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Squeezing Blood out of a Turnip.....

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(votes: 8)


Even in the midst of critical nursing shortages, my State Board of Nursing is suspending the licenses of those who have defaulted on their student loans. What do they propose to accomplish, by doing this? They can't expect to squeeze blood out of a turnip, if the nurse can't work......Duh!
I don't think that is the answer--but there are so many who do not repay student loans. Maybe taking it from the paychecks or something like that ?

Comment:
What does the status of a student loan have to do with being a nurse???? Is your state stopping everyone from working who has defaulted?? Lawyers, Doctors, Social Workers, Computer programmers????? I think it's ludicrous! The GA Board of Nursing has gone to far. IMO! I'd be getting a lawyer IF I was one of the nurses with a suspended license d/t default of a student loan.

Comment:
The practice is ludicrous. It is the modern day equivilent of throwing people in debtors prison. A person in prison will never pay their bills because they can't work. A nurse without a license will never pay their bills because they can't work either. Better to have them working and garnish their wages. Probably it is aimed at the person who is a chronic dead beat in hopes of getting their attention. If you really think it through it is ludicrous just like I said.

Comment:
Oh, why am I not surprised??????

Comment:
It does seem, however, that even with our poor salaries, we should be able to pay student loans, without the loan, I wouldn't have the liscence, so I am happy to pay them back and on time. I mean, if you default on a home loan, they take the home, on a car loan they take the car, so on an education loan, I guess they take the benefits of education. I don't see why people think it is different than any other loan taken out. When I had some trouble paying my loan on time, I called and was immediately given a few months deferrment, so I don't have a lot of sympathy for anyone who defaults. Now, I suppose that my opinion isn't popular.

Comment:
MPHKatie, All the items you listed are tangible items which can be bought or sold. Our license is earned, not bought. If you theory held, then the time and effort that one puts into obtaining a nursing license is worthless.

Comment:
I wonder if the Georgian nurses were given warning or just woke up one day with a letter that they no longer were licensed to work. I can't imagine that this came as much of a surprise.I'm sure that these nurses were given ample oppourtinity to repay the loans, did not repay and thus lost their licenses.

Comment:
I also was a recipient of the GSLP (Guaranteed Student Loan Program). By the time it came for me to repay the loan, my husband had walked out on me and my five-year-old son. Back then, you had to work in an "approved" institution, in order to get the note paid off. That was not an option for me, as child care was non-existent for any other shift other than 7-3....and I was working 3-11. Desperate, I had to quit and go to work for a home health agency. As a result, I was forced to pay back that loan out of my pocket. I was late with a payment only once...and it was by ONE day. Payday was still three days away, I had only $50 in the bank, and I needed to buy food for for my child. I received a rather nasty phone call from a collector, and without giving me an opportunity to explain my situation, he began berating and threatening me. Finally I informed him very coldly: "If you think this is a contest between my son eating and you taking my last dime until Friday, guess WHO just won!" I hung up on him. To my amazement, he called back the next day....and apologized for his behavior. He went on to tell me that he was under a great deal of pressure from his superiors (namely, the U.S. Government), to collect on these loans, because so many of them were in default...even back then, during the 80's. After that incident, I had my house refinanced and paid off that loan, because it wasn't worth hassling with a government collector anymore. I guess what I am trying to say that regardless of the circumstances for defaulting on a student loan, I feel that the government has NO right to take away a nurse's right to practice and make a living. Sue us....place a lien on our paychecks or property (like the IRS does)...but don't break our backs!

Comment:
CseMgr1-you go girl! While loans should be repaid the ends that collection agency's go to is extreme. We got calls in s.fla, turns out they had the wrong person, same name as my husband, it took a call to the senator to get them off!! Then his dad had money problems, beginning of dementia, we took over his finances and brought him to live with us, we really went off on the collectors, because of their tatics. Sears was the worst, we finally told them that they could deal with us or a lawyer!

Comment:
Illinois has the same law. When I applied for my student loan my husband had filed for divorce and I needed that loan to finish my education. I took it knowing that it was a loan and must be paid back. I had 6 months grace period after graduation to get a job and begin to pay the loan back. It was not a grant - it was a loan! I felt so grateful for the opportunity to go to school and get a decent job that I paid the loan back in half of the required time. I made my last payment last January. The people that I know who have lost their licenses for not paying back their loans had ample warning to catch up or make deferrment arrangements - they simply chose not to. Carol

Comment:
I too took loans to get through nursing school, the max actually since I was a single parent and the student loans helped me cover living expenses so I could focus on school. I will be paying them back for the next 10 years. However, I do not begrudge a single penny I pay back because I would have been sunk without those loans.As far as suspending a nursing license:Here in NY they suspend a driver's license for not paying child support.........this may seem apples and oranges, (like what does driving have to do with paying support?) but it is just another way to try to make people do the right thing. The guaranteed student loan program can only work if the recipient PAYS it back - and as LICENSED PROFESSIONALS, we are held to a higher standard.

Comment:
I must agree, that it seems more likely to get loans paid if the agency could simply draft the money out of the paycheck, but I think that is probably not possible. As to a liscence being earned, rather than bought, the fact is we paid money to study and earn that liscence, the money came from somewhere else. So, with my loans, I was able to earn that degree, without it, I would not have the degree. Tangible or not, I earned that degree with money from the state. I think they deserve to be paid back.
Author: jone  3-06-2015, 16:31   Views: 1188   
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