How long would EC take me?

traumahawk99 · May 27, 2006

if you hustle, you can do it all in about a year. there are a lot of variables. i'd suggest you license in minnesota first, and get endorsement to wherever you're going. that will cut your time quite a bit.

i'm assuming you're a paramedic or lpn, and are a reasonably good test taker who studies hard. you're not going to do it in 6 months, if that's what you're thinking.

you can take nc 1-7 pretty much as quickly as you can schedule them with pearson.

Jo Dirt · May 27, 2006

Actually, I hustled, sometimes took two classes/tests a month, but with the mandatory waits with Excelsior (4-6 month wait to take the CPNE, then it can be several months to wait for your graduation date so you can apply to take the NCLEX) it is a safe bet to say you can expect it to last at least a year and a half and probably longer.

That is what drove me crazy about excelsior. I was like a race car on blocks with my engine racing and tires spinning but nowhere to go.

But as bad as I hated it I waited it out and it is over now. Just remember, there is no short cut to anything worth doing.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · May 27, 2006

The important thing is to use your time wisely. The wait time for the CPNE is well-known, but it can be used to do some productive things:

- Prepare for the CPNE

- Begin thinking about the NCLEX

- Begin to scope out job prospects in your area

- Take a little trip, if your situation allows it

In addition, there are ways to decrease the CPNE wait in some cases, by requesting cancellation dates, for example.

traumahawk99 · May 27, 2006

i enrolled in ec at the end of august 2005. i just passed nclex, and i had to take the cpne twice (ouch!). so it's possible to do it a bit more quickly, but you've got to really be ready to get aggressive with taking cancellation dates. i went without a life. i would plan on a year and a half, like motorcycle mama is telling you. now, i started ec with all my prereqs done. the only thing i had to do other than the nc exams and the cpne was information literacy, which i did at my community college via a challenge exam (this is a joke, but seems like every school requires it now). i went to paramedic school specifically to do excelsior, so i really took longer than the dates seem, since i was studying for the ec exams during paramedic school.

if you live in a state that will give endorsement without a transcript, you can go through minnesota first, since they're super fast, and only require a certificate of completion from excelsior... nothing else. then endorse into your state. endorsement is typically much faster than original licensure and this little dance will save you a month or even two.

i think a year and a half for everything is very realistic if you're a good student.

and i'm really glad i went to medic school. i did a tremendous amount of extra study on cardiology, and i had a fantastic instructor who taught me vastly more about cardiology than a paramedic license requires. i worked 3 months as a medic. i worked several codes, including a 28 day old sids death. i worked a lot of myocardial infarcts as well as a lot of traumas, strokes, etc. this was with real patients, not in a supervised clinical setting. i did a lot more than you'd ever get to do in nursing clinicals.

all of this was augmented by ec's training, which was simply fantastic, in all respects. so now i'm both a medic and a nurse, in less than 2 years. like eric is telling you, use your time wisely.

new york city, here i come!

sonchi · May 27, 2006

Thanks. It seems the wait for CPNE is a time to wait for a spot for the exam, not necessarily EC require a long wait, right? Is it easy to get cancellation spots?

How long does it take to get a date for NCLEX after I apply?

As for licensing, traumahawk99, you wrote "if you live in a state that will give endorsement without a transcript, you can go through minnesota first, since they're super fast, and only require a certificate of completion from excelsior... nothing else". I do not quite undersand the process of licensing. Do you mean, minnesota gets you to a date to take the exam faster than other state, or, is it that after the exam, I would get the license faster? What more things do other states usually require besides a certificate of completion?

When you say "if you live in a state that will give endorsement without a transcript", do you mean a transcript from EC or from NCLEX? Sorry, I am not familiar with the whole thing at all?

In addition, I looked into NC 1 and 2 Content Guide - there are a lot of readings to do? Can someone read books other than those recommended? Are the tests closely related to the books or just things expected for NCLEX? Are the tests at similar levels as those Sample Questions in the Content Guide?

Again, thanks.

traumahawk99 · May 28, 2006

to get cancellation spots, i called the regional center and asked. make sure you're on the cancellation list. it took me about 10 days to sit for the nclex once i was cleared for graduation. yes, minnesota is fast, much faster than any other state. it doesn't require a transcript or background check. once you've got a license from minnesota, which will put you on nursys that very day, you can endorse to another state. typically, endorsing is much faster than starting from scratch.

for example, let's say i want to work in tennessee.. if i go through minnesota first, then i can endorse to tennessee in a few weeks for a temporary work permit while they're processing the license. maybe the whole thing would take a month. if i went through tennessee initially, i might be 2 months out before i can work. it pays to go through minnesota.

you've got to study for ec. it's work, period. i'd buy used books from ebay, and i'd pay for excelsior's practice exams. i wouldn't worry about any other study materials. the tests cover the material on the practice guides. the questions are different for every student, drawn from a large database. you can't bluff your way through.

if you live in a state that requires a transcript, that'll slow you down. that's a transcript from excelsior.

once you get started on the pathway, you'll figure it out as you go along. main thing is to get started and study hard. good luck.

sonchi · May 28, 2006

thanks, traumahawk99, I know it better now. my state does require a transcript and also a background check for both exam and endorsement.

it seems it would still be faster with a requirement for transcript- maybe I can send it beforehand to make it a little faster.

is the background check thing the main speed limitation step? it seems to me otherwise this state is fast enough, as stated in their FAQs.