Hello, I want to apply
I must have called a thousand times
And you keep telling me 'sorry, there's nobody here'
Will I be an RN sometime this year?
Nursing students applying for a license in states around the country can face a bureaucratic obstacle course and extended waiting periods. Stephanie Olmanni, a Johns Hopkins School of Nursing student, has attempted to give voice to the plight of nurses with a parody of Adele's latest hit, "Hello."
In the video, Olmanni—who will complete the School of Nursing's accelerated bachelor's degree program next month—stares wistfully out of windows, rolls her liquid-lined eyes, and reads a study guide for the NCLEX nursing exam, all the while bemoaning the months-long process of awaiting licensure from the California Board of Registered Nursing. The Board's website cites a waiting time of 10-12 weeks; the waiting time for a Maryland license, Olmanni says, is about two weeks.
Hello, can you hear me?
I'm in California dreaming it will take less than 12 weeks
To sit down and see
An NCLEX so I can finally become an employee
"During fall break, I had to fly to Los Angeles for three days and get my fingerprints scanned via the Livescan process," Olmanni says. "If I were to mail in a hard copy of my fingerprints from Maryland, it would have added another one or two months onto the already three-month wait time."
Olmanni is no newbie to parody—her YouTube channel includes a song she has titled "Numb Me Like You Do," an epidural parody of Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do." She formerly worked as a music scorer at a studio responsible for primetime television shows, including Grey's Anatomy and Raising Hope.
"Since nursing school can be very stressful at times, I turn to humor to get through it," Olmanni says. But she's worried not everyone will get the joke. "I sometimes get nervous that if [the California Board of Registered Nursing] were to see the parody, they won't be very happy and will delay my application more just to spite me."
Several calls to the California Board of Registered Nursing seeking comment for this article went unanswered.
Posted in Voices+Opinion
