Anyone from Oregon?

Nursing Students Excelsior

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I live in Oregon and I am strongly thinking about going the Exelsior route. I've been debating Exelsior and ISU for a while now. The thing is, I have no idea where I will be in three years if I went the ISU way. I have no idea if I'd have time to do all those clinical's plus working...who know's if I'll be married to my boyfriend of three years by then or have a child.

I know if I went Exelsior I could get that done in a year or so. I'm very self motivated and I'd rather teach myself from readings. I hate going to class because for the most part I get nothing out of lecture besides, tell me which chapters, what you want me to skip over, okay I'm great let me study.

My question is....anyone from Oregon do Excelsior? What was it like for you? I'm curious. Oh, I've been an LPN since October 2011. I've held an on-call job at LTC. I went back to the community college just to finish up a few more classes. I needed Micro and fun classes like that. Thank goodness I finished my A&P before I started my LPN program in 2010. Last note, I have three years experience at a CNA 2 in the surgical department, as a CNA 1 a year and four months experience, and nine months of caregiving.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

There have been a couple of Oregonians here who have done EC, but I don't think they post here anymore. I was born there, but that doesn't really count. LOL. I know that the Oregon BON has no issues with EC's program -- I was strongly considering moving back before I ended up joining the Army.

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I live in Southern Oregon. I just went back to school in January. I have my B.S. in Anthropology. I am applying to the LPN program that starts next January, so I am a ways behind you. I plan to go the Excelsior route. Currently I am taking a CNA course through a LTC. The lady that interviewed me is almost done with the course work for Excelsior, and I have a friend who tests in Wisconsin at the end of the month. Please keep posting about what you decide. I would love to hear your experience.

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If there is any chance you could end up in WA you'll want to look closely at their requirements for Excelsior LPN to RN grads.

http://www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/Professions/Nursing/documents/Preceptor.pdf

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LunahRN- Thank you for your input. I knew that Oregon's BON has no problem with EC. I did read a post on here that someone who gradudated from EC was having a hard time finding a hospital job where I live. The big name university graduates seem to get the spots right away. *sigh* What part of Oregon were you born? I was born at St. V's hospital. I think it still counts. Have you been enjoying your time in the Army? Have you been sent many places overseas? My bestfriend, she just got out of the Navy after being in for, four years.

541giny- I shall keep you posted. It is nice to see another person from Oregon commenting. If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to go the LPN route? I've noticed that they keep making it harder to get into the nursing programs around here. I don't have perfect grades but I have what it takes to be a good nurse. I got C's in A&P (I would get A's in lab and then mess up on the lecture tests.) I didn't want to spend another year of my life redoing A&P so I decided I'd go the LPN route. Plus, my dad is 71 years old...and I wanted to make sure I had something to fall back on just incase something goes wrong with schooling plans.

Kids-Thank you for posting that. I did know that Washington has a few hoops for you to jump over. :) I live less than 45 mins from Washington. I also just recently got my LPN licensed endorsed over to give me more options for jobs.

I haven't decided EC over ISU just yet. Once this term is over and Micro is behind me in a month, I'll make my decision. Once again, I think you all for your input.

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Specializes in Emergency.
I know if I went Excelsior I could get that done in a year or so.

Just wanted to offer a little caution on this thought. Depending on where you choose to do your CPNE, the "waiting time" for a test date could take a few to 8+ months on its own. In order to even apply for the CPNE (which is the clinical performance test), you must have completed all of the nursing core examinations and completed the FCCA (which is now an 8-week course instead of a paper exam, and cannot be taken until you have less than 10 units left until graduation in General Education/support courses). Not trying to discourage you at all, but just wanted to give you a heads-up on the timeline. The FCCA and CPNE combined could eat almost that projected year... or less. Or more.

I didn't rush, but I did study as efficiently as I could while working full time (with overtime), and had most of my general education requirements already accepted via a BS in another major. However, it looks like I should be a GN (fingers crossed) by the end of my second year with Excelsior, and that's with taking the FCCA by paper, which is no longer offered.

Some folks take longer to study for exams, and others don't need as much time to study. I spent about 6 weeks per nursing exam, and am still waiting for my CPNE date. However, there would have been no way for me to spend two years at a brick n' mortar nursing school and still work my shifts, so I am VERY happy for the Excelsior option. Got bills to pay in the real world, and am a bit too old to move in with mom or dad, lol!

I do wish you luck in whatever path you choose!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Lunah, I didn't know you were from here originally......where were you born, and how long did you live here? I'm in the mid-Willamette Valley area and enjoy hearing from other Oregon nurses. :up:

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I was born in Coos Bay. Didn't live there too long -- moved to Port Angeles, WA when I was about a year old, then Port Orchard, WA when I was four, then overseas when I was nine. My family is from Portland, though. My dad and grandmother still live there. Spent many summers in Portland. Love it!

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I was born in Coos Bay. Didn't live there too long -- moved to Port Angeles, WA when I was about a year old, then Port Orchard, WA when I was four, then overseas when I was nine. My family is from Portland, though. My dad and grandmother still live there. Spent many summers in Portland. Love it!

Awesome,

I was born in Bremerton and raised in Poulsbo until I got married and moved away at 17. Wandered a few years, landed in Vancouver (WA) where I spent 26 years and am now in eastern Alabama.

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