Excelsior Grads How do you explain clinicals?

Nursing Students Excelsior

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I am currently in the Excelsior program with 3 classes to go before I begin the Focused Clinical Competencies Assessment portion. I am a Paramedic with 8 years experience in the field. I recently got a job in the Emergency Department as a tech. My supervisor knows I am in Nursing School and was inquiring about when I will finish and where I will be doing my clinicals. I felt so foolish saying, "Well, um, I do my clinicals on line and over the course of a weekend and BAM! I am an R.N! How do I intelligently explain that this will prepare me to work as a competent nurse without sounding like I am getting my degree from a diploma mill? I frequently get strange looks from people (especially old school nurses) when I try to explain this and I don't blame them! Any advice on what to say? And, AM I going to be prepared to work with patients with such little time?

Thank you Pixie for the advise. I have been looking in my area and surrounding areas. Things may or may not change in my area but I may be moving out of state anyway in the future. Either way it's a win win situation for me. I hope to hear from your friend soon. Thanks again

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I am an excelsior graduate, 2010. I finished my BSN last June. I have been working in a busy ER for several years. The California BRN will NOT give me a California license. I work in Nevada and commute.

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Specializes in ICU.

Can someone explain to me how you take care of patients online by yourself? How you do assessments on real patients and administer meds like insulin injections online? I'm having a hard time understanding that. Also, what is wrong with having masters trained instructors with you? I have learned so much from mine. Also, there is a reason the BON won't issue a license. Think very hard before giving them your money.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Can someone explain to me how you take care of patients online by yourself? How you do assessments on real patients and administer meds like insulin injections online?
The typical Excelsior student has probably assessed thousands of patients and administered thousands of injections as a paramedic or LPN.

Excelsior's nursing programs give LPNs and paramedics the chance to prove the competencies that they have learned through years of real world experience.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.
Can someone explain to me how you take care of patients online by yourself? How you do assessments on real patients and administer meds like insulin injections online? I'm having a hard time understanding that. Also, what is wrong with having masters trained instructors with you? I have learned so much from mine. Also, there is a reason the BON won't issue a license. Think very hard before giving them your money.

When you went to get your driver's license, did the evaluator in the car with you teach you how to drive or did s/he simply perform an assessment of your driving skills before issuing your permit? Peoples lives were at stake depending upon your performance. It is the exact same thing with Excelsior College, except the BON has the final say instead of the evaluator. For a driver's license, you had to get your training elsewhere and when you were confident in your abilities, off you went to prove it. That's what we did as LPNs, paramedics, and respiratory therapists. We have/had years of experience doing what we do before attending the college. And I guarantee if you come to my job on a night that I'm working, you would not be able to pick me out of the crowd. You will only be able to identify the new grad ASN/BSN RNs and the students because their experience level, hence their fear is all the same because this is new to them, not to an Excelsior College graduate.

That being said, there are just as many experienced LPNs, paramedics, and respiratory therapists who very good at what they do, but suck at self-study (or so they think: sit in a class for an hour and a half listening to a lecture and then go home and spend hours teaching themselves what the instructor said in 90 minutes so that they can pass tomorrow's exam [but that's a whole other topic]), who have to have that classroom guidance. In the end, we all have to pass the exact same NCLEX. Some of them fail when we pass and vice versa. It doesn't make them or us better or worse professionals; they/we just have a different learning styles.

I can say all day that I will not sit in a class for months for a grade that I can get in a week or two at a fraction of the cost. But, I don't. What I do say is that I have what it takes (a license based upon the fact that I did classroom clinicals years ago, and I learned patient care years ago, and I've performed my assessments, started IVs, and administered meds, blood transfusions, etc FOR years before enrolling into Excelsior College, and I had what it took to alleviate the middleman (aka: the instructor) and be successful in this program. Believe it or not, I didn't have what it took to be successful in the classroom for SOME of the subjects because I have to read, read, and re-read information to gain my understanding of the material. I've never been one of those who could pass a pop-quiz at the beginning of a class or listen to an hour's worth of instruction and understand it enough to pass a quiz with 30 minutes of class time left. I did EC's program in record time because for each exam, I spent 12 hours a day, literally, at least 4 days a week, for two weeks on each subject. That is 96 hours per subject. And yes, I had just that much time on my hands since my hospital job was canceling shifts so frequently. Compare that to the number of hours a traditional student spends on classroom instruction. Some EC students spend more time that.

So, you see. It works both ways. I needed more time than what the traditional classroom offered. But my clinical skills were not a factor because I'd been doing that aspect of nursing for 24 years prior to my enrollment in Excelsior.

Hopefully, one of these days, people will truly understand and compare the definitions of competency versus training. Training comes first. Competency is to test the effectiveness of the training you say you've already had, no matter where your received it from. Not just anybody can be accepted into EC's nursing program. You have to present a license that proves you've already had clinical training somewhere else and when you're ready, Excelsior College make you prove this by basically saying 'you said you were clinical, let's see it. Here's your final test standing between you and the NCLEX'.

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Hi Rshenry. We're a LVN/LPN prior? What excuse did the BRN give you? How long did you try to gain licensure? What was your experience with the BRN? Thank you for your time

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Heathermaizy I am a LVN and I've administered insulin, medications, started IVs (I'm IV Certified), discharged, admitted (RN & I went to do assessment together and she signed off of course), responded to codes etc. My course of education for "clinicals" went beyond that of the RN education. My instructors did have MSN and beyond. I am confident in my nursing skills through education and working. There are some RNs who went the traditional route who I WOULD NOT let them work on my family members.

The only reason I can see the denial by CA is a political one. I have worked with several Excelsior (formerly Regents College) who were some of the best nurses in the field. There is no valid reason why CA would license a new RN who went the traditional route through a school in CA over a new RN with medical experience as a LVN/LPN.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

I'm sure that somewhere in this country, there is an Excelsior College ASN graduate, who has gone on to further his or her education and now teaches clinicals in a traditional setting. In fact, if I read it correctly, meanmaryjean has her MSN and is a clinical educator, but received her ASN from Excelsior College. (Maybe she or one of the moderators can correct me on this. I may be incorrect regarding the setting).

But my point is, unless a student or patient asks, s/he never knows where their instructors or nurses receives their education or degrees. All that we know is that the organization, after doing their checks and balances, determined them to be qualified to perform the duties of the position. Also, a lot, if not most, of the MSN/PhD-educated nurses received their initial licensure in traditional settings. So, to imply that EC graduates are not fully competent to practice is to say that the evaluators were not competent enough to assist in developing the curriculum, nor assess, evaluate, or advise the students. Additionally, some of them still teach in traditional settings. In fact, the person that coached me in passing the CPNE is a former EC Clinical Evaluator with a PhD in nursing, Overhouse Supervisor at one of the local hospitals, and a nursing professor teaching BSN students at one of the local, 'traditional' universities here in the Atlanta area. Her knowledge and years of experience had me doing a one-and-done for the crucial weekend.

Just thought I'd put that out there.;)

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