I got the job!!!

[TammyJo]

I am sooo excited!!! I graduated from EC in the beginning of Aug. I passed the boards on 8/25. I had been working at a LTC facility forever and after passing boards didn't really go looking for another job. I did go to a job fair the hospital had and was told they do not hire anyone directly to first shift. You have to be hired on 2nd or 3rd shift and when a day shift job opens, you can bid on it. I can't work 2nd or 3rd because my kids are in almost every activity known to man. So anyways here I was still working at the LTC facility doing the same job I was doing before I became a RN. The only difference was I signed RN after my name and made more money. I was fairly happy with that though. Then one sunday, my coworker and I were looking through the Help wanted ads and saw one for a LTC facility that NEVER has ads in the paper. This place has like zero turnover. The listing was for a full time daylight supervisor. She talked me into applying for this job. I didn't really think I had a prayer of getting it, but she said what would it hurt to try. I applied and a few days later was called for an interview. I interviewed with the HR director and the DON. They asked alot of questions about Excelsior and how it works. They seemed very skeptical about the CPNE and said " you only had to do one weekend of clinicals?" I explained that only LPNs and paramedics (sorry if I forgot anyone else) could do this program and as far as the CPNE, it had to be done with 100% accuracy or you failed, had to pay another $1600 plus the wait time. When I explained it like that they were completely accepting of the program. :) I interview on a Tuesday. I asked when they would be making their decision. was told they had 6 other people to interview, and the decision would be made on friday or monday at the latest. Thursday morning I got the call offering me the job. I know this is a long post, but what I wanted to say was that Excelsior may not be the most traditional school in the world, but it worked for me. I was able to work full time as a LPN, study, take care of my family and husband after a major accident and still finish the program in just a little over 2 years. For everyone who is just starting, keep on it. You'll get done and when you do, it is sooooo worth it!!!!

[NaomieRN]

Congratulations on getting the job that you wanted. Good luck to you

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Congrats on the new position!

[Eager2bRN]

Congratulations! That's wonderful. Thanks for sharing your story.

[Lovely RN]

Congrats on the new job. Good luck.

[luv4nursing]

congratulations! way to go!

[Mudwoman]

Great story! Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the new job.

[rh39]

TammyJo,

Thank you for sharing your story. I am also an LPN who works in LTC. I just applied to Excelsior this month and am starting to study for exams. I have had niggling doubts about Excelsior vs. a traditional nursing program. Thoughts like, can I get through the courses without deadlines, and after all that will I get through the CPNE? What if I have trouble getting a job as an RN because of where I went to school? Will facilities question my clinical abilities, and more importantly will I?

There are several well known college RN programs very close to me. I was encouraged by 2 of my vocational instructors from my LPN program (1 an excelsior grad herself, the other with her masters in nursing) to go the Excelsior route. It is one of the main reasons I looked into it.

It's encouraging to hear of success stories with Excelsior, I think there are a lot more of them out there than we actually hear about.

Good luck with your new job.

Lisa:nuke:

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

That's awesome! Congratulations!

[CHATSDALE]

congrats on rn passing and on new job