do we NEED all these books? (excelsior)

[peedyER]

hi there,

do we really NEED all the books that excelsior requires for each of the nursing concepts?

that's a ton of books and a ton of reading thats required.

did any of you actually purchase or use the study guides that are "required"?

and did you read the 500 chapters that are required for each content guide? let me know what your stategies were, it would be of much help!!

thanks,

peedy

[willtm]

Hey Peedy,

I got A's on all 7 tests, I just finished the last one in March. I used Taylor for fundamentals (EC suggests Kozier), I used the med/surg book EC recommends, Saunders comprehensive review, a psych book (not the one EC suggests) a drug guide and a combined peds/ob book (not the one EC suggests). I did not buy or read the other books EC recommends. If you look at the required reading it's not always the entire chapter they want you to read, it specifies the section on XXXXX. Also, look at the content guide and see what EC wants you to know for each test and read those sections. I printed the notes from the yahoo groups (Lisa's notes) and read, comparing them, underling on the notes what I thought was most important and adding notes in the margin. Anything that gave me trouble and needed to be memorized I put on large index cards that I could easily take with me to review those things repeatedly.

Hope this helps, Tina:)

Some books I had, the others I bought from half.com

[GN1974]

I agree with Tina. You don't need all the books they recommend. Just get your basics--a med/surge, fundamentals, peds, ob, and psych. The Saunders review is also very helpful. I ordered my books from half.com as well. You don't always need the most current edition either. Some of the books, like Kozier, come with a cd with practice questions that are also helpful. I found the practice exams offered on the EC site to be a good indicator of what I needed to concentrate more on.

Best wishes,

Karen

[ryoung0302]

Hey just to let you klnow, I only bought study guides through chancellor's and had no problems with any of the test. So it is up to your knowledge base that you already have. I know alot of people in here are LVN's doing the transition, but I am an Medic from the military and it has not been that hard of a program for me. So it is really just up to you and what you already know.

[Jo Dirt]

No, it really isn't a very hard program. I knocked them out about as fast as I could pay for them, about two per month, with one repeat (NC5). Made B's on all but one of the tests, on NC 6 I made a C.

The only book I used was a Foundations of Nursing Practice by White. If I'd have been willing to spend more time I am certain I could have made A's, so it isn't that I made B's because I only used one book. It was a pretty good book.