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@Coolbean Have you gone through Excelsior? I read one of your other posts prior to this one, and you have a some negative things to say about the program. I work at a military hospital and one of the officers I work with completed Excelsior and I work with two enlisted people who just finished the program. Yes I have heard the clinical portion of the program is rigid but that's not a reason to dismiss the entire program. I am currently enrolled in Excelsior's ADN program and despite the challenge I feel blessed to be in this nursing program because at this point in my life I cannot go to a traditional nursing school. Anyways Ahinman, you can you use study group 101, flash card, amongst other things on allnurses.com to help you. Good Luck

Update Excelsior Maryalnd!!!! Update on House Bill 624 – Good NewsBy ExcelsiorColl - February 15, 2013- 0 Comments We have good news to report. On Thursday, February 14, a hearing was held before the Health and Government Operations Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates on House Bill 624. Sponsored by Delegates Joseline Pena-Melnyk (D-21st District) and Nicholaus Kipke (R-31st District), the bill re-opens a means for graduates of Excelsior’s associate degree in nursing program to be licensed by endorsement. Under terms of the bill, Excelsior graduates will be eligible for licensure by endorsement if they have an unencumbered RN license from another state and have had at least 1,000 hours of active nursing practice within the 12-month period prior to applying for a Maryland license. During the hearing, representatives of the College spoke in favor of the bill. Importantly, both the Board of Nursing and the Maryland Nurses Association also spoke in support of the legislation. To put the 1,000 hour requirement into perspective, this is the equivalent of about a half a year’s worth (26 weeks) of full-time practice, assuming a 37.5 hour work week. The next step in the process is for the Committee to move the bill to consideration by the full House of Delegates. Given the bipartisan effort by Delegates Pena-Melnyk and Kipke to introduce the legislation, the endorsement of the Board of Nursing, which worked with the delegates on the bill, and the support of the Maryland Nurses Association, the potential for passage in the House of Delegates is promising. There is a companion bill in the Senate, SB 501, introduced by Senator Joan Carter Conway (D – 43rd District), which will have a hearing February 27. We will keep you informed as these bills move through the Maryland General Assembly. Thanks to your advocacy, this is a significant step forward in our work in the state.

Exactly, "policies based on nothing" that's why I posted the Maryland Advocate for Excelsior College on this website. I'm hoping Excelsior graduates can join the forum to provide facts about the program including how it has helped them professionally, work role, professional activites, etc. We have a small group of Excelsior graduates working with supportive members of the Maryland legislature to remove the barricade Excelsior graduates have to deal with in Maryland.

Yes it's not a right, it's a privilege

Hello fellow Excelsior graduates and students, we are still fighting for our right to have licensure in Maryland. There are many opponents toward Excelsior College, who question our education. Please join our forum, we are taking this up with the Maryland General Assembly. I have also posted a link to a video about an RN who graduated from Excelsior and was given a license by the MBON and then they took it away. Please watch the video. Thanks The links is below. http://md.excelsioradvocate.com/?utm_source=Excelsior+Advocate+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=a7c2343a8f-Advocate_Email_21_18_2013&utm_medium=email http://md.excelsioradvocate.com/current-news/

Hey this message is for RN Luna, I'm not sure if you are still in the DMV last I read you got into the Army Nurse Corps. But I work at Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda and I have a new Ensign nurse on my unit which is the equivalent to a Second Lieutenant. Anyway he was able to complete Excelsior's ADN program in six months and then he completed Chamberlain College's program in 11 months. He has been a advocate for Excelsior College in Maryland for several years. In fact they let him sit for the boards in Maryland in 2008 because of his combat military experience as a corpsman for 15 years. He is speaking to the Maryland Legislature on December 12, 2012. I think its the house of delegates and a congressman who believes in Excelsior and is sponsoring a Bill supporting Excelsior students in Maryland to sit for the boards. He has four Excelsior graduates speaking about the nursing program, they are all military. I was laughing with him today because he actually said he would rather be in combat then go through the CPNE again. I'm a civilian LPN and I enrolled in September. I've completed one exam so far. Anyways they need voices to speak up about Excelsior and I thought of you. If you are still in the DMV or anyone else who wants to be at this hearing in Maryland please email me and I will pass your email address over to the ENS I work with. Please forgive my typo errors, I'm very tired. [email protected]

Yeah I spoke with Dr.Saxby with the Virginia Board of Nursing a few days ago and she informed me of the news. She said Excelsior is a good program but the Borard of Nursing are sticking to there requirements 400 clinical hours for LPN programs and 500 clinical hours RN programs. She told me that they even consulted with one of the LPN's that sits on the Board and he also felt if he were in a RN program he would want the 500 clinical hours. I explained my experience as a hospital float nurse to her and she acknowledged that is helpful however she said the requirements for clinical hours still stand. She seemed very nice. She said the Board tried to work out a clinical plan with Excelsior but Excelsior refused to compromise. Her advice to me and other VA residents is to set for the NCLEX in DC work the required (I think she said 950 hours) and then apply for a licence in VA. I don't agree with Board on their stance for Excelsior however at least we can still get a license in the state unlike our neighbor to the north. I lived in Maryland and the people at the Maryland Board of Nursing are rude and could use a class in customer service.

Hey does anybody have any updates on Excelsior and VA board of nursing?

Thank you guys for your responses. I've been a LPN for several years and I have worked in several hospitals including two millitary hospitals and in many cases I do have more skills then some of the RN's I work with but I'm getting paid LPN pay. To keep my morale up I will not tell any of the nurses at my job what I am doing anymore, when I'm studying I will just tell them I doing prereqs. When I take my NCLEX in one year (With hard work and by the Grace of God) then I will talk to them about the program.

Hello everyone I'm writing to seek some advice on negative responses to Excelsior College. I work at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. I'm scheduled to take Transitions August 27 so whenever I have down time at work I study for it. Sometimes the RN's I work ask me what I'm studying and I tell them. The RN's I work with proceed to tell me not to do Excelsior and lecture me about how I should go to a real college and get a real education. Please give me advice on how to respond to such comments. I tell the nurses that an Excelsior graduates have a high NCLEX passing rate and the program is accredited by the NLN but these points are ignored. I don't want to hide the fact that I'm doing distance learning but the negative comments I hear are starting to agitate me.

Congrats on your first victory:balloons:. What did you use to prepare for Transitions and how long did you study before taking the exam. I'm currently reading the College Network Module for Transitions, and I'm struggling to retain what I read. I have registered for the exam but I have not chosen a date yet. I'm right behind ya.

Supposedly the Maryland Nurses Association, MOB, and other organizations stated that they had research and evidence that due to lack of clinical experience graduates of distance learning programs are not safe. I guess the Maryland Legisture got intimidated and withdrew the bill. I wish they would put there research out there cause I would like to see it.

People cheat in traditional nursing schools too. What's the point of that comment. I've worked at several DC hospitals and I"ve never seen any postings asking about clinical requirements from nursing school, so I would like to know what hospitals are doing that. I know most hospitals are requiring BSN's.

Okay I found the link on the right side of MyEC. Thanks to all the people who responded.

Okay I just paid for my first exam Transition To The Professional Nurse Role. It told me I can pick a date in two days. Okay I'm fine with waiting for two days to choose my date. I also registered for the practice exam and I'm logged in to MyEC but how do I access the exam, do I also have to wait two days for that too? This is my first exam. I have the College Network Module and I have study group 101 are those adequate study materials? My last question is when do you think I should schedule my exam, I was thinking 30 days but I'm not sure if that's too soon. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Not turning back now I've already paid. Thank You

hello, this is for nursecharchi1212 and honeyblpn. nursecharchi1212 i plan on taking health safety in one month can you give me any advice on studying? what did you use to prepare and how long did it take you to complete the nursing course exams? honeyblpn if you want a partner on your level let me know because i'm still finishing up prereqs too. i worked at howard university er for three months as an lpn and i enjoyed it. i left because i did not like working 8 hour shifts. i have a second job and it was hard to maintain it working five days a week at howard. only rn's are allowed to do 12 hour shifts. i learned a lot and got my acls while i worked there. it's a great learing place in the er and one of the reasons is the level 1 trauma bays. you can see and treat anything when you have a level one trauma area. i also enjoyed working with my african american community, i felt a since of family when i worked at howard. it's not all peaches and cream but i enjoyed working there. at howard university hospital you will met people from all over the world, the medical school and pharmacy school are very diverse. i also met different types of blacks from all over the world and that was assume to me. the patient population in the er were a mix but being in the city you will see lots of homeless people come and communicating with them is a learning experience. by gods grace and my hard work i can complete excelsior in one year and go back. i currently work as a gs employee at bethesda naval hospital and i still miss howard. holla

as many of you are aware last year the virginia board of nursing made a decision to no longer recognize excelsior school of nursing graduates for licensure by examination or endorsement after december 31, 2009. in response to this decision excelsior college staff have been in an on-going dialog with the board of nursing and its staff to encourage the board to revisit its decision and to adopt an endorsement option for excelsior college nursing graduates. we are pleased to inform you that the board has agreed to advance regulations to permit endorsement of our graduates with 960 hours of practice as a registered nurse in another us jurisdiction or in a federal facility. the public comment period for the proposed regulatory change allowing licensure by endorsement in virginia is july 6 through august 5. we will be offering comment in support of the proposed regulation. you may also offer comment beginning july 6 in support of this regulatory change by visiting the board's website at http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/nursing/ you may contact the excelsior college state board team at [email protected] if you have questions about the proposed regulation and its impact on your ability to be licensed in virginia. thank you for your time and efforts. sincerely, signature of bridget nettelton m. bridget nettleton, phd, rn dean, school of nursing all excelsior graduates and current students please show your support by commenting before this bill gets voted on. ec and virginia: where to comment ... by lunahrn [color=#d29d00]allnurses guide 4'11'' redhead! [/url] age: 37 years exp: 1 year rn, 6 years paramedic nursing specialty: emergency department received 1,600 kudos from 1,126 posts join date: aug 2005 posts: 2,794 after searching around virginia's bon website, i found the link to the town hall section where comments can be posted on the proposal to allow ec grads licensure by endorsement after 960 hours as an rn in another jurisdiction: http://www.townhall.virginia.gov/l/c...m?stageid=5078 so there it is. :) you do have to register to post a comment, btw -- http://www.townhall.virginia.gov/l/register.cfm

I work at a federal facility so it doesn't matter which state I'm in. I want to complete Excelsior in one year. I've worked on a med-surg unit in a hospital for over three years and I'm tired of being disrespected by RN's who don't think I'm a nurse. I just wanted some encouragement and a resource. I will try to CLEP as many preqs as I can in the next three months and then I will study for Excelsior's A&P. I can not sit in a class room because of my work schedule so right now excelsior is my only option. LunahRN I thought the 960 clinical hour endorsement was already inacted into law, I didn't know it was an amendment that is currently being voted on. Well if the Virginia BON doesn't have any oposition the amendment will not pass like Maryland but if Virginia Excelsior grads come together like the nurses in Texas maybe it will pass. Virginia is not accepting Excelsior based on lack of clinical hours and deemed the program unsafe for patient care. Based on the threads I've read it sounds like the CPNE takes just as much time and skill as traditional clinicals. As far as 1500 clinical hours how many hours do you spend studying for the CPNE. In my opinion this is something that should be brought up to the state legislature. Anyways, thank you all for your advice it is greatly appreciated.

I just wanted to say congratulation and thank you for comming back to the boards and giving us advice. :bowingpur I really look up to the guys. Okay enough of the mushi stuff! LOL. I'm new to this web site and I'm currently studying for the CLEP Human Growth and Development. I really want to start studying Health Safety 1 and start completing my nursing exams however the advisor told me to finish all my general eds first. I still need to complete Micro, A&P, Humanities, and an elective. I wanted to start two classes at my local community college this Fall while studying for Health and Safety 1 then on to the rest of the nursing courses (Is this possible?). Have any of you guys ever taken class or studied for a general education course while studing for nursing concepts or any health safety exams? I really want to be done with this program within the year. Can someone please give me some guidance. RNLuna I've been trying to send you a message but I don't know how because I wanted some advice from you too because I know that you completed this program in one year, I live in Alexandria VA. Thank You

Hello, I don't see anything on the Virginia Board of Nursing's web site about endorsement of a nursing graduate with 960 hours. Where did you get your information from. Thank You

a constituent member association of the american nurses association, representing maryland’s professional nurses since 1904. mna protects patient safety by blocking sb 205 the maryland nurses association (mna) demonstrated the power of nurses in annapolis this session. when the department of health and mental hygiene (dhmh) introduced senate bill 205–state board of nursing–licensing–licensure by endorsement–provisional practice permits, mna polled its members and sprang into action. mna’s grass roots pressure and intense lobbying efforts eventually forced the department of health and mental hygiene to withdraw the bill, allowing them to avoid the bill being killed. sb 205 drew strong opposition because it raised serious patient safety issues. the bill’s authors stated that it was an attempt to alleviate the nursing shortage by reducing “barriers” to licensure. however as soon as the bill was introduced, nurses across maryland began to question its long-term implications for patient safety. mna partnered with other nursing organizations, including the black nurses association of baltimore and the maryland association of nursing students (mans), to oppose the bill. the controversy over the bill centered on the creation of two new pathways to licensure by endorsement. through licensure by endorsement, a nursing board licenses a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse who has a license from another state or country and has passed an acceptable licensure exam. while licensure by endorsement is already a common practice in maryland and other states, sb 205 created two new pathways for licensure for individuals without complete educations. mna’s membership strongly felt that this lack of education would put patients at risk. with the first new pathway, the maryland board of nursing would have been able to license an endorsement candidate who lacked clinical training. nurses who met certain conditions could substitute work experience for clinical training. mna’s membership strongly felt that nurses need structured clinical training in order to learn how to practice safely. the nurses eligible for licensure through this pathway would have graduated from an accredited school that only offered a final assessment of clinical skills without the preparatory clinical training. these nurses would only have been required to have 44 days of clinical practice experience in the past year or 125 days in the past 5 years. under the second new pathway, the maryland board of nursing would have been allowed to issue a provisional permit to an endorsement candidate who was missing clinical or didactic training. while the provisional permit holder would have only been allowed to practice within a limited scope, mna’s membership felt that the provisional permit holder would put patients at risk for two reasons: 1) a nurse needs complete clinical and didactic training in order to deliver safe care. no one has considered licensing other health professionals, including physicians, without a complete education; and 2) given the realities of the work place, it would be nearly impossible for a nurse to stay within a limited scope of practice. in most health care facilities, nurses get moved from unit to unit and from shift to shift. there is no way to guarantee that the provisional permit holder would not be asked to practice outside the scope of the permit. in response to such deep concerns about patient safety, dhmh asked the senate to amend the provisional permit provision. the amendment renamed the provisional permit to a temporary limited license. under the new name, an endorsement candidate could be missing one didactic component. however, mna’s concerns about the bill still remained. the amended pathway for a temporary limited license still allowed a nurse to practice without a complete education. the pathway to allow clinical experience to substitute for clinical training still remained intact. [color=white]iafter the senate passed the amended bill, mna continue to oppose the bill in the house. a good hearing in front of the house health and government operations committee revealed the bill’s problems to the legislators. shortly after the hearing, dhmh withdrew the bill. mna has agreed to continue discussions about reducing barriers to licensure for qualified applicants, as long as practicing nurses and educators are at the table. as the legislative process revealed, workforce shortage proposals need to be thoroughly vetted before being implemented. patient safety is too important to risk. mna would like to thank all of its members who contacted their legislators about the bill and our partner nursing organizations for their work. we also would like to extend a special thank you to robyn elliott, mna’s lobbyist, for her efforts on this bill. we have demonstrated that nurses working together can have a significant impact on the legislative [color=white] process.[color=white]ue

:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire re: senate bill 205. this bill was opposed by maryland board of nursing who also encouraged other nursing associations in maryland to oppose the bill including the maryland nurse association. how do you as excelsior graduates/students feel about this bill since it affects you if you ever want to practice in this state? are you an unsafe nurse due to your lack of clinical hours? if you disagree with the maryland board of nursing and you live in maryland or dmv you should band together and write the governor and let hime know the other side of the story. sorry this looks long but i copied and pasted it is from the maryland nurse news and journal, just as a follow up to the bill. mna protects patient safety by blocking sb 205 the maryland nurses association (mna) demonstrated the power of nurses in annapolis this session. when the department of health and mental hygiene (dhmh) introduced senate bill 205-state board of nursing-licensing-licensure by endorsement-provisional practice permits, mna polled its members and sprang into action. mna's grass roots pressure and intense lobbying efforts eventually forced the department of health and mental hygiene to withdraw the bill, allowing them to avoid the bill being killed. sb 205 drew strong opposition because it raised serious patient safety issues. the bill's authors stated that it was an attempt to alleviate the nursing shortage by reducing "barriers" to licensure. however as soon as the bill was introduced, nurses across maryland began to question its long-term implications for patient safety. mna partnered with other nursing organizations, including the black nurses association of baltimore and the maryland association of nursing students (mans), to oppose the bill. the controversy over the bill centered on the creation of two new pathways to licensure by endorsement. through licensure by endorsement, a nursing board licenses a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse who has a license from another state or country and has passed an acceptable licensure exam. while licensure by endorsement is already a common practice in maryland and other states, sb 205 created two new pathways for licensure for individuals without complete educations. mna's membership strongly felt that this lack of education would put patients at risk. with the first new pathway, the maryland board of nursing would have been able to license an endorsement candidate who lacked clinical training. nurses who met certain conditions could substitute work experience for clinical training. mna's membership strongly felt that nurses need structured clinical training in order to learn how to practice safely. the nurses eligible for licensure through this pathway would have graduated from an accredited school that only offered a final assessment of clinical skills without the preparatory clinical training. these nurses would only have been required to have 44 days of clinical practice experience in the past year or 125 days in the past 5 years. under the second new pathway, the maryland board of nursing would have been allowed to issue a provisional permit to an endorsement candidate who was missing clinical or didactic training. while the provisional permit holder would have only been allowed to practice within a limited scope, mna's membership felt that the provisional permit holder would put patients at risk for two reasons: 1) a nurse needs complete clinical and didactic training in order to deliver safe care. no one has considered licensing other health professionals, including physicians, without a complete education; and 2) given the realities of the work place, it would be nearly impossible for a nurse to stay within a limited scope of practice. in most health care facilities, nurses get moved from unit to unit and from shift to shift. there is no way to guarantee that the provisional permit holder would not be asked to practice outside the scope of the permit. in response to such deep concerns about patient safety, dhmh asked the senate to amend the provisional permit provision. the amendment renamed the provisional permit to a temporary limited license. under the new name, an endorsement candidate could be missing one didactic component. however, mna's concerns about the bill still remained. the amended pathway for a temporary limited license still allowed a nurse to practice without a complete education. the pathway to allow clinical experience to substitute for clinical training still remained intact. [color=white]iafter the senate passed the amended bill, mna continue to oppose the bill in the house. a good hearing in front of the house health and government operations committee revealed the bill's problems to the legislators. shortly after the hearing, dhmh withdrew the bill. mna has agreed to continue discussions about reducing barriers to licensure for qualified applicants, as long as practicing nurses and educators are at the table. as the legislative process revealed, workforce shortage proposals need to be thoroughly vetted before being implemented. patient safety is too important to risk. mna would like to thank all of its members who contacted their legislators about the bill and our partner nursing organizations for their work. we also would like to extend a special thank you to robyn elliott, mna's lobbyist, for her efforts on this bill. we have demonstrated that nurses working together can have a significant impact on the legislative process.[color=white]ue

SB 205 was thrown out by the Maryland Legislature because the Maryland Board of Nursing and other RN's and organizations supposedly had proof that lack of clinical hours in nursing programs such as Excelsior's is dangerous to patients and made lack of clinical hours a patient safetly issue. The legislature got intimidated and throw the bill out before it even made it to the floor. I have written and spoken to the woman who deals with education on the Maryland Board of Nursing and in my opinion she is ignorant and would not listen to my point of view on the program. I think the Maryland Board of nursing is full of it. How can you prove that Excelsior nurses are not as safe as traditionally school nurses? If the there is proof I would like to see it. Any nurses in Maryland who graduated from Excelsior should come together like the nurses in Texas and contact the Governor of Maryland and plead there case. I work at a Millitary hospital and there are many nurses here who went through Excelsior and they are some of the best nurses I know with impeacable clinical skill. If clinical skill are in question I would put Excelsior graduates up against traditional graduates (not that I'm nocking traditional graduates just making a point) to see the scores. Excelsior's clinical portion of the program is very rigid and if you don't know what your doing they will not pass you. That is part of reason why there is waiting period, (besides volume of students) excelsior wants you to be prepare. I am a future Excelsior graduate and I live in VA. I'm working on my prereq's and will start nursing exams in August. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I was going to get my license in DC since I work at a federal facility but I am elated that VA is has compromised with Excelsior because it's a wonderful program. I did not have time to sit in a class room. Thank You for letting me vent. ;)God Bless