Excelsior College

[VictoriaG]

My daughter was just discharged from the Navy where she was a hospital corpsman and EMT. Before she enlisted, she had most of her pre-reqs for nursing school completed, and is now considering getting her ADN through Excelsior. Are there any of you out there who have gone that route and passed the N-CLEX?

It seems pretty daunting to me.

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

Is Excelsior the home study school? If so, she will miss a LOT by not being in class. She may think she knows the clinical stuff due to her experience, but as a scrub tech who became an RN, I will tell you she has not learned what the NCLEX people want you to know. There is no substitute for a GOOD nursing school.

[christianRN]

I went through Excelsior, and passed boards first time around, BUT I was working full-time as an LPN in an acute setting. I don;t think I would have been able to maybe even do well on the class part, much less the clinical or boards, had I not been working as a nurse in the field. I don't know what her exact experience is, but I would suggest checking into local programs, where she'll get hands on clinicals that (hopefully) correlates with the bookwork she'll be doing.

[Doodleit]

Can anyone who has gone though Excelsior college or is going through it now, tell me how long it takes if you have all your prereq. and how hard is the CPNE test. I heard it depends on the state you take the CPNE how hard it can be! Any answers would help me make this BIG decision. Thanks!!!

[Love-A-Nurse]

originally posted by doodleit

can anyone who has gone though excelsior college or is going through it now, tell me how long it takes if you have all your prereq. and how hard is the cpne test. i heard it depends on the state you take the cpne how hard it can be! any answers would help me make this big decision. thanks!!!

i don't feel any one can give you a specific length of time you will finish, but one can give you a time frame window of how long it may or may not take in comparison to the time it took them or not. i do know personally one lpn who had all of her pre-reqs and it took her one year to complete the nursing classes (exams), take the cpne and pass rn boards the first time around.

it is a self pace option to obtaining your degree. you will determine how long or not it will take for you.

all the best to you!

[Debbs]

I am an Excelsior Graduate. While working as an LPN full time, I completed the course in less than 2 years and finished the CPNE first time around. The stress level was very high. Approximately 50% of those in my group failed, although I did see and EMT pass it. The key is to MEMORIZE everything in the CPNE handbook and the recommended book on nursing diagnosis. Common sense won't make much difference, ROTE MEMORIZATION SEEMS TO BE WHAT THEY WANT. Also, I recommend taking most prerequesite courses prior to enrolling, it might save another year's enrollment fees. I had to wait 9 months to take the CPNE and it cost me another year of enrollment fees! I found the cost to be reasonable, as I paid for one course at a time. I hope this helps!