Yes . . . I’m a Nurse Lic #: 844860 . . . check it out . . . Jon Haws RN CCRN!
To those that have listened to the show for a while . . . you already know I have a tendency to get a little upset at times.
Today on Facebook I saw an ad for a company claiming to provide NCLEX® prep for nursing students . . . I thought, “Awesome, someone we can reach out to.”
I go to the site and something quickly seems off to me . . . as an educator and blogger I probably look at things a bit closer than most . . . the courses seemed pretty empty. Mostly text, generic, and more importantly there was no instructor listed.
I thought hmmm . . . I don’t want to take a course if I don’t know the instructors credentials. The only preview available was a short powerpoint video with no talking . . . hmmm.
So I go to the companies website. On their site they claim they are the #1 NCLEX program . . . hmmm.
I look all over the site and can’t find a place to contact the company. Finally, I find an “about us” page. They list several RNs as course creators, many with advanced degrees (MSN, PHd).
At this point I’ve had so many red flags pop up that I just HAVE to investigate more closely.
I copy the names of the “educators” and paste them in Google . . . no results for these people. Okay, so I try doing the same thing in Twitter . . . nothing. Strange, all the companies and NCLEX® educators I know have a presence on social media or published work SOMEWHERE!
Okay, now I am really curious.
I do a reverse Google Image search on the instructors to see if I can find anything on these people or their credentials . . . . BOOM!!
Here are a couple places the images on their about page came from:
- Getty Images (just a stock model photo)
- A Miss America photo from years ago (it wasn’t who they said it was on their site and not a nurse)
- Some strange Russian website (again NOT who they said it was, again NOT a nurse)
- Flickr (a picture of someones cousin . . . and . . . again NOT a nurse or who they said it was)
Why Are They Doing This?
This is SO offensive to me for several reasons.
- What are they trying to hide?
- I put well over 40 hours a week into NRSNG.com to create GOOD content.
- Where does this leave you, the nursing student, when you can’t trust what you find online.
I want you guys to be successful . . . .there are so many amazing nurses out there providing killer content to help you on your journey . . . it just really ticks me off that internet marketers are copying nursing text books and slapping the content in courses and then charging you an arm and a leg for it . . .
Where Can You Find Honest Nurses?
My goal is to give my all to you guys so that we can create a strong future for nursing. When I talk with other nurses out there . . . I put them through a serious vetting process in my mind . . . if they aren’t on the same page as me . . . I’m not going to recommend them to you. If they don’t fire me up and get me excited to be a nurse . . . BYE FELICIA.
Amazing Online Nurses!
Here are some of the nurses that I have found to be incredible resources for you in your studies:
- NRSNG.com (your’s truly)
- Nurse Nacole
- Nurse Bass
- The Nerdy Nurse
- Nurse Murse
- Regina – Remar Review
- Nurse Mendoza
- Kati Kleber
- Katie Duke (@TheKatieDuke)
- EmpoweRN
A Few Tips to Spot a Scammer
- Do they use RN credentials after their name?
- What happens when you look up their name with the Board of Nursing for their state?
- If you ask them straight up if they are a nurse or can provide references, what do they say?
- Can they answer straight questions about nursing?
- Are the images on their site/etc stock images?
- Lastly, ask for an RN license # . . . can they provide you with one? . . . if not RUN!
- BONUS TIP: if they say they aren’t interested in answering those questions, don’t provide contact information, or ignore the questions . . RUN!
We are all in this together . . . and my goal is your success!
p.s. you can contact me any time . . . also just google search “Jon Haws” or NRSNG and you will know EXACTLY who I am . . .
Want free NCLEX® Cheat Sheets?Click here to grab my top NCLEX® cheat sheets
Date Published - Dec 4, 2015
Date Modified - Mar 28, 2017
