Pacing Guides

Caffeine_IV · Oct 22, 2014

If you fail the OA, they will require you to do some of the course of study as remediation before allowing you to retake.

I take the practice assessment cold and then study my weak areas or if I score well enough, I will just schedule my final OA.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2014

I am curious if anyone actually uses the pacing guides?

Personally, I have never used the suggested pacing guides. I just take the preassessment and use the results to direct my studying for the objective assessment.

benegesserit · Oct 22, 2014

I believe your mentor has to approve your request to test, and this usually requires passing (or at least being close to passing) the preassessment. Sometimes they go through and approve everything ahead of time, in which case someone might be able to go directly to the OA without doing the preassessment. But the preassessment is a good idea so you know if it's a good idea to go ahead and test, or if you should study more first.

Generally, mentors will approve you to take the OA as soon as you pass the preassessment. I've heard of people taking the preassessment, passing, and taking the OA immediately afterwards, finishing the course within a day. I've also heard of mentors who get uptight about it and insist on their students studying more, especially on the first few courses. Usually students who want to move faster request a new mentor if their mentor will not allow them to work at their desired pace.

2 weeks is definitely doable, especially if you have work experience with older adults. The people who have the most trouble with this class seem to be people who have worked in Peds or L&D forever.