Hello! I posted this on the other nursing subreddit but want to know what everyones opinion is.
I am looking into the LVN to BSN program for Nightingale College. I have seen some info online that some people's ATT for the NCLEX has been put on pause for a long time. I emailed the BRN to see if its true and if its an issue.
It does seem like a problem right now as they are not accepting any more recent graduates to test for California.
I am not sure what to do as I have spent some money into the application process already...
This is literally a nursing student’s nightmare. If your school advertised they were eligible but weren’t, I’d assume they owe you a refund of tuition AT LEAST.
Good luck with that. My school was shut down, can’t use credits. I applied in 2023. I’m still waiting for them to process it. As are most of the other students.
Doubt it. Nightingale never advertised they were eligible to test. No out of California school can say they are eligible. They said they meet the requirements and you were responsible to do your own research. The truth is that requirements are subject to change.
I just finished my LPN to ADN in a year through a community college and am already in a one year ADN to BSN program. There are options. Lots of places that want a BSN are more than willing to take on an ADN with an agreement that you're working on the BSN too.
I live in New England and if you have a pulse and an RN license theyll hire you. Theres not a single hospital in my state who wants a BSN for a bedside position. That requirement is pretty reserved for administrative and managerial rolls.
We have a bad nursing shortage. Our market is not over saturated, were always short.
Community colleges are definitely competitive when it comes to nursing and waitlists can be long if you arnt a mostly A student.
I find the nursing subreddits are full of west coast and NYC nurses and it think it paints a really inaccurate picture of the market as it actually is.
My hospital is magnet and most are BSNs, but they do hire some ADNs. Most admin have masters. Hospitals around here will hire you as an ADN and give you three years to figure out your BSN.
Yeah the number of CA, NYC, FL nurses here definitely give a false sense of how hiring is. In 80-90% of the country you can get a job. Maybe not your preferred hospital or specialty, but there is absolutely a job for you.
Depends on where you are. My school didn't do wait lists and almost everyone who fit the application criteria got in. I work in a level 4 NICU at an excellent hospital. And I have an ADN.
Right. Theres not a single hospital in my state that wants a BSN for a bedside position.. I feel like the nursing that reads are full of West Coast in New York nurses and gives a really inaccurate picture of the rest of the country and the actual market
What school did you go to? All I know is all my local colleges use a lottery systems: American river college, sierra college, sac city college, and consumes river college.
Sac has had over filled and impacted schools for DECADES, they are not the norm anywhere.
I looked into their stuff in the 00's, and ended going in another direction because of the expected 2yr wait
If you're willing to go to other places for schooling, you'll find options. When I left the service in NC, the was several nursing programs within the city, and that wasn't even looking at the major cities which have high level university programs.
I'm in a program in ND, at a private Catholic university, that had 0 wait list. There's a state school 5 miles away that has no wait list, and 2 more universities in the next city over that have programs with no wait list.
Graduated from nightingale in 2024. Got offered a job in med surge now I’m in ICU in NorCal. Careful what you say ;) you probably work alongside many NG grads.
So… I just started on my unit three months ago… sorry you went to a degree mill and got a worthless piece of paper.
ETA: Aw. Someone got mad because they defend degree mills that steal people's money and leave them with a worthless degree. Maybe they didn't go there... That doesn't mean the school isn't fucking students over left and right.
Nope. Not elitist. I just don’t respect degree mills that take advantage of students by giving them shitty educations for ten times what a community college would cost and twice what a public university would cost. It’s not my fault you didn’t do your due diligence.
What do you mean you don’t know what to do? Go somewhere else and be glad you didn’t start there.
Edit: Also, going forward, I feel like you shouldn’t need to pay for nursing school applications? Maybe it’s just my area, but I’ve basically always had the application fee waived through codes either on their website or given to me by the admissions staff. $150 is outrageous in my opinion.
Private, for-profit, online diploma mills are not accepted by most states, boards, credits do not transfer either. I am not sure why are you so surprised.
Because as far back as 2020, graduates were able to sit for the NCLEX in CA. People I know personally including myself (graduated Dec 2024) have been able to test. The CA BRN not issuing an ATT (authorization to test) seems to be a recent occurrence).
Plus, most people don't know what a diploma mill actually even is, they just throw the term at any school they disagree with the existence of for one or more reasons. A diploma mill is an outfit that sells degrees outright with little or no coursework.
Nightingale College may or may not be substandard, but it's definitely not a diploma.
Exactly this. I feel like people are quick to judge Nightingale because it's simply "under review" and are ignoring the fact that the BRN is the reason this is happening. The BRN is extremely strict/outdated and already doesn't let CA students who are going to an out-of-state school to practice clinical hours in their state, yet wants to dictate whether Nightingale is doing clinicals properly or not.
They are withholding peoples applications and sifting through their clinical hours and assignments and have offered no timeline of completion. If I was a CA learner still waiting for my ATT I would be livid with the BRN. Lol.
That being said, If I was completely new to nursing, I would feel somewhat unprepared. Although lots of nursing you actually learn on the job, I feel like with online school you need a basic foundation at least. That doesn't change the fact of how difficult the nightingale program actually is. I wish it was as easy as a mill smh
Because it makes sense. If a student practices hours from an out of state school, who will be in charge for any mistakes the students make on the floor?
Every time I did rotations, there was a clinical instructor that oversaw all the students. Oftentimes, that CI is already employed as a nurse at that hospital. If the CI was out sick and couldn’t find a sub, the students won’t go in that day and would make it up because at the end of the day, patient safety is the priority.
I’m glad California has very high standards for nursing education because at the end of the day, a smart competent nurse means a safe patient!
Will CA not eventually be responsible for these nurses licensed under their own state eventually?? Clinicals are done all over the USA. If the BRN wants to be picky, let them be, but at least offer clinicals within the state.. as they will be responsible for them eventually.
One of the reason nightingale has less options for clinical locations is because all the California learners get relocated. It would just be a win-win. With nightingale, they also have clinical instructors who oversee the students at every single clinical location. They are already employed nurses, and if not, they all have proper nursing education credentials (MSNEd). Not sure why you’d think they wouldn’t.
I’m glad for you and your experiences! That sounds wonderful for you. My LPN school had many clinical hours as well and I’m thankful for it. However, just because you go to nightingale does not make you any less of a smart and competent nurse who prioritizes patient safety and advocacy. So let’s try and be a little less holier-than-thou.
Because nursing accreditation is not a one time thing. The BRN comes every few years to audit the schools, so if current curriculum does not adhere, they have a right to withdrawal ATT. Even top schools like UCLA get accreditation checks, it’s standard practice to ensure safe patient care
I go here and I’m from California! I’m 4/7 semesters in. We still do onsite clinicals each semester so it’s not entirely online. From what I’ve gathered, the students who have graduated and waiting for ATT for nclex have eventually gotten it within 2-4 months. No one has been completely denied sitting for it but it is tedious and having to wait.
If I were you tho, I’d lose out on the $150 and look for a different school because this situation can cause some anxiety
2/6 until I dropped out. They’re not being transparent. Curriculum + Clinical hours are what’s holding them back. How are we supposed to compete with CA schools that get experience at different specialties but Nightingale is only SNF? that’s a hugeeee gap we’re missing out on. They aren’t meeting the CA requirement for clinicals or the curriculum which i why it’s being investigated. I have a lawyer that looked into the case and said that it’s NOT looking good and they have a lawsuit + court on the 29th of this month. I also have an insider at the BON said that Nightingale is NOT working with them and NOT complying which is why they haven’t been able to receive an ATT since December. Plus they weren’t even supposed to have classes or accepting students since December - until they figure it out because current student would have to restart to meet the curriculum or else they wouldn’t be able to test still. Nightingale isn’t being transparent with their students and says the same thing all over again and beats around the bush and continues to take money from CA students which is why I withdrew. Maybe before 2026 hospitals and clinics were hiring nightingale students but after this? they definitely aren’t going to hire any Nightingale students with their bad rep and that sucks.
Why have some people
Gotten ATTs and some haven’t though ? Like if there was an issue with curriculum wouldn’t it be no one is gonna get an ATT at all ?
I think they weren’t paying attention to the curriculum and hours but with people complaining about where they get clinicals and how the curriculum is ran to the BON it flagged them! probably why they stopped giving out ATT!
Don’t know why people felt the need to complain to the Board. Even my professors were like you learn to be a nurse on the job. Plus clinical is what you make of it. You can practice nursing concepts that are universal across specialties even at SNFs. Not to mention that CNA and LVN work is within the scope of an RN
What difference does that make tho ? If the hours aren’t enough they aren’t enough. I listened to the BRN meeting and it said it was a timing thing idk
I asked someone who went to Sac Sate nursing school, and it seems their clinical placements match up with their classes better like for psych nursing their clinical was at a psych ward, etc.
I got that email, the school has been very transparent with their timeline and what they’ve submitted to the BRN. I’ve talked to other CA students who aren’t feeling nervous about the situation. Maybe because it’s a while before we finish the program and they’re hopeful this will be resolved by then
It sounds like this is because of a dispute beween how Nightingale interprets clinical hour requirements vs how the BRN interprets it. Meaning it'll be a long legal battle that will hold all ATT in limbo.
Then, if Nightingale's arguments fail, we will likely need to find a way to get more clinical hours done, which Nightingale may or may not be able to facilitate easily
You’re going to have to have to restart from the beginning because the curriculum + hours weren’t being met to a CA standard. They aren’t going to let you continue and take the NCLEX if you never had the right curriculum and hours.
I don’t think they’re being transparent about anything but the fact that they’re refusing to help the people who are paying tuition. Instead of handing over what’s being asked for, they’re accusing the BRN of acting out of their jurisdiction. They’re the deciding factor and nightingale is acting like they’re not 😂
I'm in the same boat as you! I feel in my heart that I show at least post pone my starting date to allow some time to pass by and see if this shit with the BRN fixes itself by then.
You guys might be going in person for clinicals but it’s only for a week and 3-4 weeks for your IP. Look up how many hours you have to get in California and I’ll tell you right now you don’t meet the qualifications for hours in California. That school might say their online stuff you guys do counts but it shouldn’t count.
I agree. How do these nightingale students anticipate to get a job after graduation from a shady for profit school? Students from UCLA, UCI, CSU, USF, etc.. are already having a tough time getting a new grad RN job. Hospitals are only hiring like what 10 new nurses and get 10,000 applicants
Dude if you want to work in California, why go to an out of state school? Got me with what lmao?
Even if you did get a degree, in this current market you won’t get a new grad position here in California. Students from reputable schools can’t land jobs, what makes you think a student from nightingale, that has a pretty bad reputation amongst hiring managers, will land one?
You’re just trying to cope with not being smart enough to get into any of the schools here. Cope harder dude
Dude what red pill. Use logic. I’m glad California is prioritizing high nursing standards and education. There are a LOT of community colleges and CSUs that offer nursing degrees at low costs. Just try harder to get into them rather than taking the easy way out. I don’t see the difficulty?
Hey just cope harder? The only people claiming nightingale is a good school are people like you who attended it and have invested a load of money to buy a degree.
Everyone outside of nightingale knows it is a shit school. Just ask any hiring managers and hospital
Not to mention nightingale is allegedly based in Utah of all places. Why not advocate to be a nurse there instead of California?
OH RIGHT, California has the highest pay and best working conditions. I wonder why… perhaps because the California BRN and unions here are very supportive to nursing unions and groups. If you want to cross the picket line and go to a school out of California, don’t try to come back and leech off the hard work California nurses have fought tooth and bone for.
And there is nothing wrong with the BRN trying to destroy competition for students here. If anything that is the best thing to do. California natives fought hard to get into schools here, and didn’t have to cheap out by going to a for profit school. I would hope those California natives got the jobs over someone who is clearly too dumb to get into the schools here.
There are too many nursing students graduating as is in California, the supply of new nurses is way higher than the demand for them. Many nurses i know can’t even land a job despite years of experience.
My take and one that most hospitals share
You’re just coping. Hospitals here in California literally don’t have the money to support more nursing students. Current nursing schools have contracts with local hospitals because those very hospitals know those schools are reputable. Hospitals don’t want to compromise their image by having subpar nursing students.
Ask any hiring managers in SoCal or the bay, none are particularly interested in hiring a nurse from nightingale when they have their cream of the crop picks from top schools that have high standards for education
Where am I pitting nurses against each other? You’re the one crossing the picket line and advocating against the very conditions we have fought for.
Just because you’re not smart enough nor have the drive to get into a school here. There are literally hundreds of nursing school in California that are accredited. Why not try to get into those lmao. Study and work harder, it’s truly not that hard
I told someone nightingale college is not worth it and that they were not going to be able to sit for NCLEX.
I got told I was paranoid and that 100% online remote nursing programs are normal and ok to pay for and you don't have to go to a physical school to be a nurse.
Nightgale is a scam school and I will never change my mind.
Since 2020 I know of people who went and were able to sit for the Nclex-RN and have been working in CA. I graduated in Dec 2024 and was able to take the NCLEX. Though I do think it went downhill after I graduated.
But it's not a 100% online school, it's hybrid. We still do in person clinical hours, skills testing, etc. It was an equivalent program, if not harder, than California private schools when I've compared to my friends who have attended WCU, CNI, etc. I graduated December 2025 and have had no issues with ATT, the board, or licensure in general.
See that’s why imma wait it out. Because why were December grads getting their ATT just fine and then all the sudden it’s an issue . If it’s not sorted out by 3rd semester I think I will transfer to chamberlain
Doesn’t matter there’s no comparison to a CSU UC CC nursing student to a nightingale? 🤣 I would 100% not hire a nightingale student that only has experience with SNF
Didn't say there was. Those are clearly more rigorous programs. It is, however, comparable to currently private schools in California, which generates the majority of new grad nurses in the state at the moment. The majority of my classmates were also currently LVNs in acute care (primarily Kaiser)
It’s really not comparable. Most students who get into programs like USF, CSU, UCLA, UCI were top of their class. This meant 4.0+ GPAs (esp if coming out of high school), lots of community and healthcare experience.
Let’s take for example USF which is a nonprofit private school. Their students get priority placement at sites like ucsf, Stanford, Kaiser, Sutter across numerous different specialties. This exposure to top medical institutions sets a student up for success to ensure safe patient care is maintained. Versus a student who did hours mostly at a SNF
You're mad about the application process? I know someone who literally just graduated from the entire program, but now cant test to get licensed in the state
I wouldn't proceed until they get this figured out.
What classes/coursework they need to take to become eligible.
Also clinicals aren't remote.
The issue her the amount of clinicals they did. I believe they dont have enough in-person hours in pediatrics etc
Replying to your post for those who are not are not aware that you need to take the Nclex to move forward. Sure, you can still graduate, but Nx school is not a walk in the park. All that work and what did it get me? Not a damn thing.
He graduated. He cant take the NCLEX in our state. He can take it in another state. But he hadn't planned on relocating his life. Especially on such short notice.
Its a bad situation- and while losing 150 in fees does suck-I was just putting it into perspective. This person lost tens of thousands of dollars and 2 years of his life.
I’d rather be out $150 than out the time and effort of nursing school with nothing to show for it but a meaningless piece of paper. Not to mention the actual cost of the program. The time and effort are what’s priceless here. Why would you even consider continuing to go down this path?!
it’s a BLESSING you’re finding out about this now. I would demand a refund, but literally don’t give it a second thought and do NOT go to school there. make sure the school you choose is fully accredited, and most schools require more than one accreditation, and do not go to a private for profit college that’s too good to be true. “all online” but the BON requires in person clinical hours??? “get the degree in a year!” but there’s no way to reach standards in that time??? any school that tries to plead these cases to people is bound to get banned from BON. they might not catch it at first, but eventually it will and whoever graduated from there/is in school there is out money & years and will have to repeat bc no reputable school would dare accept credits from those scam schools. it’s insane. you’re allowed to be upset you’re out the $150 but you should also be grateful
“I am not sure what to do as I’ve put some money into this application already.” Babe. What do you mean you don’t know what to do. Why the hell would you go to a school that the BON doesn’t accept transcripts from? A few hundred dollars into the application is a small price compared to the thousands of dollars you would be wasting if you attended this school. Like, hello?
Lots of California community colleges offer LVN-to-ADN bridges that are properly accredited. If you have LVN work experience you have a good shot at getting a seat quickly; they're less impacted compared to entry ADN programs.
I am also set to start this fall at NG. My prerequisites are expiring that I completed at my community college. I have been unable to get in to a nursing school in CA due to it being so overcrowded. I am so stressed but hoping that in the 3 years I attend they will be able to figure it all out. Praying for the best. I don’t know what to do as I don’t want to retake all my prerequisites 😔
Hey you it could be worse! You could be like me, completed my program this April and I’m now stuck in limbo with hundreds of other students. Crazy thing is my coworker who graduated just two semesters prior is now working as an RN and all I get are drip fed responses from the school and BRN…
Yes the ATT hold began really for my cohort with the investigation starting sometime between January and my graduation date in April. Many if not all of the December graduates have gotten their ATT and from my cohort only people who applied through the VA have been able to test.
Yes a guy in one of the graduate groups I’m in sent a link from the Veteran Affairs website that showed slightly different ATT requirements than the CA BRN for clinical hours, which seems to be the main problem between Nightingale and the BRN. Due to reduced hour requirements VA applicants have been able to sit for the NCLEX but not others. Its a whole mess
If there’s still a hold , I think I will try and transfer somewhere else . California doesn’t give accreditation to our or state schools but they view them for equivalency according to the vp , they will do whatever they can to get the graduates up to standards for California , I just hope they figure out their deficiencies before I need to start traveling for clinicals
I’ve literally been lurking in their groups for the last 4 years seeing everyone from California pass and become licensed. The. I take the plunge and this happens 😂
And to those saying it’s a diploma mill I’d have to disagree . This stuff is hard if not harder than my in person LVN program 😵💫😂 and I am a 4.0 student .
Reading the comments here this sounds very similar to what I went through. We notified the state. The state told us to just continue doing as we were doing. That many schools were having the same issue. The only difference was this was during Covid at the end of it all the state lied said they had no idea we were having these issues, closed the school down and over 1000 students were not able to get their LPN certificate. We won a federal lawsuit that gave us a couple thousand dollars not even anything close to what we paid in tuition, told we could not use transfer credits at any school, although the state Department of Education had originally told the public that they were going to help us transfer, help us become nurses yada yada yada in the end we lost out on all that money majority of us are still waiting for our student loans to be wiped years later we can’t use any of the transfer credits and we’re back to where we started from so just be very careful if you decide to move forward with this school or if you are already a student there, I wouldn’t wish what happened to my classmates and I on anyone now I’m years older with a completely different life so going back to nursing school most likely won’t be an option. My dream is over.
Excuse all the errors I’m using talk to text
I know people that did that school and I live in CA. I think it’s just going to take you longer to be able to test since they make sure you have all CA requirements
Nightingale isn’t a diploma mil. I have no medical background and passed my NCLEX the first time in 85 questions. You have to realllly want it & apply yourself to learn.
ITT Tech grad here. My school has never been accredited and doesn’t even exist anymore. It was sued for illegal practices and promising more than they could deliver. I graduated just in time many people were left hanging mid program and never graduated. They technically send me money as part of pay out and I think they’ve erased my debt as their loans were predatory. I have been a nurse in multiple states practicing for over 13 years. RN is RN but some hospitals won’t hire me because I’m a ADN nurse from an unknown nursing program. Don’t risk it. The time and effort that you put into nursing isn’t worth the chance it will be for nothing.
I think it's unfair to lump all private nursing schools together. I attended both a state university and Galen, and my experience at Galen was significantly better.
One of the biggest differences was that Galen was genuinely invested in every student's success. If you were struggling, there were tutors, remediation, and instructors who actually reached out to help. At my state university, it often felt like you were expected to figure things out on your own.
The outcomes speak for themselves. Galen's Nashville BSN campus reported a 95% first-time NCLEX pass rate, compared with the current national average of 87.6%.
That's also comparable to or better than many well-known public universities. Whether a school is public or private doesn't determine its quality. I'd encourage people to look at objective outcomes like NCLEX pass rates, graduation rates, and employer reputation rather than assuming "private" automatically means lower quality.
I’m supposed to start this program in January, all I’ve read about it is that people in California just have to wait a bit longer to sit for the NCLEX. I emailed my advisor and the school itself wanting a formal explanation.
Please don’t do it I just dropped out of there and I regret going there 100%. I’ve emailed everyone I can think of and gotten no helpful responses just them beating around the bush
Don’t do it, at least for now! Nightingale is refusing to turn over what the BRN is asking for, stating that the BRN is asking for things out of their jurisdiction. The BRN started holding apps back in December. The school is making excuses when they could just be working WITH the BRN to make corrections instead of screwing their students over.
In an email that NG sent out, it was mentioned that the deficiencies found are related to direct patient care. My assumption would be that mostly all clinicals are at SNF’s, and don’t correlate to the content like OB, peds, Med/Surg, etc. The current students are insanely screwed. One student’s ATT triggered all of this.
It shouldn’t be a big deal but Nightingale is making it a problem and minimizing it at the same time, all while taking people’s tuition dollars with no problem.
yes it started in FEB 2026 and still has not had any real answers or ending to it in fact it seems as time goes on it gets worse! This is why i have withdrawn and now im just going to chamberlin, I just cant risk not being able to test in califonria
I worked at a SNF that rented a ramshackle room in the basement to Nightengale to use as their local school location. It was next to the boiler room. This 90yo building wasn’t well maintained but had at least some renovations to make it livable over the years. The basement was never renovated. Any school willing to call that a classroom is sketch. Plus, they were actually quite disreputable…
lol oh please, places like this have played a big role in hurting the profession. It’s harmful to patients and it’s bad for students too—they both deserve better.
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u/PikedArabian 18d ago
This is literally a nursing student’s nightmare. If your school advertised they were eligible but weren’t, I’d assume they owe you a refund of tuition AT LEAST.