Excelsior Pass Rate?

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Does anyone know Excelsior's passing rate? Just curious. tia

Kelly

I failed the CPNE the first time, passed the second.

I :redbeathe Excelsior.

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I HAVE TAKEN THE EXCELSIOR ROAD. it was horrible. i passed all my exams but the CPNE. i took it in columbus ohio. i have been a nurse for 8 yrs before that. i worked in acute care settings. the things they failed me for were trivial and petty. the stress is unbelievable. the first thing they said to me after failing was "ARE YOU GOING TO COME BACK AGAIN??" i guess they need more money. i have not gone back to retake. i dont know that i want to spend that much money. i have had 5 other friends do the program and all had the same experience. none of them passed cpne. they even went to new york. they even took the practice that was available for the cpne (workshop) i dont recommend excelsior. the testing site is now closed in columbus, but it stinks now i need 4 more classes (repeating) since its been 2 years. indiana state will accept all my credits though. that doesnt seem fair. its ok for one not the other. $$$$$$. just telling you my experience
Actually, you are not telling us of your experience, you have recounted your experience loaded with opinion based on conjecture and resentment, and with little personal responsibility.

Excelsior College does not need your money. There are approximately 17,000 nursing students in their award-winning program. Trust me, the tuition of one student is less than inconsequential.

I passed my CPNE the first time. I missed one PCS and I deserved to have to repeat that one. Was my error a big deal? Not especially--I took a radial pulse when apical was specified. But it was an error significant enough to make a difference. You can bet I share my experience with anyone who is interested, and you can bet that none of them makes that mistake--nor do they make that mistake in their practice.

I didn't prepare over a long period of time (not my style), but I did prepare. Now that I have been an RN for four years, I see the purpose in every single step of each of those tasks. Petty and inconsequential? I moderate a Yahoo group supporting Excelsior ADN students, and a member there posted that he had failed the CPNE for "inconsequential" reasons like taking a BP on the same side as an IV. I mean, really.

If you have been a nurse for 8 years and if you prepared (including attending a workshop so you would understand exactly what they were looking for), then you should have passed. If you didn't pass then either you didn't prepare or you make the kinds of mistakes we all see everyday in our peers and have to learn to ignore or it eats us up. I hope it is simply the former.

Blaming the school or the examiners when you fail and exam the vast majority of others pass suggests that you are not attending to the evidence, which is probably the 16,000 or so who pass the first time know what they are doing. You can draw your own conclusions.

Statements like "it stinks" and "I guess they need more money" are not very professional.

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Specializes in Med/Surg Nurse, Homecare, Visiting Nurse.

Just my two cents. I think most LPN's with experience think they are a shoe-in to pass the CPNE. What most don't understand is just because you're a nurse already doesn't mean that you can go in with the belief that it's second nature. I'm an LPN (Med/Surg), and some of the areas asked, I've never ever done in practice.

Yes, we can all breeze through the exams...up until that point we all think the best of EC until most get to the CPNE...then we have terrible things to say about EC. I mean didn't we see this when we were taking the theory?

I'm not CPNE eligible yet, but I know this program has been the best thing that has ever happened for me. I'm hoping to be successful on my first try but like Sue if I'm not, I'll throw my whites in the washer and try again.

Remember just my :twocents:.

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Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.

The thing to know about the CPNE, is that it strictly follows the ANA Scope & Standards of Practice, as well as their Code of Ethics. These are things we should have strong knowledge of in our daily practice, and should be following, anyway. I know the key for me when I moved from LPN to RN, was in knowing why these things were important. The CPNE is not just designed to test you on task knowledge. It's also designed to determine whether you are able to practice within the standards set for the profession, and whether you are able to establish a plan of care for your patients, based on what you know about them and their particular condition.

I also passed on the first try. I didn't do any of the workshops, but I did have a high level of RN mentorship where I worked at the time.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I have to say that during my preparation for the CPNE, my feelings about it evolved from "OMG I hate this freakin' thing" to "Hey, I see the purpose." I didn't love the CPNE, but I surely respected it.

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Specializes in Psych, LTC, Acute Care.

I take the CPNE in Dec and as I prepare, The critical elements are all in my Clinical nursing skills book from LPN school. The steps are all the standards of practice. EC is not sitting around making up ways to make it harder for its students. These are all the things I learned to do in LPN school but they make sure that you know the process. Even in clinicals, we had to check off with our instructor step by step the way it should be done according to the nursing standards.EC allows grids, we couldn't use grids in Nursing school. If one learns all the CE to the assessments and labs, there is no doubt that they will be one of the top nurses in the country. I am encouraged to do my best. I owe that to myself and the future patients that I will be taking care of.

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Specializes in Uromycetisis Poisoning.
Passing rate for what? NCLEX? Last I heard it was 99%.

Pass rates obtained from NCSBN:

Excelsior College, 2003-2006: 89.56%

Georgia Schools of Nursing Grads, 2003-2006: 87.42%

U.S. National Average, 2003-2007: 86.48%

Foreign Graduates, Initial Attempt, 2007: 52.0%

Foreign Graduates, 2nd Attempt, 2007: 25.7%

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Specializes in ER, PEDS, MED-SURG, GERI, SURGERY, OFFIC.

boy,

who's the unprofessional one. i think you're the one giving opinions! i told my experience, just because you dont agree with it doesnt mean its not true. i'm happy you passed, but that doesnt mean that i didnt know what i was doing. (judgmental on your part!) sounds like you are the one biased. the acutal passal rate on the cpne is 68%. that's pretty low. i just wanted to share my experience. you can share yours so can i. you have no idea what kind of experience i have so before you imply that i really didnt know what i was doing, think again! i have worked in a level I trauma center, med-surg, pediatrics, oncology, geriatrics, and surgery. i have had all high reviews from my peers and managers. just so you know just because you are an rn doesnt mean that you are any smarter than an lpn. they did close columbus down. there wasnt a high enough passage rate. thanks for all your wonderful comments though. if you dont want other peoples opinion , good or bad, dont read anything off this site.

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Specializes in LTC, case mgmt, agency.

]I passed the CPNE on my first try with no repeats. I did not take any workshops either. ( because it was too much :twocents: and then because I took a cancellation date ) The CPNE is a doable exam. There are some things about EC I did not like, but then again, there were even more thing to love about it.

]Like BBFRN said before:

]The thing to know about the CPNE, is that it strictly follows the ANA Scope & Standards of Practice, as well as their Code of Ethics. These are things we should have strong knowledge of in our daily practice, and should be following, anyway. I know the key for me when I moved from LPN to RN, was in knowing why these things were important. The CPNE is not just designed to test you on task knowledge. It's also designed to determine whether you are able to practice within the standards set for the profession, and whether you are able to establish a plan of care for your patients, based on what you know about them and their particular condition.

]Frankly for me, overall: I :redbeathe Excelsior College. I would not be a RN right now otherwise.:D

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boy,

who's the unprofessional one. i think you're the one giving opinions! i told my experience, just because you dont agree with it doesnt mean its not true. i'm happy you passed, but that doesnt mean that i didnt know what i was doing. (judgmental on your part!) sounds like you are the one biased. the acutal passal rate on the cpne is 68%. that's pretty low. i just wanted to share my experience. you can share yours so can i. you have no idea what kind of experience i have so before you imply that i really didnt know what i was doing, think again! i have worked in a level I trauma center, med-surg, pediatrics, oncology, geriatrics, and surgery. i have had all high reviews from my peers and managers. just so you know just because you are an rn doesnt mean that you are any smarter than an lpn. they did close columbus down. there wasnt a high enough passage rate. thanks for all your wonderful comments though. if you dont want other peoples opinion , good or bad, dont read anything off this site.

I'm sorry, were we not supposed to respond? Many of us here have been down the EC road too, and the vast majority of opinions are consistent with those of the majority of the posters here.

Concerning the pass rate (what is a passal rate?), I'm glad it isn't a cake walk. I want people who are not safe nurses to have to do it again until they get it right. There are ample opportunities to redo the PCS's in each CPNE. So if you fail, you have had something like five or six chances to get three of them right. So it is either 50% to pass or 60% if my math is right. If you can't get 50% or 60%, then you need not to be a graduate of a college that is a "Center of Excellence in Nursing Education."

Sorry, Charlie, but that's reality. Hope you aren't offended by the spirited debate you began here. Now, if you were looking for sympathy and support, you'd get that too, but you'd have to go about getting it in a very different way than the posts you have written in this thread.....

:wink2:

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I'm glad it isn't a cake walk. I want people who are not safe nurses to have to do it again until they get it right. There are ample opportunities to redo the PCS's in each CPNE.

:wink2:

Hey! I failed the first time! And I'm safe. It just wasn't FAIR! NO FAIR! NEENER NEENER BOO BOO!

;)

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

did you prepare for this exam? because just being a nurse for 8 years wont cut it but of course it does help. one thing i have learned is that these things you describe as "trivial and petty" often turn into large and big issues . it is so easy to blame others for our own faults. you could have been a rn if you would have just re-tested....

i have taken the excelsior road. it was horrible. i passed all my exams but the cpne. i took it in columbus ohio. i have been a nurse for 8 yrs before that. i worked in acute care settings. the things they failed me for were trivial and petty. the stress is unbelievable. the first thing they said to me after failing was "are you going to come back again??" i guess they need more money. i have not gone back to retake. i dont know that i want to spend that much money. i have had 5 other friends do the program and all had the same experience. none of them passed cpne. they even went to new york. they even took the practice that was available for the cpne (workshop) i dont recommend excelsior. the testing site is now closed in columbus, but it stinks now i need 4 more classes (repeating) since its been 2 years. indiana state will accept all my credits though. that doesnt seem fair. its ok for one not the other. $$$$$$. just telling you my experience
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