In recent days some disturbing news has been brought to my attention regarding the LPN to Assoc. RN program at Excelsior College. I am posting a message here because, as distance learners, I truly believe we can all relate to the seriousness of this issue. It seems to me that SOMEONE needs to join forces and address this on a national level before it makes this type of educational avenue obsolete.

I am an LPN currently enrolled in Excelsior College working toward my Associate RN degree. I live in the state of Virginia and the Virginia Board of Nursing has recently passed new legislation that will result in Excelsior College RN graduates being denied the right to sit for the NCLEX-RN exam. It will deny them the ability to ever obtain an RN licensure by exam OR endorsement from another state. I have been circulating my story along with an online petition and would appreciate it if you could sign it and pass it along to fellow nurses and nurse educators. The cost of ignoring this new legislation could prove fatal for the Excelsior College nursing option... an option that, for many, is the only realistic avenue for going back to school. I have included the link to my petition as well as a link to "my story" at the close if this e-mail. I respectfully request that you join me in this fight.


Fight for the Rights of Excelsior Nursing Grads - start free online petitions at petition spot


nhudnall - DISTANCE LEARNING NURSING STUDENTS UNITE!!

Sincerely,

Nikki

I signed the petition. I hope your efforts are successful!!

Danielle

Thanks Danielle! I am soooo frustrated and don't want them to get away with this any longer! Thanks for taking the time to sign my petition.

Good luck in your fight.

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YAY!! Thanks!

This is simply horrible. I signed it, and hope it makes a difference... Did the VA nursing board specify why they made this decision?

__________________

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COSC B.S. Independent/Liberal Studies (Business Admin & Healthcare Admin)
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ALL DONE!!

Nikki--

I signed your petition and I think you're fighting for something important. You might consider writing a short but compelling letter to the editor and then sending it out via email to as many publications as you can. If you can get national attention it would help you to accomplish your goal.

best of luck;
G-Man

I signed too. My wife is thinking about getting into Nursing and this would certainly be a negative.

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Yep, it IS terrible. The VA Board of nursing's concern is that Excelsior gives a "clinical competency" exam that is a three day test, given in a combination of clinical labs and real patient hospital experiences. The reason for that is because they are aware that the LPN has already had hundreds of clinical hours in LPN school and thousands on top of thousands of clinical hours of real work experience. So their testing is focused mostly on the skills that are NEW to the LPN (although the do include other critical tasks that the LPN has already learned at their level). The way the VA board of nursing has manipulated the law in order to shut out Excelsiors program was by passing legislation that states "an LPN must have a minimum of 400 clinical hours in training and an RN must have a minimum of 500 hours in training to be granted VA licensure". This way they can say "its not Excelsior... it's just our new law". As you can see... I'm livid! I mean, REALLY!!! It's NOT the early 1900's for gosh sakes. In this new era of progression and technology things have definitely changed in regards to avenues of education. Anyway, thanks for signing.

Hi G-Man,
Yep, I actually am planning to do just that. I have been in contact with SOOO MANY PEOPLE regarding this issue and it's taking me a while to get everything organized, but I plan to take this as far as I can go. All the way to my state legislators, or even Washington if I have to. It's time that "regular everyday people" are given a voice. My goal is definitely to get national attention via the media as well. The media has a great way of pushing things to the forefront on a national level. Thanks for signing the petition.