Cpne

I past my first try and honestly it was not bad. You will hear a million times that you need to control your stress and that is so true. Remember to only do what you are assigned. By now you know that everything is broken down into steps. Memorize these steps and know them by heart. What I did was keep a peice of paper on my at all times before the CPNE. When I ha a second I would pick a topic and write all the steps down for that section until I knew all the sections. When you start your CPNE for teh planning phase you can write these down and you should be all set. Dont forget to do these on the labs also. Hope some of this helps. You can PM with any other questions. Walking outta there after passing everything was great. Hope you cna feel that way too.

Kenny

I am scheduled for CPNE Sept 5-7 at Racine, feel better after the EC Workshop in Memphis with Patti and Joanne. Wish I had more info concerning the Hospital, the size, are there a lot of Peds? Are the examiners compassionate? What is the pass rate at that particular hosp?

Thanks

Go into the Distance Learning forum. There's a lengthy sticky at the top about the workshop I took and a LOT of threads from people who passed and how they did it.

BigKenny mentioned that Lisa Arend's CD's are great for notes and a learning tool. I looked on EBAY and can't locate them. Can anyone help?

DEBSIKINS

On Ebay under search type Excelsior College in the Books section, it is the cartoon nurse with the syringe.

Can anyone who has recently taken the CPNE please tell me what your IV push med amounts and times were and what your IV drip rates were? I want to be sure that I am practicing some realistic amounts. Thank you very much. Only two weeks to go until I test!!!!

Thread moved to Distance learning forum.

I passed first time at Racine. I did however go to a workshop. I felt that that workshop was ok...but didn't help me feel as prepared as I wanted to feel. What really helped was practicing. I did however get the CD of how to pass the stations. Watching this through over and over did help. Here is some simple advice. Keep your nerves in check! If you let your nerves get the best of you, you will fail. Learn your critical elements and memorize them!!!!! I made flash cards with little sayings for each critical element. Make a plan. This is something that I did learn from the workshop. Make a grid. You have several critical elements that have to be met each and every PCS. If you don't hit them you fail. I watched over and over my fellow students fail because they forgot to do something as simple as check the name band. Take a deep breath and remember that although two hours seems like a long time, when you are nervous you can run out of time! Be prepared for anything. Get your nursing diagnosis book and flag what is the most common...what you can use for anyone. Don't write in your book! You can highlight and flag but no writing. The last thing you want them to do is tell you you can't use your book. I hope this helps. Good luck!

I did not have the ability to get to a workshop. I just passed my CPNE this week and I know it was because I studied and practiced A LOT. Can you find others in your area and get together and study? I spent countless hours on the EPN board reading journals, reading responses to question and making a notebook of things I learned. As I studied, I wrote down any question I had and submitted it to EC to get answers. I did the same with documentation too (sent it to EC to be reviewed). I practiced my critical elements at work. This test is doable without going to a workshop.

I would practice drip rates ranging from 15-40 gtts a minute. Ask someone to give you a random number and do it. It doesn't hurt to regulate at a higher or lower rate either because you never know what you will get.

well, i did the workshop and bought the skills bag and passed the cpne with no repeats first try. it was too much money for me not to pass, so i went the full meal deal!

however go to youtube.com and you will be able to see for free skills like wound packing, sterile gloves etc...and of course allnurses.com :yeah:is outstanding for information! being organized in your thought are the key to success. if you are not familiar with documentation, i would take a ec on line documentation workshop i think it runs under 200.00

also, once you pass the cpne, then you have to pay for the ec graduation fee = 495.00, state board fee, rn nclex fee=200.00 and poss. background check fee. :twocents::twocents: i know it all adds up, but in the big picture, it is one of the most successful things you can do to further your current professional status.

good luck and practice practice practice

gail

Thank you so much for your good advice. I also took the excelsior workshop and think it was worth every penny. Hopefully it pays off and I will pass my CPNE like you did!!!