Fresno nursing students weeks away from graduating say they are frustrated with lackluster plans by the state to help them finish on time and relieve a healthcare worker shortage expected to get worse as coronavirus cases surge.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed an executive order allowing the Board of Registered Nursing to waive stringent in-person training hours for students. In recent weeks, Fresno-area hospitals have mostly been turning students away as coronavirus fears continue and protective gear supplies dwindle.

Newsom also called on students to sign up for the California Health Corps, a new initiative he says allows students to earn course credit while helping hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.

But students and nursing educators say the plans have left them confused and frustrated and relying on the Board of Registered Nursing, which has not yet waived the standards as the countdown to graduation approaches.

Nicole Barnett, a senior nursing student at Fresno City College, says she won’t sign up for the Health Corps without more information. She currently works in the emergency department at Community Regional Medical Center as an extern. Those hours, however, don’t count toward her in-person clinical requirements.

“If we don’t get some sort of executive order, if the BRN doesn’t ease their restrictions, then we won’t be graduating,” she said. “It just won’t be possible, and we won’t be allowed to sit for a licensing exam.”

Many seniors are only days away from finishing their in-person training. Morgan Nelson, also a senior at Fresno City College, says she only has about three 12-hour shifts left.

She says there are better ways of pushing students toward the finish line beside the Health Corps, which could force students to leave their jobs, cities and families to work in other parts of the state. And it isn’t clear at this point if the Health Corps would fulfill all the training requirements.

“We don’t feel like we’re being heard is the problem,” Nelson said. “I have a son and a husband that I come home to every day. So why would I put myself on the front line to work unlicensed, and then in a few months be re-evaluated and sent back to school? You’re just using me.”

They, and other students across the state, are putting pressure on the BRN to come up with an alternate solution that would help not only senior students but first-year nursing students, too.

A delay in graduates, they say, could have a ripple effect, not just on the number of working nurses, but also on the number of students able to get into a nursing program in the future.

Since both Barnett and Nelson are so close to finishing their hours, they are hoping the BRN may waive the rest, paving their way to graduation and helping those who are sick.

Other states, such as Texas, have used executive orders to explicitly lower the in-person training hours nursing students need to graduate during the COVID-19 crisis.

“Maybe not all the details are hammered down, but in other states, there have been more direct executive orders, either easing restrictions or nursing clinical hours, or sort of just forgiving clinical hours,” Barnett said.

She says the BRN has not acted fast enough, and she’s unsure if they will at all.

“There has not been any willingness to budge or make an exception during an exceptional time.”

The California Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the Board of Registered Nursing, has put two waivers into place this week that remove exams and educational requirements for current, retired and inactive nurses.

The department “is currently considering ways to allow nursing students to assist with the COVID-19 emergency and still graduate as planned,” according to spokesperson Veronica Harms.

Nelson said she and her graduating cohort at Fresno City are eager to finish and do what they’re passionate about — helping others.

“We want to go into a field where we’re able to help people,” she said. “I’m very worried that (the coronavirus) is going to hit our community pretty hard because there are a lot of co-morbidities, and ... a lot of things we have to deal with in the Central Valley.”

She said her family, friends and instructors are all looking forward to seeing her graduate.

“It’s a very intense program, and over these two years, we’ve really sacrificed a lot of time with family, a lot of time with friends, we’ve made this our focus. Our priority.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at our website.

This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Fresno nursing students feel ‘used’ as graduation nears without answers from state."