El Paso Community College RN Program

I too would like to know. Seems like no one has been able to answer. Also, I've search EPCC on this forum and there aren't many posts :/

Hi! I just finished 1st semester at epcc. Well your schedule would be Monday to Friday. The 1st 4 weeks, you will have dosage and calculation. They had a morning and afternoon session and you wouldn't know if you are morning or afternoons til you are there in class..the next 10 weeks will be your foundations and clinicals will be 4 weeks near the end. This is pretty much Monday to Friday all day so keep your schedule open all day. I have 3 kids, I had to get full time daycare for 2 and before and after school for my oldest. I was in school from 7am to 5pm most days because I was in the morning session and studied most days til 5 at the library. Clinicals are usually Monday and Tuesday from 7am to 330pm. I came in with no idea how the course was and it is really busy and time consuming. A lot of studying! It is like a whole new culture.

Thank you for the info mayenne1979. I'm an lvn student in CA and will finish in December. Do you happen to know what it's like for the second year of the RN program? I read the brochure on how they choose transition students, but I haven't been able to reach anyone there by email (by That I mean no one replies back to me) for specific questions.

I took English composition in 2005 and got a C (first year of college). Do you think I have a better chance if I retake the class for a better grade? Is that even allowed? Technically I passed with a C or better but I'm not sure if they'll allow a grade change.

In CA dosage calculation is included in pharm, and basic pharm is taken first semester and advanced pharm 3rd semester (totals 3 units combined) of the Lvn program, not before. Generally the pharm material corresponds with stuff we learn in fundamentals or med-surg.

I would suggest that you call the Counselors office because they can tell you what credits they will take because every nursing program is different. I know when I was talking Pharmacology, there were a whole bunch of LVN/LPNs that had to retake it because they were from another state. One of the guys said they will only take 17 people for the LVN bridge to RN program but I am not sure about that. I got accepted to both the LVN and the RN program but decided to just do the RN for 2 years and get it done.

Depends on the Uniform that you want...can range from $15 per piece to $30 per piece. Just go to AJ's Uniform..one by the rio grande campus and the other one on the east side and they will be able to help you..just tell them you are an EPCC student. I bought 3 pairs from there and 2 name tags, Get a lab coat, stethoscope, blood pressure cuff/machine (manual), pen light over there as well. They will give you 15% discount. I ordered all my books from Amazon instead of the bookstore and save $400. I spent about $600 on books and $250 on uniforms, patches, tags and all those stuff mention above. Then they will tell you to buy a kit for Drug dosage and for check offs thats gonna cost you about $200....I will let you know what else I can remember. I am glad going to 2nd semester majority of the books purchased for 1st semester will be used again....just gonna sell my dimensional Analysis.

majicmaid, congratulations! Looks like I will see you this Saturday at the orientation! And thank you for starting this thread, it answers some of the questions I had as well. Mayenne1979, thank you for sharing this information, it's nice to hear from someone who is a step ahead and has some insight on the first semester. I have another quick question if you don't mind. I compiled a list of books required for the first semester according to EPCC book store online for RNSG 1208 and 1413. I already have my Drug guide and Taber's, but there are 7 more books and access codes that are on the list for those classes. Did the school end up telling you that you need all of them or were some of them optional? I'm ready to place an order on Amazon, just want to make sure I'm not buying something I won't use. Actually I'll list them here, if you can chime in, I'd greatly appreciate it (and I'm sure few others will as well)

RNSG 1208:

1. Real EHRPREP w/Cerner access code

2. Dimentional Analysis for Meds with CD

RNSG 1413

1. Kozier Fundamentals of Nursing

2. Lab & Diagnostics Test w/ Nursing Implications

3. Handbook of Nursing Diagnosis with access code

4. Test Success:Test Taking Techniques for Beginning Nursing Students w/CD

5. Kozier Fundamentals of Nursing workbook (i believe this one was listed as recommended but not required)

I realize that different instructors might have different requirements, I'm just curious, did you end up buying and using every single one of them? And you were so right on the price difference. I never really buy my books from school directly, but I didn't realize that the savings are so huge. I tallied up the price of the books from EPCC and Amazon, and you were correct almost to the penny, I end up saving $393 buying from Amazon. Same books from EPCC are a few $$ short of a $1000. Crazy!

Thanks for what you've shared with everyone so far and good luck in the second semester!

The orientation packet says that the supply kits information will be provided on the first day of class. Seems like they are revising almost everything this month, including the nursing packets that we have to purchase in the addition to the books. But most of the stuff should be available for purchase in about a week or so.

By the way, we have a FB group for our class now "EPCC RN C/O May 2016", we'll be posting a lot of updates on there as they become available, and it will also serve us as a communication tool throughout the next 2 years. Feel free to join it. It's been vetted by EPCC nursing faculty member, so it will be our official page for our class.