Excelsior College Paramedic to RN Program ?

Drysolong · Jul 7, 2008

Hello, I have about 5 months left of medic school. I am attending Cincinnati State Community College. I am thinking since I am only 20 of doing the Excelsior College medic to RN program while I am still in school mode to have the RN job security and flexibility. My main question is how hard is it to learn without the classroom setting? Not having a teacher to 1 on 1 with if you dont understand something you read in the text? What was the hardest part of doing the Excelsior Online program for you? Is there still clinical hours that you had to attend? Does anyone have a link to the Excelsior medic to RN program that details the order of how things work for the next year? I am kind of nervous to doing an entire year of online training since I havent had any out of the classroom courses before. Any tips or comments would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!

Check out the DISTANCE LEARNING FORUM.

Also, Excelsior is not necessarily an online program. You study from actual textbooks and take exams on computer at PearsonVue locations. Excelsior does provide online study resources.

Beforehand you should determine if you can successfully study independently. There are Excelsior study groups on YAHOO.

Hope this helps a little.

BrandonM77 · Jul 7, 2008

Thanks, I am sure I can get through it studying independently. I just know I have had text books in the past that didnt explain everything to get a full understanding and have had to ask a instructor to explain in their point of view. From what I have read though on these forums it apparently has a decent success rate so I am confident I can do it. I am just wondering if it is easier to do a classroom course vs the online course.

BrandonM77 · Jul 7, 2008

As a current student of the program Drysolong what do you have to say about it overall? Is it an effective way to learn the material for the RN licensing exam?

BetterLife126 · Jul 7, 2008

Hello, I am a recent Grad of Excelsior College and I have been a Paramedic for 8 years. My thoughts .

I really do not consider the Excelsior College Nursing Degree a "Paramedic to RN Program." This is a unique education opportunity that is open to a select group of people from different backgrounds in healthcare which includes but is not limited to Paramedics. This is different from an actual Paramedic to RN program, or atleast the ones that I explored before enrolling in Excelsior.

If I understood you correctly you have not Graduated from your Paramedic program yet and that you are 20 years old. If that is correct then I would first like to commend you for thinking ahead about your job security and financial future. However that would also mean you have not been a Basic or Advanced EMT for very long... Maybe a year or Two, but maybe not even that because most organizations will not Hire you (due to Insurance reasons) until after you are 21. My point is that you probably do not have much street/healthcare experience yet. And with that Lack of experience (I do not mean to be insulting, just Honest) You will probably struggle with the Excelsior Nursing Program, Because it Lacks the in-depth clinicals that Traditional Nursing Programs have, and You would be Lacking the Hands on Clinical experience that you would have after a few years of Working as a Paramedic. You may very well be able to do the Book work and Make your way through the Nursing Program, and pass NCLEX, But the hands on experience is extremly important for you to function as a professional Nurse. So my thoughts are that you either need to work as a Paramedic for a few years on a Busy department then look at Excelsior, or look at a Traditional Program to start now.

The perfect example of this is when you graduate from your Paramedic program, and actually have your first day on truck all certified and ready to go, and you have your first 911, all on your own, with your brand spankin new Basic Partner who has never worked on a truck, and everything you learned during your Paramedic program might as well have been taught to you in German cause your so nervouse you cant remember a thing!!! :eek: It happened to every single one of us, it will happen to you, probably more than once. I didnt get comfortable and competent for a very long time. Hands on Real Life experience is incredibly important in healthcare, so don't cheat yourself and your patients out of it.

Other thoughts are that Excelsior probably will and definetly should take you longer than 1 year.

You have to be incredibly Motivated to attend this type of program, I know many other medics that have enrolled and have not even gotten one class done in over a year, because they "can't find the time" Life is very stressfull and it is amazing how easy it is to put school on the back burner, when you dont "have to " attend a class.

I Graduated in February. I am now an RN in an Emergency Departmant. I love my job :heartbeat but every day is difficult. It is difficult because I am New and I lack RN experience, so every day I learn something New, and am constantly reminded of how much I still have to learn. I am extremly LUCKY because the Nurses that I work with have been in This department in This hospital some for their entire (long) careers! These Nurses go above and beyond every day to share their Knowledge and help me develop as a RN. Not every new RN is surrounded by such a wonderfull group of Mentors. I am very very Blessed.

Good luck on what you decide, just please dont side step the hands on experience

BrandonM77 · Jul 9, 2008

Betterlife thats a very valid point and its definately something I have put a lot of thought into, I just know that traditional programs have a long waiting list. One of the things that really got me into the thought of getting my RN is I have been doing a lot of clinical time in the ER with christ hospital in cincinnati, I love the ER its fast paced, the nurses there trust me to do what the patient needs to have done. One of the other things this reason kind of upset me, like you said about the 21 years old thing, I scored number 1 out of everyone for a firefighter/EMT job in a city outside of Cincinnati. physical course was easy and the interview went great, I didnt get the job and I think it was because I am 20.....I donno i just think that since I havent had a year off from school yet that I am still in learning mode. Everyone says when you stop its really hard to get back into school. I am single, no kids so when all that starts happening for me I think it will be really hard to get back into school. If I have my firefighter license, my paramedic, and my RN I could work 2 full time jobs and secure a decent life for my future family.....I donno what I will decide yet. I have about 5 months left of medic school....didnt really want to do another 2 years but maybe I will if I can afford it.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Jul 9, 2008

I moved this to the Distance Learning Forum for continued feedback. Good luck to you!

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jul 9, 2008

Another paramedic here! :) I just finished EC's ADN, and I've been a medic since 2003, an EMT since 2001, and I've worked in an ER as an ER Tech since early 2005. My paramedic clinicals were great, and largely hospital-based like yours ... tons of ER time! :) EC's program really assumes that you've had a lot of patient contact and are a healthcare provider of some measure already, and I definitely felt comfortable in that regard.

There are many people in this program who have continued fresh out of LPN school, so I don't see that being fresh out of medic school is much different. You'll probably ace the theory portion -- I know that my rigorous pathophysiology subject matter from medic school really prepared me for much of the theory exams, once I had adjusted my brain from medic-brain to nurse-brain with regards to the nursing process. And for the CPNE -- clinical performance in nursing examination, the 2.5 clinicals exam at the end -- you are only expected to function as a first-day new grad, and not as a seasoned RN, so it's definitely do-able.

It took me one year, one month, and one day from my first exam (A&P) to the last day of my CPNE, which I passed on the first attempt. You might have the same experience, time-wise. Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

bcems134 · Jul 10, 2008

I am a medic interested in the EC program. I just recertified, 16 years as a medic! Time flies when you're having fun, but it is time for a change.

I think the classes are doable, but the actual hands on aspect makes me hesitant to enroll at EC.

My question is how do you study for the CPNE? In paramedic school there was so much clinical time and ride alongs, it was easy to get all the on the job training needed to pass clinical exams, but at EC....How do you get the time in with knowledgable people to prepare for a hands on exam? Am I missing something when I read the literature from EC, is there a clinical aspect other than the CPNE? Or do you go in blindly and test?

BetterLife126 · Jul 10, 2008

You can say that again!! Time really does fly, doesn't it?....

The Clinicals. What I took away is that you were expected, just like with the book work, to make a learning environment for your self. So what I did was take a part-time job at a hospital (on the floor, Nursing programs seem to me, to be very focused on Med-Surg, so that is where I worked. ER as I am sure you are aware is very different than Med-Surg, but I think you could still learn valuable things in the ER.) So although I was not there as a "student" but a could still watch, ask questions, and assist the Nurses with some of their duties like an aid would. So now I had something to visualize my book work with. I met some students who (LPN's) were employed by hospitals or Nursing Homes that would with the permission of their employer spend days Shadowing the RN's.

The really big Helper for me was that I attended CPNE (clinical) workshops through Excelsior. I am a little OCD about testing and I like to be perfect, so I attended 2 of them. They were each 3 day, skills lab style workshops. So when I first got my CPNE test date I went to one in Albany, NY. Then I attended another in Columbus, Ohio on a Tues, WED Thurs, then went to my CPNE Friday, SAt, Sunday in Mansfield, Ohio. (which by the way the staff at Mansfield were AMAZING, they really made a comfortable testing environment)

So the "knowledgable people" would be your "mentors" or Nurses that you know and work with, The Excelsior College staff that you can call and talk to, or email, or chat with. Your fellow students, and the CPNE workshop, I highly recommend the workshop.

The CPNE was definetly stressfull, but as Lunah noted you are only expected to be able to function as a first day New Grad RN. The most difficult part is "nurse think" instead of "medic think". It is very comparable to a 2.5 day Registry, where for a good portion you have real life people, not manakins to care for. Looking back, the most difficult part was Stress Managment, which most of us Medics are pretty good at!! So I just put my Game Face on Focused and got to work. In the Work Shops they go over stress managment alot, and how to avoid the "Deer in Headlights" event.

Good luck

Jess

BrandonM77 · Dec 9, 2009

Hey betterlife! I donno if you still on this site or not, but I would like to tell you that I ended up taking your advice :) I finished my Medic program in Feb took National Registry passed on first try. Have been working as a medic since, well three months ago I started my prereq courses with Cincinnati States RN program. I decided to go to a traditional two year program, so far the classes have been super easy following my completion of medic school, granted I am just in prereqs, hopefully I will find another school without a 2 year waiting list and I can start actual nursing classes soon! I thought you may like to know that your advice really helped me out in the end lol, even though at first it was kinda a slap in the face haahaha jk well I hope you get my thank you!

Brandon

Hello, I am a recent Grad of Excelsior College and I have been a Paramedic for 8 years. My thoughts .
I really do not consider the Excelsior College Nursing Degree a "Paramedic to RN Program." This is a unique education opportunity that is open to a select group of people from different backgrounds in healthcare which includes but is not limited to Paramedics. This is different from an actual Paramedic to RN program, or atleast the ones that I explored before enrolling in Excelsior.
If I understood you correctly you have not Graduated from your Paramedic program yet and that you are 20 years old. If that is correct then I would first like to commend you for thinking ahead about your job security and financial future. However that would also mean you have not been a Basic or Advanced EMT for very long... Maybe a year or Two, but maybe not even that because most organizations will not Hire you (due to Insurance reasons) until after you are 21. My point is that you probably do not have much street/healthcare experience yet. And with that Lack of experience (I do not mean to be insulting, just Honest) You will probably struggle with the Excelsior Nursing Program, Because it Lacks the in-depth clinicals that Traditional Nursing Programs have, and You would be Lacking the Hands on Clinical experience that you would have after a few years of Working as a Paramedic. You may very well be able to do the Book work and Make your way through the Nursing Program, and pass NCLEX, But the hands on experience is extremly important for you to function as a professional Nurse. So my thoughts are that you either need to work as a Paramedic for a few years on a Busy department then look at Excelsior, or look at a Traditional Program to start now.
The perfect example of this is when you graduate from your Paramedic program, and actually have your first day on truck all certified and ready to go, and you have your first 911, all on your own, with your brand spankin new Basic Partner who has never worked on a truck, and everything you learned during your Paramedic program might as well have been taught to you in German cause your so nervouse you cant remember a thing!!! It happened to every single one of us, it will happen to you, probably more than once. I didnt get comfortable and competent for a very long time. Hands on Real Life experience is incredibly important in healthcare, so don't cheat yourself and your patients out of it.
Other thoughts are that Excelsior probably will and definetly should take you longer than 1 year.
You have to be incredibly Motivated to attend this type of program, I know many other medics that have enrolled and have not even gotten one class done in over a year, because they "can't find the time" Life is very stressfull and it is amazing how easy it is to put school on the back burner, when you dont "have to " attend a class.
I Graduated in February. I am now an RN in an Emergency Departmant. I love my job :heartbeat but every day is difficult. It is difficult because I am New and I lack RN experience, so every day I learn something New, and am constantly reminded of how much I still have to learn. I am extremly LUCKY because the Nurses that I work with have been in This department in This hospital some for their entire (long) careers! These Nurses go above and beyond every day to share their Knowledge and help me develop as a RN. Not every new RN is surrounded by such a wonderfull group of Mentors. I am very very Blessed.
Good luck on what you decide, just please dont side step the hands on experience