How prepared did you feel?

[nolanurse88]

Hi, I'm currently an LPN with about 1.5 yrs experience and I've been looking into excelsior's bridge program but have doubts about it preparing me enough. My goal is to work in acute/critical care areas in the hospital once I obtain my RN. My question is do others who have graduated and landed jobs in these areas feel like they were prepared enough or would you recommend going to an actually face to face school with weekly clinicals? Thanks.

[BlessedRN18]

I don't think I've ever seen that, not even with a BSN they let you work in critical care without having experience. they first put you in med surg, cardiac floors and Ect.... You need to be very comfortable with the crash car and emergencies that happen many times a day. Good luck with that!

[BlessedRN18]

You will never be prepared for those moments as a new nurse, it doesn't matter how many hours clinical you had in school.. I remember before I graduated as a LPN I used to work in a hospital and it took some time before they put the RNs in CCU/ICU.. They floated a number of times in every floor, as well as ER.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Any time the doctor orders these on our unit is to check the patients thoracic fluid content but they can check many other things almost like an ECG, but I had no idea the first time I seen it ordered. It taught me that I will never be that rude if asked a question about something they didn't know.

Seems to me like this is doctor/unit/facility-specific as in order sets. This has nothing to do with nursing school education. It really erks me to see or hear about those nurses who eagerly accept the job of preceptor for the sole purpose of making others feel inferior. This is an attempt to hide their own short-comings! The term escapes me at the moment, but I read about this in an abnormal psychology class in which a person devotes all their energies in something they're good at in order to avoid facing other personal or professional issues that they find challenging.

Anyway, do not allow that individual to fill you with self-doubt and feelings of inferiority. Unfortunately, people like that tend to be unhappy in other areas in their lives and cling to the one thing they're good at. Attending Excelsior College, or any other college, broadens your knowledge base, but neither will give you all you need to know to feel confident as a registered nurse. The purpose is to prepare you to function at ENTRY LEVEL. The NCLEX will test you to see if you've learned well and if so, license you to enter the doors into a world where your fellow colleagues will help you to begin the transition into a career-long learning experience. Should you EVER stop learning new things in nursing, that's the time for you to leave BEFORE you hurt someone.