What Degree?????

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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i have been jumping thru hoops since january to get my rn license here, thank the cannolis i am still current in california so i can take travel assignments there!!!! i move all the way across the country, buy a home here, endure downtown living, sleepless nights and snow only to be told by the tenn brn that they want a copy of my diploma???? what diploma? i took the boards as soon as my preceptorship was done and have been working non stop for 10 years. every time i call the board here i get good ole shirley telling me my paperwork is stuck in some kooky quagmire of bureacracy and confusion. ultimately this will end with a benjamin changing hands in a parking lot somewhere. has anyone else had problems getting their license here ? whom did you have to sleep with ? any chance i could get by with just a little dinner, maybe a little dancing? i wanna work!!!!

what is clep ? I wonder what my options are...

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CLEP stands for college level examination program. College level tests that you take at proctored sites, for a fee. You get credit for course from school that accepts them. Excelsior is known for taking clep tests for credit. You have to check with the schools.

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The list of classes you are lacking is not impossible. I don't see why (unless your school is invoking the "residency" rule) you can't accomplish these classes by whatever means, and transfer them back to your original school and get your degree. For that matter, if that school has online classes, you could take some, if not all, of them online from the nursing school you went to. Just a matter of time and effort.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I had heard of this option from other Ca nurses, but I thought it was long gone. My suggestion (and I hate myself for saying this) is to get a consultation with an employment attorney. Sometimes an attorney will not charge for the first visit..

Were you an LVN before you took the RN boards?

http://www.nurse.ca.gov/steps.html

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I had heard of this option from other Ca nurses, but I thought it was long gone. My suggestion (and I hate myself for saying this) is to get a consultation with an employment attorney. Sometimes an attorney will not charge for the first visit..

Were you an LVN before you took the RN boards?

http://www.nurse.ca.gov/steps.html

Yes I was briefly. It was a necessity to work as I was going thru a divorce but took my RN boards because I complted the RN requirements.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

clear states on bon website:

lvn 30 unit option

designed as a career ladder for licensed vocational nurses wishing to become rns. takes approximately 18-24 months. no degree is granted upon completion. most other states do not recognize california's lvn 30 unit option and will not issue rn licenses to these lvns. some lvns prefer to complete an adn program in order to obtain a degree and to have the flexibility to get an rn license in other states. most adn programs will give lvns credit for some of the coursework they completed to become an lvn

http://www.nurse.ca.gov/steps.html

only option you have is to complete course work for either adn or bsn program. check with your previous school to see if only these courses needed for adn, and would they accept outside ca programs.

sorry you are caught in this bind. that is why we do not recomend this option for lpn's but going thru lpn to rn completion program then take nclex.

tn should at least permit you to apply for lpn license. best wishes for the future.

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Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.

To be licensed by endorsement in Tennessee, you have to show proof that you graduated from an accredited school of nursing, which shows that you meet the educational requirements for RN's in Tennessee. So, the answer to "What diploma?" is -- the one that you got from your school when you graduated. If you didn't actually go to any sort of nursing school, I have to wonder how you got licensed.

Also, I have to wonder why you just up and moved, assuming that everything would be silky smooth in getting your license in Tennessee. One would think that it might be a good idea to, ya know, make preparations beforehand. But, what do I know?

Anyway, if they keep asking for your diploma, give it to them. If you don't have a diploma, good luck getting that license.

I know my post seems a bit harsh, but you're not taking any responsibility here for your own lack of planning and research.

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I had heard of this option from other Ca nurses, but I thought it was long gone. My suggestion (and I hate myself for saying this) is to get a consultation with an employment attorney. Sometimes an attorney will not charge for the first visit..

Were you an LVN before you took the RN boards?

http://www.nurse.ca.gov/steps.html

I guess I'm confused about what someone might accomplish in this situation by consulting an attorney.

Convince TN to lower their standards and license someone who does not meet the minimum educational requirements?

Sue CA for letting someone practice as an RN without completing the associated academic program, but simply to be an LPN with more hours?

Nothing would be accomplished, because no one has done anything wrong. The concern seems to be that TN should grant the RN license to the IP because she practiced in another state.

We'd all like to have 100% reciprocity, but it isn't that way, because not all nursing programs are the same, and not all states have the same level of expectations.

Who would have thought that California, of all states, have lower standards than Tennessee? No offense to nurses of either state, but it makes me proud to be a Texan. They make us jump through plenty of hoops.....

Again, to Haunted--I think you can knock out those few courses by reading a few books and taking CLEP tests or doing it online or "nontraditional" with another college. Excelsior is going to be a bit expensive maybe. University of Phoenix is also very, very pricey. Check with local colleges first and see what they offer.

A bit of experience from my own academic background. Before I went to nursing school (forbidden to do so by my parents, but that's another story), I got a BA in psychology. I was actually pre-med (tried med school, didn't like it!) and so I took lots and lots of science. And I was fascinated by psychology so I took lots of psychology. And social work is very like psychology, so I took lots of social work courses. Nobody bothered to tell me (and I was too naive to know) that you could graduate with 124 hours! I was at 160 and counting! I applied to graduate--and guess what, with my wonderful grades (I had a 3.7) and all that heavy duty science, etc., I could not graduate until I took two humanities courses and an intro level sociology course!

I took them as "computer courses" (this was back in 1986) at a community college, transferred them to Oklahoma University and only then did I get to graduate. I thnk my undergrad credit total was something like 172. I was just having lots of fun learning everything I thought I needed to know. But I didn't meet graduation courses because of what I felt were unnecessary "fluffy" courses.

I'd forgotten about this, but the principle is the same. If you want to be granted a credential or privileges, you have to play by the rules of the institution granting the credential or privilege.

"Everybody else is" doesn't hold water for us adults any more than it did for children.

The frustration I felt at that time was related to discovering that my assumptions about my ability to graduate, based on what I thought was reasonable belief, were wrong..... In the end, you gotta do what they wantcha to do.

Again, good luck.....

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I'd forgotten about this, but the principle is the same. If you want to be granted a credential or privileges, you have to play by the rules of the institution granting the credential or privilege.

....

Great post.

The people of Tennessee have decided that in order to be granted the privelege of practicing as an RN in their state a person needs to have graduated from an approved RN program. They have a right to set that standard. They don't "owe" anybody the right to practice who has not met that standard -- a standard, by the way, most people would probably think is quite reasonable. If you want to be an RN in Tennessee, meet the Tennessee standard.

Good luck to you in your efforts. I hope you take the needed courses, graduate, and have a long and satisfying RN career.

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Things do move a little slower south of the M/D line, but if all the forms are in order and you have provided everything the BON has asked for, then I am cofident you will obtain a license. I have to agree with Donald, you and you alone, are responsible to have all of the necessary forms and documents submitted to the BON. In this case haste has made waste, so grit your teeth, do what is required and the license will come.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I agree, the attorney suggestion was not the best. I did a lot of GOOGLING on this topic after I posted that. It amazed me that Ca refused the Excelsior thing and yet had created this 30 option. I have 160+ hours and an ADN. (BA in different field).

Guess what else? This was discussed here on allnurses a few months ago.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f233/30-unit-option-very-tempting-179882.html

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What most do not know is that not only does CA have the 30 unit option for LVNs, they also have another option for "non graduates". This is another category for those who have not graduated from a BSN program but have completed enough of the program to be equivalent to or more than, the two year ASN level. Again, the RN license obtained through this manner is not accepted in other states.

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