Sue was right about the not good feeling. It seems that most of us in Racine didn't pass. I was a casualty as well. I'm actually not upset or frustrated. I also know that my failure wasn't a measure of how good of a nurse I am or can be. I failed on Sunday, so I did get through the labs and passed one PCS. I did know my mnemonics, and the areas of care were pretty easy. It came down to things like ice. (That was my final PCS failure). The first one I failed because I missed initialing one med on the MAR, but I initialed all other meds. That was totally my mistake, but I would have caught that at some point if I had been working the floor rather than having spotty access to the chart. The second failure was because my apical pulse on an infant was off by 14. Ouch! Here's the thing, though. I had no idea we had a limit on how many times we could listen. I placed the steth on the baby twice but lost my count and verbalized it both times, which they counted as auscultating 4 times. (I verbalized this after about 30 seconds each time and definitely before a minute.) I made an educated guess on the apical because of that. The last PCS I failed was over ice. However, other things were going on that weren't my thing but were a distractor, but I messed it up, plain and simple.
The scary thing is that I could have passed, no doubt, but you just never know what you'll get, had it been different patients, different CEs, etc., etc. I was comfortable with all my AOC. It wasn't that. I also know that it would cost me the same amount of money to pay my continuation fee, the CPNE fee, the graduation fee, and the traveling/lodging fee to just do the local LPN-RN program. I don't feel like reapplying now for the CPNE. I haven't made that decision yet. I don't know if I will. It's not that I'm down about it--it's because I don't know if it's worth it. I made a lot of people's lives hell for this thing.
I also think this test can be passed without a workshop. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The patient for the PCS I did pass told me I'd make a really great nurse someday. Of course I couldn't interject and say I was indeed a nurse already (I'm an ECSN, for crying in the corn!), but I took it for what it was worth. :) I know I did decent nursing care on the patients. That really makes me happy about it all.
If I don't get an appeal, I am highly doubtful that my husband is going to be on board with paying that much money again, and I am with him. I think it hurts my case that he went to traditional RN school. He is pretty much not in favor of this "all or nothing" proposition that EC has going on in its testing structure, and it's difficult to convince him otherwise. He's supportive and would support me if I kicked and screamed that I wanted to pay a ton of money to do it again, but I don't know if I'd want to anyway. It's not because I'm a quitter; it's because it's not the right direction for my life now. Who knows--maybe in a month or so I'll really get a hankering to go back to the CPNE hellhole, but I want nothing to do with it. I want to finish reading my book I bought to read--for fun! I want to crochet and play with my kids and all that good stuff.
Apples, I wish you would reapply and retake it again. When I went to the CPNE, I said to myself, If I fail I would give it one more try. My friend went through the program with me and took the CPNE and failed a repeat lab and was sent home. She said it was a stressful experience but reapplied and got a date a month later. She went back and nailed it with no repeats. I bet if you reapply to Utica NY, you would get a date quick as lighthening. I found UTICA to be very encouraging and forgiving.(trust me, I was not perfect and still passed) dont sit on it. Get the courage and give it 1 more shot. My friend who failed just passed the board and I was so proud to look her up on the BON registry.Please give it another chance Apples. You deserve it for yourself and all your hard work.
They really do get upset about having to fail someone.
I didn't get that at ALL from my examiners. When the CA said something to the effect of, "When (name of CE) saw this, she almost started to cry," I would then look at the CE who had a halfway sympathetic look but nowhere indicative of what the CA was telling me. I don't think it's a very pleasant task for them to fail a student on a PCS, but I didn't have the feeling that they were that terribly upset over it. Heck, I definitely sensed that my first CE was annoyed with me during my PCS for whatever reason. She had been incredibly nice and pleasant the night before. The CA saying the CE was about to cry about my failure felt very fake to me.
Again, I could have been just on the cusp of failing the whole time. I'll never know. I didn't get feedback either way. When I asked about how I did on the rest of the PCS, specifically the documentation and care planning, I was told that once they find the point of failure that they don't have to check the rest of the PCS form, which I took to include giving any other feedback, considering no other feedback was offered up. I'm thinking that if they know you failed (like the CE saw you not sign out all the MARs or something), they can go right for that. I would have liked to know if there was something else I would have failed on, like if my care plan was no good, but they don't go that far.
Apples, I wish you would reapply and retake it again. When I went to the CPNE, I said to myself, If I fail I would give it one more try. My friend went through the program with me and took the CPNE and failed a repeat lab and was sent home. She said it was a stressful experience but reapplied and got a date a month later. She went back and nailed it with no repeats. I bet if you reapply to Utica NY, you would get a date quick as lighthening. I found UTICA to be very encouraging and forgiving.(trust me, I was not perfect and still passed) dont sit on it. Get the courage and give it 1 more shot. My friend who failed just passed the board and I was so proud to look her up on the BON registry.Please give it another chance Apples. You deserve it for yourself and all your hard work.
Thanks, NC Girl 35, but I don't know if I can get the rest of my family on board. My husband being a "traditionally schooled" RN really doesn't help. (He has a difficult time wrapping his mind around the "all-or-nothing" nature of the test, knowing that the things I failed on would not be something that would cause a problem in actual nursing practice, given the adequate opportunity and time to rectify what I failed on.) I need his support. He is very supportive, but I am taking thousands of dollars away from him, too. I also turned into a mini monster just preceding the test, which affected everyone here negatively.
*hugs* I am sorry you are in this situation. I would take a small break to relax and regroup, and then discuss it with the family again. I think this time will be different for you -- you know what to expect, it's not the great unknown, and it's not like you have to start your studies from scratch again. I really hope you try again. I know that's easy for me to say because I passed on my first try, but I (like NC Girl) had already made a deal with myself that if I failed, I would definitely try again. I know it's a financial whopper, though. Especially with the economy being so rough! But I'd had to see all your hard work and effort go by the wayside, in a manner of speaking.
Considering I could do the entire LPN-RN program at the local community college for what it would cost to do another CPNE, the continuation fee (if applicable), the graduation fee, the hotel with travel and eating, etc., it makes the decision much harder.
While doing the CPNE once makes me very aware of what it's like (expensive workshop, if nothing else!), that is part of what is scaring me away from it again. I failed on stuff that I could EASILY fail on again. I also don't know everything else that I did wrong, since they didn't tell me anything beyond the missed MAR entry, the apical pulse, and the I&O as my points of failure.
I'm thinking hard about this, but I am trying to consider everything in my decision. I'm certainly in no rush.
Did you start the appeal process? If nothing else you should get a free re-take, IMO.
We'll see what they say about the appeal! Ack. I don't know if I've ever heard of an appeal being granted, though. If I get a retake without penalty, I'd be back to take it without question.
I wrote a rough draft and am sitting on it a couple of days to edit it for the final product. I will let you know the progress.
There was someone on the EPN right around the time I passed who said she appealed and got to retest without payment/penalty, but she never did say what happened or reveal any details.
Definitely worth the effort if you are both successful in your appeal and pass. I say do a good job on your appeal. After all, all they can do is deny it and chances are that you might win your appeal. That's a lot of money you could be saving.
There was someone on the EPN right around the time I passed who said she appealed and got to retest without payment/penalty, but she never did say what happened or reveal any details.
Apples, I can understand how you are feeling. To be able to read a book for pleasure, and not to have your children looking at you with that please don't neglict me anymore face would be heaven. But maybe after a few weeks you will look at the situation and be more motivated than before to complete this program. I am not am LPN, but I see the ones I work with and they are awesome nurses and don't get the pay they deserve! Best wishes to you and I hope you do go back and become a GN!!!!
I would take a small break to relax and regroup, and then discuss it with the family again. I think this time will be different for you -- you know what to expect, it's not the great unknown, and it's not like you have to start your studies from scratch again. I really hope you try again. I know that's easy for me to say because I passed on my first try, but I (like NC Girl) had already made a deal with myself that if I failed, I would definitely try again. I know it's a financial whopper, though. Especially with the economy being so rough! But I'd had to see all your hard work and effort go by the wayside, in a manner of speaking.
Baloney Amputation, BSN, LPN, RN
1,130 Posts
The patient for the PCS I did pass told me I'd make a really great nurse someday. Of course I couldn't interject and say I was indeed a nurse already (I'm an ECSN, for crying in the corn!), but I took it for what it was worth. :) I know I did decent nursing care on the patients. That really makes me happy about it all.
If I don't get an appeal, I am highly doubtful that my husband is going to be on board with paying that much money again, and I am with him. I think it hurts my case that he went to traditional RN school. He is pretty much not in favor of this "all or nothing" proposition that EC has going on in its testing structure, and it's difficult to convince him otherwise. He's supportive and would support me if I kicked and screamed that I wanted to pay a ton of money to do it again, but I don't know if I'd want to anyway. It's not because I'm a quitter; it's because it's not the right direction for my life now. Who knows--maybe in a month or so I'll really get a hankering to go back to the CPNE hellhole, but I want nothing to do with it. I want to finish reading my book I bought to read--for fun! I want to crochet and play with my kids and all that good stuff.