Could Excelsior be my answer? Need advise

Do you have to pay the hospital back if you quit the program?

Yes, it does sound as if your job is dragging you down. Try with everything you have in you to stick it out in your current program. Excelsior College is a viable option, provided your state accepts EC for licensure, but it is not the best option because of the end of course clinical exam. You are far better off by going through your current program with its clinical component. Good luck on your LVN exam. Wishing you the best on turning this around. Try to explore the option of withdrawing from the program and reentering after a break. Sometimes this is possible, but you have to be in good standing to do it.

Then think about Excelsior.

www.excelsior.edu

Also, though, what state are you in? The program is not accepted everywhere.

Good Luck on your LPN exam! Make sure EC is accepted in your state. Its an attainable degree but not easy. I really hate that your not passing but its still early in the semester for you to throw in the towel. Is there anyway you can talk to your manager and maybe do two 12 hr shifts on the weekend? Do all you can to make it through the semester. We are all routing for you!.

Look at it this way. When you do clinicals through a regular school program all you have to do is show up to clinical prepared, get through your shift, do what your instructor and the preceptor nurses tell you. You're home free. The CPNE is an emotionally intense three day testing session. You don't have an opportunity to really establish a rapport with the testing personnel. You have to go into at least three patient care scenarios and perform to 100% of standards and complete the lab stations perfectly. Many people fail. Their nerves get to them. Little things can trip you up. The upside is you have three chances if you can afford to pay for it. The downside is if you fail the third time, you are dismissed from the program and can not reenter for five years. So much easier to just go to clinicals at your school and meet their standards. But it is there if you need this program as a backup. HTH

The pass rate for the clinical exam (CPNE) was about 59% the last time the statistics were updated. So yeah, it's not easy. Do-able? Yes. It just depends on preparation and how a student manages his/her stress.

Suck it up and keep going with what you have. I hate to get all coach-locker room-cliche on you, but seriously, take a deep breath, burn the midnight oil, be tired all the time, but do WHATEVER it takes to finish the program you are in now. If you are failing, then go to your instructor and beg for help. Ask your classmates. Ask questions here. 25 hours a week for work is not a lot. It might feel like it is, but it is not. If you drop everything and switch to Excelsior, you still might fail, and at best you will end up with a degree that is not recognized in every state. Just because it is recognized in the state you live in now, doesn't mean it will still be when it comes time to graduate. Research what happened in Georgia. For the record I am not being critical of EC, but there is no getting around reality.

You are in the program you need to be in. I think it is a big plus that you get your LVN halfway through. My roommates had that option and it really helped them in terms of better jobs for school and practice for the NCLEX.

You can do it.

Ivan