excelsior college

vamedic4, EMT-P · Jul 6, 2005

hi all. i am in lpn school due to graduate in december and am thinking about going thru excelsior since they have the online lpn to rn. any advice from anyone who has went thru this school? thanks.

you should check out the yahoo groups pages for excelsior nursing..there are a few. they are filled with others who are enrolled and offer tips and online help to those of us who are learning!! best of luck!!

vamedic4 :)

LadyMadonna · Jul 6, 2005

I know and hear of many LPN's who thought they would jump right out of LPN school and into the Excelsior program and be finished in a year or sooner. While there is no law saying you can't do this it is not realistic and not adviseable. Many believe it will be convenient but this is really not the case. You will study as much or more than you would by going through a traditional program. Also, the program is designed for experienced LPN's (and certain other health care workers) and you would not be doing yourself any favors by going right into this program. You will find, if you wait at least a year and preferably longer, that the experience you gain working as an LPN will prove invaluable when you decide to enroll in Excelsior.

Consequently, none of the LPN's I knew who planned to go right through Excelsior out of LPN school have done this (including me! I am an Excelsior graduate now, but I went through the program after having four years of experience as an LPN. I'm GLAD I didn't jump right into it as soon as school was over) Nursing school is not teaching you to simply be a nurse, what nursing school has proven, if you get through it, is that you are competent to learn how to be a nurse in a certain setting. After you have worked for awhile you will realize the benefit of gaining work experience before enrolling in the EC program.

honeydust29 · Jul 6, 2005

Thanks So Much...totally Helpful Website.

marshalbc77 · Jul 6, 2005

honeydust29, don't get discouraged. I received my LVN license on early

Feb 2002 got my first LVN job on Feb 20. Enrolled with Excelsior on May 2002. I didn't wait 1 year after I was an LVN I jumped right in there. Studied 1 Nursing concept for a month then test then the next nursing concept test so on and so on.Everything was a repetition from the LVN program pretty much a lot of the studying/material was still fresh on my mind. I work on a Med/Surg floor and ER dept my facility uses LVN's to the max of their scope of practice, that was very beneficial to me. I learned a lot critical thinking and all. My advice is to try to get a job at a Med/Surg floor, you will definately learn a lot. When I graduated from my LVN program I had two job offers 1.Con home 2.Med/Surg. Although, the Con home paid a lot more than the Med/Surg. I weigh the two. I questioned myself where will I get more experience? Would I learn more in a Con home or Med/Surg? Con home pass med/dressing changes thats all lacks critical thinking. Med/Surg gotta to be on top of it and that was what I wanted. I chose Med/Surg.Working there helped me become the nurse I am. Helped me passed the CPNE with ease and it prepared me to have an easy transition from LVN to RN. If your goal is to become an RN then go for it. Don't let anybody stop you. I started from scratch with Excelsior. I only had 9 units of Gen Eds done but I got through it. It took me 2.5 years to finish. So if you want to enroll at Excelsior after you graduate from your LVN program then go for it. In the meantime focus and pass your LVN program then your boards. Good Luck!!!!!!

LadyMadonna · Jul 6, 2005

In that 2.5 yrs. you were enrolled in the school though, would you not say that your experience helped you?

I'm saying that it is better to have experience before you enroll in a home study program and I can't renig on that statement.

honeydust29 · Jul 7, 2005

To Marshall and Madonna: Thanks for your great replies. I appreciate the input from both standpoints. It is always better to know the pros and cons. Fortunately most of my clinical work...which is 8 hrs a day 3 days a week is med/surg and ER. We have great instructors that absolutely demand we practice our critical thinking skills all the time. I am planning on working while I do the home study course and I think I will work ER if i can get it. I really appreciate all the info though. Any advice and info right now is very helpful. I am also talking to a friend of mine from nursing school and we are thinking of going thru Excelsior together so I really think that should help get us thru. Thanks ya'll.

tater.jake · Jul 30, 2006

good thread