An Upstate nurse apparently found out that she never acquired an associate degree in Nursing—after seven years of working as a registered nurse.
On February 2015, Tara Jordan, an Upstate nurse, was surprised upon receiving a letter from the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. But she was more than shocked with the content. Due to a technicality, the letter reiterated that she was not able to meet the college requirements to obtain an associate’s degree. Her life flipped 180 because of that.
According to her, she practiced as a registered nurse with an associate’s degree. She even passed the nursing exam. She got a degree. Well that was what she knows, at least. But she was mistaken.
Jordan has completed every nursing program requirement in 2009 to become a nurse. As such, she was endorsed to South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation by Tri-County Technical College. The certificate proved that Jordan was able to meet all the requirements during her college days. With confidence, she tried to apply to another school to obtain a bachelor’s degree. But the problem is she didn’t actually earn an associate’s degree.
The letter says Jordan should meet all the requirements for college graduation so she can apply for license renewal. It was a technicality problem, as SCLLR described it. However, according to Rebecca Eidson, Tri-Country Tech Spokesperson, it’s not actually a technicality.
According to WYFF, the college officials told them that Jordan failed to complete an associate degree because of her failure to complete the graduation requirements. To dig deeper into the situation, Tri-County Tech further stressed that students are responsible for complying with all graduation requirements and procedures before they can obtain an associate degree. Some of the requirements include, but not limited to filling out an application form and paying a fee of $20. But Jordan didn’t fill out any form, didn’t even pay any fee- says Tri-Country Tech.
At present, Jordan yearns to have her degree. To make it possible, she has to take Biology 101, though she never imagined it would be included in the requirements at present. The requirements way back in 2009 were different from today’s, and it may be no surprise. Although that glimpse of hope shone, it went off again when she didn’t pass the Biology 101 class. And that’s where the flip in her life suddenly started.
Way back 2009; she enjoyed her job, position, everything. But all of a sudden, those great things shattered. She lost her job. She didn’t get an insurance. Her RN life ended, and it was ridiculous for her. How she wished a fortune teller in the past would have warned her and told her about the requirements, which she didn’t even imagine.
The dynamic requirements for RN are inevitable, though. According to Tri-County Tech officials, this kind of situation is nothing new. Due to fast-paced demands of the nursing industry, students are now required to complete the graduation requirements in order to obtain a degree. That’s what Jordan missed.