i want to thank God for i would not be this far without Him. i would also like to thank all the people that posted on this site and either encouraged me or discouraged me enough to work harder.
background: i worked as a paramedic for less than a year in a basic unit so i have no good experience since school. i also have no clinical experience. i enrolled in excelsior and finished the classes in 6-7 weeks it would have been less had there not been a slight delay with transcripts. i read daily 18-20hrs
i used SG101(best product), Atinursing.com (highly recommend this it has all the recommended books summarized onling except 1) saunders(yellow book) practice exams on all(a must) i sometimes used NCLEX Q&A incredibly easy it has questions and explanations.
LS 1 5.5 days (A) study more psych therapeutic communication was the majority of the questions. use the recomended book as well for more terms.,
LS 2 7 days (A) must use med surge book for pre and post op care
LS3 7 days (B) tough exam, know all the drugs in SG101 even the antifungal. i got a B because of antiviral drugs, post op care was a big part in the tissue trauma. READ PEDS neurological and muscular conditions especially JRA and lupus
Reproduction 6 days (A) easy just use SG101 and saunders
Health differences 4 days (B) i failed in the sleep part prolly got a 50%
Health safety 5 days (A) therapeutic communication!!! i don't know how excelsior wants me to answer the questions!!!!! cant get it
Chronicity 7 days (A) was discouraged from posts which motivated me to sturdy harder. easy test. used all the above books plus googled chronic illness book and read there.
.....i took transition just before i enrolled and studied 4 days (B) super boring
what i would have done differently: started with the Essential classes or last 3 1st a lot of material was repeated in LS classes from here. spent less time writing notes and more time reading and understanding. less anxiety from other peoples failure.
FCCA monday yei!! but i wish i knew what i was getting into
good-luck to all of you and may the Lord have even better plans for you....
Well I don't know who you directed "speaking of ignorance to" but I for one was not referring to your comment I was referring to the person who said"I agree, while you may have "passed" how much did you really learn? How good are your skills?I have been a paramedic since '96 and have tons of medic skills," hence me quoting the how much learned and about skills.
First off, everyone in this program is testing out of courses by studying at their own pace. To say for a second this person is not skilled or won't remember the info is very ignorant to say. Most people study for 2-3 weeks per exam. This is the average. Someone cuts that time in half or a little more than half because they have the time and you criticize them? We are all on the same boat. Traditional students are saying the same thing about you. Secondly, this person has faith in God and had dedication obviously others didnt have or unfortunatley were not able to because of their job/kids. The truth is, you would of done the same if you could have and we'd all be hearing about it. Thank God they didn't listen to comments that would have held them back..I applaud you and your experience was very inspiring. I will aim at 1.5-2 weeks, I have about 13 hours, 16 if I really try hard, of potential study time.
So I am ignorant? I criticized them?
I never criticized them. I never said they were not skilled. If you noticed I did congratulate them on it. It is an impressive task.
I just asked a legitimate question and concern. Taking a test and passing it does not equal learning/retaining information. I never said the OP did not learn, but I know from my personal experience that one can pass tests but then forgot most of it afterwards.
The CPNE is a very hard exam, and without a good skills set it is almost impossible to pass. I wish the OP all the luck in the world, but I hope they understand the CPNE is noting like the exams and takes a totally different approach (for most).
Before you start name calling, make sure you read and understand the posts.
So I am ignorant? I criticized them? I never criticized them. I never said they were not skilled. If you noticed I did congratulate them on it. It is an impressive task. I just asked a legitimate question and concern. Taking a test and passing it does not equal learning/retaining information. I never said the OP did not learn, but I know from my personal experience that one can pass tests but then forgot most of it afterwards. The CPNE is a very hard exam, and without a good skills set it is almost impossible to pass. I wish the OP all the luck in the world, but I hope they understand the CPNE is noting like the exams and takes a totally different approach (for most).Before you start name calling, make sure you read and understand the posts.
1. I did not name call, never called you ignorant. 2. I understood the post clearly. This person studied about half that of the average which is 2-3 weeks. Someone who book studied a week or two longer than someone else doesn't mean they will be more prepared for the cpne. Every single person whether they studied one week or 8 weeks for the exams is different and their exam study differs from the seperate study necessary for the cpne. Being book smart doesn't necessarily mean you have the necessary clinical skills. I know you 'congratulated' them but if you ask what you asked for this person, do you not for those who study for 2-3 weeks? If not well you are ignoring a major group of people within the program that is not much different than this person. You are acting as if the difference is 2-3 months. To me it just doesn't make sense at all to have mentioned what you did.
Congrats OP! such a motivation....whether it took you 8 weeks or 8 years...finishing is such an accomplishment...i dont know about anyone else but even when i was in lvn school for over a year..i passed with good grades...but i REALLY learned and had my "AHA" moments when i got on the floor..thats when theory finally clicked for me..and sadly that was after i passed my boards and officially worked as a nurse....lol...but God speed to all doing this program (including myself)...to be apart of Excelsior already shows that we are exceptional human beings me-thinks! ta ta
Specializes in Home Health, Podiatry, Neurology, Case Mgmt.
I finished EC's AAS program in 2012, I was able to pass transitions in 9 days, and a few of the exam I took 2 in a month. People learn and study at a different rate, some prefer to know greater detail and take longer while others can infer the information and figure out the answer to the questions easily. To the OP- Congrats on moving through so quickly! Were you also working at the time? I worked full time but it took me much longer (also had 3 kiddos under 5 at home at the time too), however, the BSN through EC only took me 18mo =) I am audio/visual versus reading so I did NOT enjoy the SG101 notes, nor did they help me in the least. I found an online video program that i paid for and used and that is how i was able to bust through my exams quickly (well until I failed LS3 not once but TWICE!) LOL...i learned from being tooo overly eager! The CPNE on the other hand was NOT stressful for me at all and I actually enjoyed myself while taking the exam. I had to use clinical decision making on my second adult patient and I could tell the examiner was impressed with my judgement. Each of us is completely different and that's what makes this profession so wonderful. There are so many different avenues of nursing! Good luck to all current students and congrats to all those who have passed! I always pop on here and try to see what is going on in EC's world from time to time =)
sorry i have been really busy guys trying to get back to work after a month off....i have worked for 6yrs with the elderly which is my passion mostly group homes and home health...maybe this helped....i have a great picture memory that could have also helped me out....how much i retained, i honestly ask myself the same question....i dont know for sure only time will tell. i did it this fast because i study best under pressure if i give myself too much time i get out of focus and bored. i plan on spending 4 moths studying for NCLEX so am sure am competent enough. i would hate to make the school and the other students look bad later on. i know this is not possible for everyone i just wanted to give hope to anyone who might consider it.
i have little EMS experience i work with private transport to Dialysis...soooo...yer i dont do much
also my background; i live with my parents so i took 1 month off work. i have no kids. i stayed in my room all day reading only left to refill my coffee so that also really helped. before i booked my exams i always asked myself if i fail what would more would i read? if the answer was nothing...then i booked it
thanks, i wish i had your experience. i have very little but am a quick learner and am always asking questions to find out why am doing something. i think nursing should be more skills and less books and i cant wait to start acquiring that knowledge
Speaking of ignorance, if anyone read the top of my post, you would see I tried to disclaimer that all of my comments and questions were legitimate and NOT taking a stab at this persons ability to get through the course. Please re-read a post before saying people are criticizing anyone.
With that said, referencing my own post, those of you who are able to get through these courses so quickly, I asked for background, do you think you'll feel comfortable? There is so much to learn during your precepting time and many new nurses I work with say THAT is when they learn their job, not during nursing school.
Today I took a stab at really pushing through one of my books seeing what I could remember and what I can't. I had a lot of the general concepts down but I don't feel comfortable with the level of detail I retained. I think a 2-3 or 3-4 week schedule would work for me with the amount of hours I work per week. Again feel free to post here any study tips you have that help speed up the process but I will be making a thread about accelerated study tips as to not draw focus from this students accomplishment.
Again we all congratulate EMTPRNDR.
i always want to know why why why if i cant explain why i feel i dont know. i spent less time reading the books and more time googling why after that i found any question to be really easy on the topic. on the practice exams i went through every question even the ones i got, i researched them and tried to understand why A and not B...this was really helpful coz in the test they asked questions where the B would be the answer. i cant tell how much i retained for now until during CPNE or NCLEX
such a motivation....whether it took you 8 weeks or 8 years...finishing is such an accomplishment...i dont know about anyone else but even when i was in lvn school for over a year..i passed with good grades...but i REALLY learned and had my "AHA" moments when i got on the floor..thats when theory finally clicked for me..and sadly that was after i passed my boards and officially worked as a nurse....lol...but God speed to all doing this program (including myself)...to be apart of Excelsior already shows that we are exceptional human beings me-thinks! ta ta 
Ultraposh
278 Posts
Well I don't know who you directed "speaking of ignorance to" but I for one was not referring to your comment I was referring to the person who said"I agree, while you may have "passed" how much did you really learn? How good are your skills?I have been a paramedic since '96 and have tons of medic skills," hence me quoting the how much learned and about skills.