Considering an online bridge program

NurseQT · Mar 29, 2014

My good friend finished her degree online. I think she was able to test out of a lot of her classes. The clinicals were a doozy, two semesters worth of clinical time crammed into one weekend, 36 hours total! She said that out of 20+ students only she and two others passed!

trepeace · Apr 20, 2014

Wow! Thanks for the reply. I hope she wasn't in GA lol.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Apr 20, 2014

Was it an one year accelerated program for her Associate degree?

Editorial Team / Moderator · Apr 20, 2014

She said that out of 20+ students only she and two others passed!

If she is talking about Excelsior, the maximum number of students that test at a site at any one time is around six or seven, never 20. Just FYI. :)

The clinical exam is stressful, but not truly difficult skill-wise. This is a description of EC's clinical exam: https://allnurses.com/excelsior-college-online/clinical-performance-nursing-884109.html

trepeace · Jun 16, 2014

lol. Thanks, Pixie.RN. I saw your post shortly after making mine. Honestly, the CPNE is the only thing that is keeping me from doing the Excelsior option. I need more forgiveness. I went through checkoffs as an LPN and it was stressful. We lossed half of our class to checkoffs. I wish there was another way. I really do. I love the idea of self study but the CPNE scares me.

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Jun 16, 2014

@ trepeace, the exams are worse than the CPNE. Nerves and poor preparation is what gets 'em in the end. For me, I just pretended it was another day at work with family members watching my every move as they always do, except this particular weekend, I wasn't being paid. And neither of the weekend days are all-day long. As soon as you complete your scenario (only allowed 2 1/2 hours for each), you go sit in a lounge or breakroom and wait for all the other testers to complete their scenario. If you prepared well, it won't take that long. I even reheorificed the words that I was gonna say from the time I entered the room, until the time I concluded my scenario. One well-reheorificed speech fits all! Then you move on to the next. Do that 3 times, plus your labs and you pass the weekend.

The lab stations are 15-20 minutes each. You go in, perform each one (usually less than 15 minutes if you practiced well), and sit and wait for everybody else to finish. Then you're done for the day.

My my success story is just like the nightly news: good news rarely make the headlines, tragic stories are what people remember and focus on....think about it. If more of us were to continue to share our success stories, then we might be labeled as braggers. But when those who fail share their story, the CPNE becomes a beast that scares the life out of everybody when it really does not live up to the hype if you study for it as you would any major exam, much like the NCLEX but with a heavier price tag. For what it's worth, you do get a study guide explaining EXACTLY how EC expects you to perform the assessments. Then YOU get to choose your exam date even if it's 2 years later...well, maybe a year later with the new progression rules as of July 1st, 2014....

Nibbles1 · Jun 17, 2014

I literally panicked when I read your post. I read it that we would have to wait a year before taking the CPNE. More coffee please!!

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Jun 17, 2014

I literally panicked when I read your post. I read it that we would have to wait a year before taking the CPNE. More coffee please!!

Awwww......don't panic!! I'm assuming you deleted a portion of your post! But I'm sure your initial reading got your heart started for today!