I'm a 48-year old student completing my nursing education through Excelsior College out of New York. Excelsior has an excellent program for LPNs, some other medical professionals, and those who have completed more than half of a traditional RN program. I have been working on completing their requirements for two years.
I am finally down to my last exam -- the big one. It's called the CPNE, which stands for Clinical Practice Nursing Exam. This is a 3-day clinical exam, costing $1625, plus travel expenses. Before taking this exam I need to attend a workshop which is similarly costly and requiring travel. Add a yearly renewal fee and even a fee to graduate and we arrive at the sum of $4,000 standing between me and my degree.
Excelsior is distance learning at its best -- it is NOT a 'correspondence course' and it is NOT an 'online class' -- although I did take ENG 102 online through my local community college, and recently Excelsior has added some classes to its services. I have a 3.23 gradepoint average at this time, and that's what I'll finish with since the clinical exam is a pass/fail exam worth 8 credits. If I gave you my sob story you'd probably think I made half of it up, so I won't tell all. Part of the problem is that in addition to the program itself being expensive my car (which I owe $1600 on at $200 a month) had an unexpected oil leak which quickly caused me to lose my engine. I'm not a ditz, I do know how to and had been checking my oil guys. I was also out of work for four weeks after having some surgery. Being a single parent with two teenagers, of course there are always additional expenses (the cost of groceries has skyrocketed in the past few years, hasn't it??)
I never thought I'd become an internet panhandler, but after pondering this realized that a lot of good can come from a site like this. My intention is to get the word out and have others in similar positions apply for a feature page, and feature a new nursing student every week, keep each one running for a couple months, resulting in maybe a total of 8 recipients available to donate to at a time. With enough interest and participation, Invest in a Nurse (dot.com) could turn into a real non-profit organization here for the long-haul. Help me make it happen.
This is YOUR chance to help, to do a small part to grow quality nurses one nursing student at a time. Help lessen the financial stresses of nursing students go into and remain in nursing because we really do care
Invest in a nurse! We save lives every day, all over this country. It's an investment that will keep on paying, in so many ways. To make a donation, click on the Paypal link below.
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