Excelsior College advanced the proposed regulatory amendment and I am the dean of its School of Nursing. Seeing the various comments that have been posted, I believe there is a need to clarify the intent and purpose of the proposal.
Excelsior is a firm believer in the necessity for clinical experience in RN education. As some may have interpreted, the proposal is not an attempt to remove the need for clinical experience and demonstrated clinical competency prior to graduation from an entry-level RN program. The purpose of the proposed amendment is to allow for evidence-based alternatives to the traditional apprenticeship model as the sole means for students to acquire clinical experience.
At Excelsior, which admits only clinically experienced individuals (as opposed to those with no or minimal experience), our curriculum is designed to help these adult students build upon their existing health care experience, to gain new knowledge, and to integrate this learning into the role of a registered nurse. Paramount in this process is the development of the critical thinking abilities necessary to function in today’s highly complex, dynamic, interprofessional health care environment.
Excelsior’s competency-based model of education, though different in methodology from classical nursing programs, is focused on the sameoutcome: the preparation of registered nurses to provide safe and competent patient care.
The intent of the proposed amendment is to allow for a continuation of a long-standing practice of licensing graduates of nontraditional programs – 30 years in Excelsior’s case – that serve a distinct population of clinically experienced individuals and which meet defined benchmarks of quality. These programs would still need to be approved by their home state regulators, to be accredited (regional and specialty), and to demonstrate required NCLEX-RN pass rates among their graduates.
