First of all, Thank God for his help in getting through this test and
thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
Theme songs for this weekend:
Never Again by Kelly Clarkson (cause I was never going to take this
test again)
Gravity by John Mayer (cause I messed up the IV med station)
Anyhow to the details that everyone will ask about. I tested down in
Atlanta at SRMC. It was a good site and I had no real issues there.
The CA and CEs aren't out to trip you up and were very nice. Their job
is to make sure you know your stuff, nothing more nothing less. As
retarded as you might think this test is, Excelsior has to hold
everyone to a high standard inorder to maintain a good reputation as a
non-traditional nursing school.
I arrived a day early, which I would recommend so you can get oriented
to the area and find the hospital before you actually have to be
there. It was beneficial to me. I didn't stay in any of the
recommended hotels only because I am a loyal Marriott customer :) but
it wasn't too far from the site and I had a care.
Skills Stations: This was probably the most stressful part for me.
They were just like in the video, no surprises. I failed my first
station, IM injection for a stupid mistake. I had the dummie turned
around backwards and wasn't paying attention and gave the dummie a
spinal tap as opposed to an IM injection. Other than that I would have
passed. I also failed the IV med admin cause my drop rate was off by 7
and you're only allowed +/- 5 again just a stupid mistake. Don't let
others in the room distract you cause everyone is in their testing at
different stations at the same time. Just stay focused on your station
After that I got my first patient and was off to the hotel. This is
where the anxiety started for ME personally. I tend to replay things
in my head over and over again, which is what I did. I got about 4
hours of sleep that night, but woke up the next morning with
confidence that this was MY test, MY weekend, and I was going to pass
this thing.
I did PCS' 1 and 2 before I retested my skills and passed them both
with no problems. I am not going to speak about my patients or what I
did because each person's experience is different. I will say this,
don't waste time in the planning phase trying to get the "perfect"
diagnosis. Get something that will pass the phase and then get to your
patient. I changed a diagnosis on everyone of my patients based on
what I observed when I went into the room. Remember you can change
your ND at anytime. For example, if you walk in the room and the
patient says that I am in pain 10/10 well that just gives you your
Acute Pain diagnosis right there on a platter. Keep your care plans
SIMPLE, bottom line.
Anyhow, after PCS 1/2 I had to redo those skills. All or nothing.
Passed IV med with no problems. Injection station I had SQ insulin. I
messed up drawing up NPH first instead of regular, through the syringe
away and started over. Got it right and passed. At that point I knew I
was going to be OK.
PCS 3 was a breeze and I was done by 10am. All of my AOC were simple
assessments and managements. Most of the patients were on their way
out of the hospital.
Here are my suggestions.
1.Knock out the skills the first night, so you can concentrate on your
PCS' This was a stressor for me cause I had these lingering over my
head during PCS 1/2.
2.Read the CPNE guide. Nothing during this test should be a surprise
cause its all in the book. I know its a lot of info to digest, but its
all there which brings me to my next point.
3.TAKE A WORKSHOP. There are plenty out there. I took Lynn's workshop
Clinical Prep Exam because it was convenient to where i live. Before
I took the workshop, things just weren't clicking. Lynn was able to
put it all together for me and provided some great pneumonics for each
of the areas of care. I had NO repeats for my PCS' This is the ONLY
way I could have breezed through them so
4.Figure out a way to organize your plans. I felt like I was taking an
open book test because all I did was write out all of my pneumonics
for my AOCs and then just went through them checking them off as I
went. The most comfortable part of the test for me were the PCS' I
just focused on my AOCs and the patient and got it done.
5.Get in and get out. Take all of the stuff you need like vitals
machines, etc into the room when you go in. I went in and out of the
room like twice on all of my patients. Did all of my stuff, left to
get meds, back in, then done.
6.Review your paperwork at least 3 times before turning it in. I
almost handed in my paperwork without doing the entire eval page on PCS 2.
7.Relax. I joked with my patients, made them smile and feel good,
which in turned calmed me down as well. We all (me, CE, pt) got to
laughing at one point, which took the stress down.
This test isn't hard. I know you're like yeah right! I had no trouble
with my PCS' cause I knew what I had to do. If you know your stuff and
are comfortable with your skills you can do this. Remember its your
test and your weekend, make it happen.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Big thanks to Lynn and
Bev for all of their support and help. Best of luck to those of you
who will be taking this test in the future.
Take care,
Jack
