CPNE...feeling jumbled up!

[2CareerRN]

for anyone who can relate to being jumbled up,

be prepared, this is an "i' post...all about me, selfish little me....

i am in cpne jumble, jumbled up. can't really think of a better word to fit the state of "running around in circles not sure when to stop"....umm, could i be a hamster...

where i stand or run in my state:

-books everywhere with color tabs in all books (that yellow blue book...will i keep it after i am done?).

-my spare bedroom is my mock room with "mr. sim man" lying in bed with a nasal cannula, iv, call button on his pillow, phone by his bed, medical supplies filling the shelves behind him. just got a ng tube so he will have that soon (poor guy)

-lab stations set up on the table beside mr sim with arm and butt i made from styrofoam with syringes and medications lined up...the wound station with the pictures from the sg i printed beside it (there will be no red showing!).

-tv next to that with a dvd player with all the dvds i bought so far to play as i do lab stations and pcs

-a desk set up with my computer with the sg on my computer open for quick reference (love that binocular icon )

-my fcca on the desk almost completed

-ncps spread out everywhere and not sure if any of them are correct (when will it become simple!!!)

-mneumonics written on index cards and on a large white board. (side of my hand black from being too lazy to get the eraser thingy)

-outside the room i have a small box with draws with my fake medications and syringes, wrote medication cart on it with gel next to it (certainly wish the ativan was real for me).

-a bucket beside it with my bp cuff, cheap thermometer and stethoscope

-my husband is my ce; god bless him for being so patient to try and understand this process with me....i'll will owe him for life....

so i get all prepared....and i feel overwhelmed by everthing. where do i start, what do i focus on, when do i do this or that????....

not to mention that i basically have put myself in hiding so i can focus only on studying...have been for more then a year now (probably like the rest of you) and friends wanting me to take a break for a drink here and there. break? what? i can't afford to take a break people!!!! ahhhhhhhh i think, wait i have to work 40hrs a week that's enough of a break. no, i won't feel guilty for putting friends and family on hold during this torturous journey....nope! (ya, a tiny bit of guilt)

i live on coffee, can you hear my heartbeat!!

please tell me this is normal....:bugeyes::bugeyes:...

(notice how many "i"s are in this post...hee hee selfish little me)

please share your cpne preparation journey!!!

[NC Girl BSN]

Pretty normal! I know how you feel. I would recommend first that you learn your mnemonics. I would learn one mneumonic a day and read the section in the studyguide to make sure I understood the critcal elements for that mnemonic and keep adding one and write them down so I would not forget. Once I learned the mnemonic, I would practice it on my husband. Learning the mnuemonic and praticing them took me a month or so.

I then started working on docuementation. I would practice my mnuemonic and doceument my findings.

I saved the careplanning and labs for last.

I also recommend the documentation and careplanning online workshops. They are great and it helped me streamline my writing and understand how to simplify my careplans.

Can you take a workshop? I highly recommend one! Good luck and hang in there!

[Raggedy Ann]

DD,

Bless your heart! I know I will feel the same when I am there. Sounds like NCgirlRN has some great advice. I think I am going to print her post out for future reference, and remember all of the stickies on this forum regarding CPNE. Take Care My friend. Traci

[bjbabs24]

I can totally feel your pain or maybe my family can more. I am sure they can't wait to have their dining room back or mostly I should say the table. My five year old could probably teach a few people how to pack the wound correctly, or how to regulate the gravity drip, she knows all the steps for the push station and the difference between the primary and mini bag. She's my little angel.:wshgrt:

My family is patient and amazing.

I think once I made my grid and memorized putting it together based on a pcs then it just started to click. Then documenting from start to finish also helps.

The final thing that is helping me is sending careplans weekly to Dr. A on the Excelsior site. Having someone from the staff go over them really made me focus.

[RN34TX]

I also recommend taking a workshop.

I was also like you with a lab station set up at home, etc. and my partner was my "patient" and went through all of the areas of care so many times that even he had some of it memorized better than I did. He knew the exact differences between respiratory assessment vs. respiratory management, what things needed to be checked within the first 20 minutes, etc.

But taking EC's workshop really glued it all together for me and I had a much better idea as to what to expect during the actual exam. In fact, by chance it was offered again in my town right before I was scheduled to take the CPNE so I took the workshop again just for the feedback and practice.

[stressfreecpne]

Sounds pretty typical. Get those critical elements down. Become expert at four or five simple care plans. Practice your twenty minute check on your real patients (or friends, or family, or your Sim man). Make sure you schedule appointments with a real CE from Excelsior via phone weekly, in the weeks before your CPNE, and daily the week before. Do this even if you don't know what to ask. My wife and I found this very beneficial. Good luck.

[gaimra]

What is the longest anyone has waited for a CPNE date after finishing all their nursing classes.

[BetterMeRN]

Poly, I feel your pain I have everything all set up in my living and dining room. Since I have no furniture, it's all good. You made the first step for help, you asked. I did too, and that was how I found out I needed to read the study guide and learn the mneumonics. Anything after that would only make things seem complicated and you would find yourself overwhelmed. I too set up my lab and patient, since then my patient has not turned and positioned in weeks. He probably has a wound back there I need to pack. Everything else have been collecting dust.

So right now, I am forgetting the lab that I set up until I learn the muenmonics...all of them. I am working on reading the SG again, the next time I read it it would just be for reference. I am now taking a careplanning conference I wish I had waited because it's taking away from my mneumonic study time.

I am going to a workshop next month, after that I should be ready to finally use everything I've set up in my living/dining room.

My advice:

Read the study guide at least twice.

Learn the muenmonics for all AOC and Labs.

Take a workshop or put into practice what you have learned (follow along with Rob if you can't do a workshop).

Learn careplanning and documentation.

Repeat steps.

AllNurses family please feel free to add anything I've missed. Heck, I am still trying to follow my own advice.

Keep in touch Poly, we're in the same boat. Wishing you the best for us both.

[alinaskye]

Great ideas (i'm going to borrow them). What's a FCCA?

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Great ideas (i'm going to borrow them). What's a FCCA?

Focused Clinical Competencies Assessment (or something along those lines). It's a three-part exam that comes between the nursing exams and the CPNE if you're under the new curriculum (not the "nursing concepts" curriculum).

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

So, what's the problem?

Totally normal.

[mguess003]

I know exactly how you feel. I used Robs DVD and just passed in Mansfield this past weekend. Best $40.00 you will ever spend!!