How do you use EC guides to content?

Nursing Students Online Learning

Published

Hello all,

Im new to Excelsior and I was just looking for some direction as to how to get started. I have been reading up and am happy I learned NOT to sign up with a publishing company (a friend of mine did though), and if anything Ill pick up a guide here and there from Ebay.

When using the free guide to content for the various exams, how do you study them? I have printed out the guide for NC1, but it seems very general/broad.

Do you study the guide itself or do you look up and elaborate on each topic listed? What is the best way you have found to study for these tests? I plan to try to do one test a month. I work in peds home health on night shift so I have lots of downtime where I can study. thanks everyone and continued success to all you EC students/grads. :)

dbowen,

dont feel bad, it has happened to many many others. The only reason I knew better was bc Ive been researching this since before I even started LPN school. Ive been lucky and have picked up guides for like $25-50 bucks and even had someone send me copies of about 4-5 guides for $50 total! that covers paper/toner/shipping. One of my friends just signed up with College Network, and now she is moving to Cali. So she has to do it anyway since she is paying for it and she will have to later do the 30 unit deal which is extra clincal time so she can be licensed there. Even though I will never move to CA, I still thought there was no way those guides are worth over $400 each. In that case u could buy all the books off half.com, ebay,etc. and still come out cheaper than u would for even just one guide.

It is a ripoff. But we live and learn. Have a great day!

0 Votes

i've taken the first 6 exams. i'd advise you to buy the books they recommend. i think i bought all of the books used online, with the exception of a couple. i think i spend 600 or so in books, total. that's not much if you consider what you're spending on the whole program.

the content guides tend to be a bit general, but there's a lot of information covered on each exam. i'd look up anything mentioned in the content guide on the net (make sure you've got reliable sources like the cdc, or nonprofit foundations) unless i had a thorough understanding. i got a lot of questions right on the exams because i did just that. if you read something from three different sources, then you'll gain a thorough understanding of the concepts at hand.

so far, i've made 4 a's and 2 b's on the exams. i didn't buy anyone's content guide, etc. imo, the ONLY thing to spend money on is the books they recommend.

good luck. there is no shortcut to hard studying!

0 Votes

I bought every book EC recommended for each exam but found out later that I could have saved some money.

I passed nearly every exam (with an "A" or "B") with one book:

Mosby's NCLEX-RN Review book.

I don't think that book was more than $20.

It broke down the material into outline format and was much less cumbersome than the standard med/surg textbooks.

After I discovered using that book, I hardly ever opened my other textbooks except for instances when I needed more depth on something.

Good for all of you who help to spread the word on those vultures (College Network,etc.) and to stay away from them before your RN degree ends up costing you thousands more than it needs to.

0 Votes
Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Peds, LDRP.
I bought every book EC recommended for each exam but found out later that I could have saved some money.

I passed nearly every exam (with an "A" or "B") with one book:

Mosby's NCLEX-RN Review book.

I don't think that book was more than $20.

It broke down the material into outline format and was much less cumbersome than the standard med/surg textbooks.

After I discovered using that book, I hardly ever opened my other textbooks except for instances when I needed more depth on something.

Good for all of you who help to spread the word on those vultures (College Network,etc.) and to stay away from them before your RN degree ends up costing you thousands more than it needs to.

I know what u mean! When I was studying for LPN boards I used Saunders Comprehensive Review book and I was like WOW I wish I had this in school! Im gonna buy the one for RN and use that as well. good advice :)

I did get the study guides but not thru the publishing company. I got a few on ebay and then I found a very gracious person who copied the rest for me for basically the cost of paper/toner/shipping. I ordered the med/surg and fundamentals books on half.com for about $3 each! It was the edition before the newest one. Not bad! they never change much at all but mark the prices way up! so its to your advantage to buy an older edition of the book (although I try to get it as new as possible). I think I am pretty much good to go!

0 Votes

Hi All-

I am alittle slow so can you answer a question for me?

I just got a "B" on NC1 and am starting NC2, Before when I studied, I would look at the Reading Assignment section and read those chapters, beginning to end:crying2: , so are you all saying just use those chapters as a reference and find the info needed to learn the content guide?

I need some quick info because the next chapter I am due to read is 275 pages:rotfl:

Any help appreciated

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment