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Thanks hudno........your reply was very helpful. I was contemplating it but have decided to NOT enroll in EC again. I finished my ADN through them and passed the CPNE on first attempt but it nearly caused me a stroke. The stress was just unreal. They are so unrealistic with the requirements and more and more states are not even offering license endorsement to EC grads In addition many hospital systems are not even hiring EC grads. They seriously need to just start doing regular clinicals so they can solidify their reputation and the graduates can have more nursing opportunities.

Reports that I have read say the nurses are planning to strike for one day???? I can't see how this is going to benefit the nurses in bargaining for better benefits and work conditions. The only way to make the powers that be buckle is to walk out and not return until reasonable demands are met. Nurses can easily be replaced for one or two days so the strike really will not have a significant impact. Thus the powers that be have no reasons to compromise. If this backfires it will seriously weaken your union.

If the sister has true cause and concern for the child then she should report it. However she needs to realize that the child may be taken out of the home and placed in foster care, some of which are even worst with abusers and pedophiles. The family will then have to go through the rigid screening processes required of everyone to determine if they too are fit to be guardians of the same child that they care for already. Sounds like the sister is mad at the other for being what she consider to be a bad parent. But if the child is not in any danger then she should just compensate by supporting, providing and caring for the child where mom lacks,.......just my 2cts.

This is not necessarily true. Many hospitals give credit for LPN exp: Depending on the chain it is as little as 2:1 but most don't go over 3:1. Meaning for every 2 years you were a LPN you get one year exp credit. this is definitely the case for hospitals is the metropolitan Atlanta area. I was an LPN for approximately 13 years prior to getting my RN. And EVERYONE that offered me a position (even ones I did not accept) gave me at least 6 years exp credit. So I really beg to differ with you Jo.

I have a friend that started as a new RN in dialysis @ 28/hr but that was in GA. I understand that nurses up there make more because of the higher cost in living so it is hard to say. Why don't you investigate what hospitals are paying first. Many have dialysis units. Then you can determine how to negotiate your pay. If you don't like what your employer ise offering. Ask to go PRN and start looking for other employment while you still keep opportunity to continue working in dialysis. As a new grad RN, I would recommend that you do at least a year in a hospital doing med surg if you can. It is very important to establish that basic foundation before you branch off into specialties.

I have though long and hard about this and I have decided that although I do not agree that nurses should strike, I WILL NOT cross a picket line. I am sure that the hospitals will see the nurses point of view VERY soon. If you strike, they will have absolutely no choice but to meet your REASONABLE demands. They can not afford to staff their hospitals with agency nurses that are making $5K a week plus ALL expenses paid; and that is just what the agency is paying the nurses. They must be profiting another 1-2k a week on top of that. That will really cut into their profit margins. It is time lawmakers take heed at a federal level and make mandatory nurse:patient staffing ratios for every facility that participates in federally funded medicare and medicaid programs. I wish you all much success and I think it is time GA nurses woke up and smelled the coffee.

I wonder if nurses realizes that some patients will DIE as a result of this strike?! Do YOU even care?

I understand the nurses frustrations, I really do. But it seems so hypocritical to me to tell patients that you are fighting to protect their safety and well being yet you walk out and abandon them at the same time. Many are critically ill, elderly, children. I just feel there is a better way to get what you need. What about suing and petitioning lawmakers? Striking will cause the patients to suffer even more. I just can never agree with the idea of nurses striking. Personally I think it should be illegal, just like air traffic controllers.

Thank you for the reply 1214RN. I'm am so torn with deciding whether to go or not. On the one hand I just believe nurses should not strike as patients are ill and really depend on us. On the other hand I do realizes that sometimes hospitals seem to have blatant disregards for safe staffing levels and I myself have had to stand my ground and refuse to work in a facility that routinely attempted to give nurse 8 and 9 med surg patients; it was really overwhelming and dangerous for both the patient and my career. I think the hospital better take heed and realize that they need to be more reasonable even if it means decreasing profit margins. They can not run a hospital without nurses: and nurses are tired of being overworked and underpaid.

I recently got an email from an agency out of CA that is recruiting 2000 RN for what they say will be a nurse strike in MN June 2010. Has anyone heard of this yet? They are offering almost $5000 week plus all airfare and hotel expenses.

I am not sure where you live but some states are more forgiving than others. In Florida you would not have been able to get a license due to a new law they have banning all applicants with felonies and convictions for drug or fraud in the last 15 years. I just saw expose where FL BON were heard telling applicants to " go to GA" and warning the applicants to withdraw applications before they are forced to deny them and making it reportable to other BONs. I feel for you though and do understand where you are coming from. I caught hell with a misdemeanor simple battery conviction for years as an LPN; but as soon as I became an RN most (all) of the companies I applied to ignored it. My own is 20 years old this year now, but it was only 5 years old when I began nursing. It is because LTC centers have stricter regulations than other healthcare entities because of the elder abuse legislations. Also new medicare and medicaid laws forbid the hiring of people with felony convictions in a lot of instances. Although you may have gotten a "first offender" type treatment and have no criminal record. Your employers could not play ignorant to the fact that they know you are a convicted felon if they were audited. You will need to somehow see if you can plead to the BON. Call your local legal aid or volunteer lawyer service and see if you can get some assistance filing for an administrative hearing with the BON. Plead your case and explain how this is affecting your life. You can even consider moving to a state that has actual rehabilitation statues like Washington and Minnesota. They are good for second chances, MN especially. Definitely seek to get your RN somehow if you can. That definitely changed the rules for me. Good Luck, and don't give up.

I was told by the Nephrologist at a local hospital that in order to open an independent center than at least one of the owners had to be a MD specializing in the field. So if you are not a Nephrologist or have one to partner with you forget it too.

Yes most companys pay 2 to 1; for every 2 yrs you have been a LPN/LVN you will get 1 yrs credit for eperience.

I beg to differ with you as to what is suspicion vs proof. You don't have to see a nurse literally shoot up to have PROOF that they are diverting narcs. This nurse she said routinely took out narcotics for other nurses patients some of whom were alert and said they got no pain med. Others have no IVs and had even left the hospital discharged. DENIAL is contagious. As for FBI or DEA's "lurking" around the internet. They have divisions and employees who's sole purpose is to do just that. BELIEVE IT OR NOT!! W

ARE you a new RN or LPN?

CPTLUCIEJENSEN I think it is very sad that nurses can know another nurse is diverting narcotics from patients and pretend as if it is not even happening. I am not sure as to what state you are practicing but in GA you can lose your license for not reporting incidents like that. And to be honest although you have anonymity in this forum with us. You need to understand that there may be a nurses married to a FBI or DEA agent that can track you down, find this nurse and hold you accountable by your computer's IP address. You just confessed to the world that you know this nurse is stealing narcotics and you and others have chosen to ignore FEDERAL drug laws and not report it. SHAME. I recently started a contract with a hospital and on my second day of work the charge RN tricked me into witnessing multiple doses of narcotic waste with her. I was repeatedly prompted to enter my password and user ID and thought it was not accepting me because I was agency. When I asked the nurse where was the waste for what I thought was 1 dose of narc she stated that she had already wasted it. In observing her behavior and noticeable absences I got really suspicious and went back to look at the patient's medicine and noticed that she had actually had me witnessing about 5 or so waste and the repeated prompts were in fact additional doses. I immediately reported the incident to overhouse RN and my agency. I also emailed all nurse managers including CNO and pharmacy. There was no way I was going to ignore her actions. I was so offended that she had the nerve to involve me in her addiction that I was tempted to report her to the BON myself. The managers asked me to let the hospital do their investigations first and allow them to handle it. I am waiting to see what happens. I still may very well report her to the board.

Congratulations to everyone who will benefit from the recent reversal of the GA Board of Nsg. This was strictly politics. I am truly happy for you all. But I must forewarn you again that the battle is not over. Now you have to contend with the rejection that you will get form the hospitals themselves as they have been lead to believe that Excelsior is not an accredited school. I think that it is very important the Fox5 news run the story again and update the communities in GA of the boards decision. Many of you already have jobs that you can remain in but many will be forced to move out of LPN positions with NO RN positions available. That was my case, luckily I already worked at several local hospitals (for years) through agency and several offered me a job right away. But they knew me and were very comfortable with my skills as a nurse. There are still many people out there who think lowly of Excelsior we must get the word out. I do every chance I get.

I personally don't think that either Obama or McCain can do anything to decrease nurses salary. This job is to D**N hard......who would do it. I know I wouldn't.

Does anyone know if Excelsior will continue to hold CPNE sites in GA although the GBON is seeking to deny graduates licenses? Also I spoke with the President of Excelsior via email and he stated they will "defend" Excelsior's CPNE curriculum. It is apparent that the school has no desire to change it's current system. He stated that if Excelsior were to add a traditional clinical rotation or preceptorship then that would mean they will have to compete directly with the brick and mortar institutions for clinical space. I am sure that this would create a whole new set of problem because most programs are ran by state institutions. More students would opt to "test out" of the classes and just do clinical rather that drag each class out over 16 weeks. I don't think that would sit to well with the GA Board of Regents (college RN programs) or the GA Dept of Adult and Technical Education (technical school RN programs.) They will probably enact laws that stated we had to attend class on campus then.....LOL

Thank you GradyRN2B, your apology is accepted and very much appreciated. I do wish you all well this September and I still plan to attend the meeting in Macon to lend my support for the STUDENTS and GRADS of Excelsior that are adversely affected by this whole ordeal. But frankly (and at the risk of offending many) I am so fed up with Excelsior at this point that I don't care if they are going to be excluded in the future. I am going to get my BSN from a traditional college so I will not have to associate my nursing degree with them in the future. IT IS time for Excelsior to implement clinical rotations just like everyone else. This is not isolated to GA; we will begin to have this problem nation wide.'It will be a domino effect. On another note....did you all see the Fox 5 interview that aired today of Kathy Kalgeen the LPN from Southern Regional Medical Center. She just graduated and can not receive her GA license. This is such a tragedy. They also interviewed Representative Sharon Cooper, the author of the House Bill 1041. She seems to be under the impression that Excelsior College accepts students directly from high school into their program with no healthcare experience. She really need to be careful with making such defamatory statements such as that.....Excelsior may very well file a lawsuit against her in the future.

Thank you everyone for your congrats. I am sooooo happy as well. I hope everything works all for all the Excelsior students/grads. I can imagine being any more competent or "less safe" than you all just be/c I was LUCKY enough to apply before a certain date. I stand behind behind you all 1000% in my strong belief that this is so unfair. An although I do have my license this will not be the cake walk of the past. The media coverage cuts both ways: Now employers are looking at us as being graduates of an "unaccredited program" though we know that is the furthest thing from the truth. I really hope we can all get past this terrible stigma. .

I am floored again......a few days ago out of the blue I received an email from GBON to notify me that my RN license had been issue. I thought it was some sort of joke b/c it came from a yahoo email address; but when I checked the web site I did have an RN license. I couldn't believe it was true but yesterday I got a letter that stated the GBON had voted to rescind my original denial. I am sure that this will have no bearing on the Excelsior dilemma for other students. I hired my own lawyer but my case is different b/c I had applied before July 1, 2008. It is ironic that I was the first nurse from Excelsior College denied licensure in GA: Now I may very well be the last nurse to get licensed from EC if things don't change. I am sorry that you all are still caught in this dilemma. But I am also glad to finally have my life back. And I am elated that I don't have to sale my house and uproot my family, but I was preparing too. I had already been offered a job in NY and was preparing to take it. My family and I were planning on how we would relocate in stages. I truly thank God; this is such a relief.

cyb24, if I was in your position I would definitely use agency. I think it will be easier for you to get in the doors of hospitals this way. Although you may be an experienced nurse many hospitals may be slow to hire an international nurse directly because of the perceived cost in "retraining" and lengthy orientation. However, if you go as an agency nurse you are expected to function independently sooner and the cost of orientation is covered by most agencies (they don't bill the hospital but also usually only pay the nurses half price.) Another perk is that they find and pay for your housing for you and the salaries are usually good. You can use the agency just to get your feet in many doors. Once you find the facility that you like and would like to go on staff, there are usually options for doing so. Good luck on your relocation.

I have a friend that also completed this program and is not able to be licensed. She also advised me that the BONs are in the process of revoking the RN licenses issued on the basis of fraudulent education.

Sue2006 Just to let you know if either you or your husband is attending or attended Excelsior College, you will no longer be able to be licensed in GA.