jamesc

All calls for the Georgia Board of Nursing are routed to the Call Center for the Professional Licensing Boards Division of the Office of Secretary of State. Hopefully you will be able to get through soon.

The ORI/OAC is listed on the first page of the endorsement application instructions under number 9. Additionally, complete instructions for obtaining a background check are available on the Board's website under "Licensure" and "Criminal Background Check."

The Georgia Board of Nursing has had a rough few months. Unfortunately, the Board relies on the Secretary of State's Office for technological support and the Board has been unable to make any changes to prevent the frequent system outages. All the telephone calls are routed to the Secretary of State's call center and the agents are frequently unable to provide helpful information. Recent board meeting minutes indicate that the Board has been trying to get the Secretary of State's office to set up a nursing specific call center. Perhaps that will happen soon so that people can get better information.

The ORI/OAC is listed on the application instructions.

Georgia law was amended during the 2012 legislative session to allow applicants to be considered for licensure if they graduated from nursing education programs that were not regionally accredited. O.C.G.A. 43-26-32(1.1) states that a program that is not regionally accredited must meet criteria "similar to and not less stringent than" criteria for Georgia approved programs. LPN Board rules required practical nursing education programs to consist of at least 485 hours of clinical training and 685 hours of theoretical training. Applicants who graduated from programs with clinical or theoretical hours that do not meet the minimum requirements may be required to complete additional hours of study/training to be eligible for licensure.

Georgia law requires a criminal background check. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has contracted with Cogent Systems to provide criminal background results to various state agencies. The Board's website has detailed instructions for registering with Cogent and completing the background check process.

O.C.G.A. 43-26-7 requires that applicants for licensure by endorsement or examination have graduated from an approved nursing education program as defined in O.C.G.A. 43-26-3(1.2). You are correct in assuming that most nursing education programs located outside of the United States will not meet the requirements of paragraphs (A) through (D) of this code section. Unfortunately, at this time, if an applicant graduated from a nursing education program that does not meet the requirements of this code section, he/she is not eligible for licensure in the State of Georgia. The Georgia Board of Nursing is currently drafting language to submit to the Legislature when it convenes in January 2012. Amendments to Georgia law can only be made by the Legislature. Based on the current law, your nursing education program must meet the requirements of O.C.G.A. 43-26-3(1.2) in order for you to be considered for licensure.

It is important to note that the preceptorship information that has been previously referenced in this thread is not a substitution for graduating from an approved nursing education program. The laws and rules governing preceptorships apply to applicants who have graduated from nontraditional education programs as defined in O.C.G.A. 43-26-7(e).

Unfortunately, the way the law currently reads, the Board has no ability to license applicants who graduated from nursing education programs that do not meet the requirements of O.C.G.A. 43-26-3. You may request information from the Board regarding any proposed updates or amendments to the law. I am not aware of any statutory provision that would allow an applicant to substitute a preceptorship in lieu of graduating from an approved nursing education program. Preceptorships are required by law for certain applicants who have graduated from nontraditional education programs as defined in O.C.G.A. 43-26-7(e). Seeking employment at a federal facility is certainly an option. Federal facilities do not require that you be licensed in the state in which the facility is located.

The Georgia Board of Nursing does license graduates of Excelsior College. O.C.G.A. 43-26-7 provides specific licensure requirements for applicants who graduated from a nontraditional education program. In fact, Senate Bill 100 was signed into effect on May 13, 2011. This bill is available on the website of the Georgia Board of Nursing at www.sos.ga.gov/plb/rn. The language in this law provides specific requirements for applicants for licensure by examination and endorsement. Additionally, depending on the method by which you are seeking licensure (examination or endorsement) the law has certain requirements regarding prior education and work history. Many times this information must be evaluated by the Board and a determination regarding licensure cannot be made by the staff. I would advise you to contact the Board of Nursing and request to speak to a supervisor. Perhaps he or she would be able to provide you with important information regarding your application that could help alleviate the uncertainty and frustration that you are currently experiencing. The operators at the Professional Licensing Boards answer the phones for forty-three professions and are typically only able to provide basic information. I feel certain that a staff member from the Board would be able to assist you with your questions.

Most applicants are able to receive criminal history results simply by having their fingerprints scanned electronically or by sending fingerprint cards directly to COGENT Systems as instructed on the website of the Georgia Board of Nursing. Unfortunately, a few individuals seem to have great difficulty when trying to obtain criminal history results from the fingerprinting process. I am sure it must be very frustrating to have to wait for results to be transmitted to the Board of Nursing. O.C.G.A. 43-26-7 requires that applicants for licensure have completed both a GBI and FBI background check. The Board of Nursing has no control over the time frame under which the GBI and FBI transmit results and are required to abide by the processing times of those agencies.

I'm glad that you have found the information to be helpful. I believe that the Georgia Board of Nursing is aware that the current definition of an approved nursing education program is preventing very qualified nurses from being eligible for licensure in Georgia. It is my understanding that this statute was put into place in 2009 to prevent "fly by night" nursing schools from popping up at every kitchen table in the state. Once the Board determines how they want to proceed they will submit the proposed language to the legislative body. At this point I am not aware of anything that an individual can do in order to assist in this process. Once the Board makes a decision and sends the proposal to the Legislature then it certainly could not hurt for constitutents to contact their local legislator and encourage them to support the bill. If the Legislature chooses to amend the statute then they could vote to have the law change be effective the day the Governor signs the bill or they could set a future date such as July 1, 2012.

O.C.G.A. 43-26-7 requires that applicants for licensure have graduated from an approved nursing education program as defined in O.C.G.A. 43-26-3(1.2). Accreditation must be granted by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. A list of regional accrediting bodies may be found by visiting the United States Department of Education's website. Individuals who graduated from nursing education programs that do not meet the requirements of O.C.G.A. 43-26-3(1.2) are not currently eligible for licensure in the State of Georgia. The Board is in the process of developing language to amend this statutory requirement. This information will be presented to the General Assembly during the next session which begins in January 2012.

The staff of the Georgia Board of Nursing have certain parameters within which they may approve applications for licensure. When applicants have criminal or disciplinary history that falls outside of the Board determined parameters the application must be reviewed by the Board. The Georgia Board of Nursing meets every other month (January, March, May, etc.) for two days to conduct business. To keep business moving in a timely manner, the Board appoints "cognizant members" to review information between board meetings. Cognizants are individuals appointed by the Board who make decisions that are then presented to the full Board for ratification. Members of the Georgia Board of Nursing are not paid employees of the State of Georgia and have other jobs and responsibilities outside of the Board. Most of the cognizants' work is done on nights and weekends during board members' "spare" time. Unfortunately, the staff is typically unable to provide a definite timeline for cognizant review. Most cognizant decisions are returned to the staff within three weeks. It is important to note that the cognizant may direct the staff how to proceed or the cognizant may refer the file to the full Board.

Some individuals do have a difficult time obtaining criminal background checks from the fingerprinting process. Unfortunately, the law enforcement agencies (FBI and GBI) require applicants to have two rejects from one agency before they will allow the Board to conduct a name search. Once the Board is allowed to initiate the name search process it typically takes anywhere from three to eight weeks for the results to be returned to the Board. The Georgia Board of Nursing does utilize an electronic fingerprint process for applicants who wish to have their prints scanned in the State of Georgia. At this time, the vendor selected by the GBI (COGENT Systems) does not provide a method for out of state applicants to have their fingerprints scanned--they must submit paper cards.