The healthcare profession has had many years of a nursing shortage in the United States. Nurses have worked strenuous hours, while providing compassionate and direct patient care. Each nurse completes nursing school which provides them with merely the basics to get their feet wet. Nursing school does not fully prepare a person  to get out of nursing school and be on the front lines of a pandemic.  The fourth semester of nursing school is the most critical in preparing a nurse for ICU and the hospital setting. Yet, with no experience, the graduate nurses aren't emotionally ready. Without graduate nurses doing the adequate training and having done the clinical setting work, they're putting patients at risk. 

I am writing this petition to drop the regulations in order for an LVN to bridge to an RN during this time. I recently saw the regulations were dropped for graduate LVN and RNs to be able to work in these conditions without passing their state regulated exam and go to work as a graduate nurse. There were even regulations changed for them to finish their clinical hours in a simulation setting. Nurses need the direct patient care experience before getting to work.

A seasoned LVN  has a broad skill set that can be utilized at this time, during the pandemic.  I, as an LVN, have trained and RN in the workplace, I have been the one who provided 6 hours of ventilation to a patient with a BVM due to not having a ventilator, and there are plenty of times a seasoned LVN hasn't been afraid to stand their ground, question a medication order, and help to save a patient's life.

I am kindly asking you to drop the regulations at this time for the LVNs who have 5 years, or more, experience to sit for the Texas Board of Nursing RN exam.

Thank you for your time and kind regards,

Crystal Meinert, LVN