Excelsior College

heatherbless · Mar 10, 2004

Hi All,
I can't remember who - but someone in here saw that I'm a former Naval Hospital Corpsman and suggested I look into Excelsior College. They said they sort of give you a "leg up" if you have prior medical experience.
In case I don't get into the ADN Program at my school this Fall - thought Excelsior might be something to look into. I called them today - it's a 2 year program about the same price as a Community College - but from what I understand it's like a correspondence course with exams, etc. I was very curious about Clinicals - the man told me that the only "clinicals" consisted of (1 weekend) at the end of the 2 years. I asked him several times if he meant - 1 weekend a month for 2 years or actually just 1 weekend - he said (1 weekend). Even with prior medical experience, how on earth could you get what you need from clinicals in 2 days?
This would have been a fantastic program to enroll in while I was still a Hospital Corpsman working the wards 15 years ago - but honestly I want the large variety of clinical experience you get in Nursing School and definitely need a refresher course in it all. I told him I haven't done patient care in years - he said it didn't matter - that seems really strange.
He said a lot of their students are paramedics - yes they have a great deal of medical knowledge - but they are mostly dealing with emergency situations - what about hands on experience in the rest of Nursing? Just didn't make any sense to me.
Just wondering if anyone has gone to this school and what they thought of it - maybe I didn't fully understand the man I talked to. Thanks, Susan

suasan, do a search here under excelsior and see what everyone says about the program. Many love it and I thought about it too--but, decided-I wanted more hands on--also, I have known people to fail the clinicals--but, they can still redo them. It is a great program--but, you just have to decide if you like the format or not. Best, hty/Where are you trying to go to ADN at?

RNSuzq1, RN · Mar 10, 2004

suasan, do a search here under excelsior and see what everyone says about the program. Many love it and I thought about it too--but, decided-I wanted more hands on--also, I have known people to fail the clinicals--but, they can still redo them. It is a great program--but, you just have to decide if you like the format or not. Best, hty/Where are you trying to go to ADN at?

Hi Heather,

Just in case you didn't get the message I sent you - I applied to Wilson Community College. We take the entrance exam next week and find out in late April if we're accepted. How about you - where have you applied in NC. Take Care, Susan

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Mar 10, 2004

Susan,

the "clinicals" Excelsior is referring to is the 3 day CPNE.. the Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination. The "biggie". Very intense.

I am an ex Air Force medical corpsman (too many moons ago), and yes, you are given special consideration for entrance to the program with this as your background. I went the Excelsior route and it was the best thing I could ever have done for myself. It enabled me to work fulltime and study at home. At my age, I was not into having to put up with all the "yuk" involved in going to a regualr school... by that I mean mostly "attitudes" of both students and instructors alike.

I could move along at my own pace and schedule my exams when I felt ready. On top of all that, the comapny I work for paid 100% tuition reimbursement, and that included books, exam fees, etc. The only thing I paid for was my plane ticket to Milwaukee to take the CPNE after all the academic courses had been completed.

There are SEVERAL threads here on the BB (see the Distance Learning forum) which might give you the information you need to narrow down your choices.

I have no regrets whatsoever. As far as clinical hands on experience, I had plenty of that in the military... equivilant to that of a civilian LPN and then some. I stuck with the medical field thereafter continuing to observe and learn from those around me.

Before the CPNE I shadowed an RN friend at her hospital for about two months... followed her every step and familiarized myself with new equipment and procedures, many of which they even allowed me to do since I was a nursing student, and only weeks away from graduation.

So give it some thought, do your research and do what you think suits your needs best. There are a number of us here who are Excelsior grads... I'm sure they will be happy to assist you as well.

Whatever you decide, wish you the very best ! :)