process while you are waiting for your license, but it is a students responsibility to understand that you can not proceed without a license and that if you do not have a current license while applying then you are taking a risk.[...]
As kaydensmom01 said, it's up to the applicant to become familiar with the requirements and take the necessary steps to meet them.
I completely understand someone being frustrated and angry in the OP's situation, and I understand saying all kinds of things in the first heat of emotion. It doesn't make sense, though, to continue claiming that a person shouldn't have to meet the requirements or follow the rules before they're special. No one is that special, snowflake.
DadStudentPerhaps
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