Excelsior Ethics: Please help!

Nursing Students Excelsior

Published

I have been trying to prepare for this exam for weeks and weeks. I have made no progress.. Please give me some pointers. I bought the Dantes study guide, but it is not the same as Excelsior's requirements. There is a lot about Greek philosphers. Does anyone have input for me. I test real soon.

Thank you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Ethics S U C K S! Dry and boring! The dantes exam is different then ECE but it is cheaper and it transfers for credit. Google philosophy videos - I got a link for video lectures with my sg101 ethics and they helped alot - also check youtube for ethics or philosophy lectures - sometimes it helps if you hear someone talk about it instead of trying to read 'greek'!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you for the info. I can't believe how tough it is to read this stuff. I did't think it would be that hard for it to stick in my head.. I will be glad when this is over.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

I took the Excelsior Ethics exam a few weeks ago. It was really tough. I left the exam room sure that I had failed. I couldn't even open the envelope with the results until I got out to my car. I was completely shocked to find I had made an "A".

My study tips would be: To get the main ethical philosophers and schools of thought straight: I would recommend the Complete Idiot's Guide. It was written in a easy to understand style and I had struggled for several weeks to get them straight. This book really helped me. It is available as an e-book and I studied it on my Kindle using the highlighting feature to "take notes".

My husband recommended the flashcard exchange on the internet, and I downloaded a few sets but I didn't find them all that helpful.

We also (both of us are doing the RN to BSN thing) used Lisa Arends study guides. I think they are available on Ebay. I did find them helpful, but couldn't organize my thoughts until I had been through the Complete Idiot's Guide. Both provided valuable information.

We also paid for the practice exams on Excelsior. I think they were very useful. They really give you a chance to be familiar to the "scenarios" which are such a large part of the actual exam. They give a rationale for most of the right and wrong answers. I did find that many of the rationales were non-sensical, almost like ethics professors came up with the questions and answers but then they left their grad students to come up with the rationales. Some of the same scenarios appear on both the practice exam and the actual exam but the actual questions are mostly different.

One more thing. I would have studied for months if it was up to me. My husband had experience with Excelsior having gotten his ADN from them. He insisted the key was to just go ahead and schedule the test to force oneself to study and then just go do it. I only scheduled the test because I felt pressured to do so. But it was the right thing to do since I made such a good grade.

I've since passed the Dantes exam for World Religions and am studying for the CLEP Humanities as well as having just passed Writing for the Professions and working on Statistics for Healthcare Professionals. We're busy to say the least.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I just took this exam yesterday. I did pay for the practice exams, took them, failed them both, and somehow....I got an A on the test. There must be one heck of a curve on this one. I used the idiots guide, the study materials from Lisa Arends on Ebay, HunterThinks notes, and the course guide and then I made flash cards. Do make sure you have your philosophers straight and your theories straight. You need to know that stuff. It was a very tough exam and was hard to study for. I didn't read all of the materials, it was just too mind numbing, but I did read enough to make sure that I was getting basic concepts. I also made sure I could define all key terms in the course guide. Whew! It took the entire 3 hours and was a gripper, that's for sure. So glad it's over. You can do it!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych-LTC-Home Health.

Congrats! :coollook:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in school nursing.
I just took this exam yesterday. I did pay for the practice exams, took them, failed them both, and somehow....I got an A on the test. There must be one heck of a curve on this one. I used the idiots guide, the study materials from Lisa Arends on Ebay, HunterThinks notes, and the course guide and then I made flash cards. Do make sure you have your philosophers straight and your theories straight. You need to know that stuff. It was a very tough exam and was hard to study for. I didn't read all of the materials, it was just too mind numbing, but I did read enough to make sure that I was getting basic concepts. I also made sure I could define all key terms in the course guide. Whew! It took the entire 3 hours and was a gripper, that's for sure. So glad it's over. You can do it!!!

Can you take the practice exam and over, or do you have to pay for it each time? Congrats on your "A" btw! :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in EMT since 92, Paramedic since 97, RN and PHRN 2021.

You know this thread is 3 1/2 years old?

But to your question you get to take both practice tests once, but the questions and answers remain available for you to study for 3 or 6 months, I believe.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Practice exam FAQs: Excelsior College >> Practice Exams FAQ

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment