QTMedic4life

hehe I was a Navy Corpsman, now I am an Army Medic. Congrats Oorah and Hooah for the Army guy up there. :) CONGRATSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Keep studying and Congrats. I can't wait to see you have that RN. I am ready for your signature change

I am back in Cali and the hospitals actually really enjoy Ec grads. They even support you in getting your licensed endorsed in (since it's on a case by case basis) if you have had experience with the RN license elsewhere. I have spoken with multiple nursing recruiters here and Reno as well as the military locations near by with no problems and lots of support. Just my

Are there things to do around city? Yes there are tons of things to do in the cities places to go. I wasn't at Landstuhl but i had great fun. There are castles and tons of entertainment that's cheap. Get your traveling passport which is different before your Military passport. How's the weather? It's hella cold. I know there will be a lot of injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan so maybe a lot of critical care cases. Was it stressful? it can be stressful at every military facility depending on what area you work in. Did you feel lost? sort of lost at first but people help you. Did people help you? Are the native people there friendly? yes, very as long as you try to learn their language and follow their rules. do they speak English? for the most part. Do I have to learn how to speak German or is English good enough? You don't have to but it's highly recomendded. Is housing easily available and is it affordable? How about the cost of living there? I know the Euro is more than the American dollar. Will I have enough time to travel through Europe while working as an Army nurse?Yeppers How about a car? you should get one when you get there andd make sure it's American Speced Do I need to buy a car? you should a little off topic, but are Mercedes or BMW's cheaper there? yes, it's a great thing too./ Is there anything else that I should know? have fun, relax, and welcome to the military. You are going to have a ton of new experiences adn special relationships and bonds that no civilian will ever understand. Anything that I need to steer clear of? the list of places they tell you not to go is a good start. Shopping too much, and all the guys who want to marry you the day after they meet you.

I will have to agree that drill is chill. I am normally two or three people's sponsor for their first drill weekend. All you do is inprocess usually on day one and day two it's pretty much more paperwork and uniforms ordered etc etc. We show our soldiers around and figure out where they are supposed to be for the remaining portion of drill weekend. Sometimes recruiters come and sometimes they don't. Recruiters offer great entertainment because I will admit before you get an assignment you are pretty bored. I take homework and I have like four or five assignments. So like I said it's pretty chill at drill weekend. Relax have fun and get to know your troops. ~Azi J

I am extremely frustrated by the situation as well, but I found my way around it. It is mildly retarded, but i am willing to make things work to my advantage if the state of CA wants to act like mental midgets. IF I ever return to CA it will be to take care of my parents or something else that will hopefully be temporary(crosses fingers). So I have two options of surviving without going postal. 1. Option getting my ECE degree and then working in another state( I live elsewhere now), but then i could challenge the PN because of how much experience i have and then do a 1 year pn to rn program so i can "make up clinical hours" that are needed. Which would mean a pay cut, but i am only considering options as ECE is right for me. I am the kind of person who glances at a page of a book and can recite random information regarding it. I retain too much information and get bored in college classes and more often than not test out of them. 2. I can work at a VA hospital or military hospital as a civilian nurse. It is hard to land that job but i am a reservist and will be a veteran for the rest of my life.... so I have a leg up. Those jobs are hard to get but not impossible. They look at experience and who you know who can get you in. It's not hard to get to know people in that environment who can get you in if you 'volunterr' or ask for 'training' as they are for the most part teaching hospitals. Just info. CA sucks, I hate it but i love it too.. Dumb love hate relationship going on there. Just my 2 cents. ~AJ~

I will email them and ask them again. I called and spoke to a few people on the phone just to make sure I wasn't getting any mis information. If you endorse into WA you will not have to do the preceptorship and they will allow you to do that if you are a medic or anything else. I as a medic am going to be sitting for my NCLEX in Idaho and then endorsing into WA. Like I said I have verified multiple times via the telephone that that is acceptable as they only verify with the state you are coming from not from the school or anything else. I also called CA and they have maintained the fact that they are NOT working with ECE. That came from the board I will email her so I can get it in writing as well, but they stated via the telephone four weeks ago that there has been no change since the board one the appeals case. I will follow up soon. ~Azari~

One of the other girls on here finished the program in 9 months. It took her 5 months of waiting on the CPNE. I will be trying to do something similar. I will be open for all test dates anywhere in the country and have saved money to be able to pay everything really fast so that I can be done. I won't get to enroll until october thouh. I have taken the practice test for the first class without studying and got a 75% and they say that as long as you get a 70% or better you will be able to pass the actual exam. I made myself a schedule for when I start and follow that. Scheduling my exams as soon as I pay for them so that I can have them already on my calendar. I am hoping to be done with all 7 exams in 2months and 1 week then having my cpne within 3 months. So that I can graduate in their graduation in July of 2008 even though I am not starting until October. My apologies for my long drawn out rant. It's too early. ~Azi~

Ummm sorry to inform you but Washington state will let you get your license there as a non-lpn ece grad. That came from the WA board of nursing and I am living in WA and have applied to go to ECE. Just an FYI. And CA will NOT allow you to obtain licensure there at all. Like not as an LPN or Medic or anything No endorsing. Nothing. Check with the board not the school.

I haven't done it, but if you just get advance standing and don't get to challenge the course I would ummm not do it as I want that RN and I want to graduate. I also like the option of being able to travel outside of CA, that is in part because I am not a fan of Cali... So that was my honest opinion. ~Azi~ 28 more days and I am back to WA from CA... Home is where the heart is and I miss them both.

I am working at this now DC+ I am living in Spokane when I am home (In Cali visiting my mom now) but then I will be doing it. Being in Spokane I am going to get my Idaho license first and then work in Idaho and endorse in. Want to talk more about it PM me. ~Azari~

I say if you don't have a plan on moving to California ECE is the way to go. I would be 100% no doubt in my mind doing ECE if I didn't have the potential risk of moving back to California. So that is my $.02 take what you want and leave the rest. ~Azari~

Ok so I have my Military medic training and keep playing with the idea of getting my RN through Excelsior. I mean that program would work great for me and the biggest part of my process will be waiting for the CPNE. However, I am originally from California though currently I claim my home as Washington state. I love it here and don't exactly plan on moving to California, it's a nice place to visit but it's too crowded for living. My parents both live in california and love it though so there is always the whole need to come back and take care of them so I worry about getting my RN through excelsior. Then I took a look at the requirements for challenging things. I found that if I had to come back I could work at a VA hospital the pay isn't as much as an RN but it still pays and as soon as I have fifty one months of experience I can challenge the LVN for the state and then do a quick little LVN to RN program assuming I take my Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology at a community college in Washington instead of through Excelsior. OR in some cases I would need to retake my Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology because of time limits. Which is still not a big deal. So I am going to go for it and since my parents will always live in California I will worry about that license if I ever decide to move back and challenge the LVN ect. I hope that helps someone else to decide what they want to do. Some people just don't have the time and money to do other programs so excelsior is a great option for them. A temporary pay cut could be worth the getting it done now that comes with Excelsior!! ~Azari~:imbar

Ok so I have a stupid question.... I am definetly good with the stupid questions. But here it goes. Can I get my CRNA but still work as just an RN, or like work in a second hospital as an RN. I am working on my RN, but considered working on getting my CRNA a few years down the road. However, I know I love being in the Nicu and would like to work there a bit because I love that environment and would wish to do that part-time still if I got my CRNA. Thanks for any information. I tried searching but couldn't find any information on the topic. Thanks Again. ~Azari~

I am in the process of getting my AAS in Acounting so most of my general ed is done through the college here. I am taking info literacy, and a&P as well as microbiology with them as i find that is the quickest, most efficient way. I will be taking a full microbio as well as a & p class later when i graduate for my RN to BSN program, but i think it will help, be more like a refresher and won't be as hard that way. IMHO i think ece is great, but for the gen ed use a community college because some of the state colleges i found won't except the ece for credit more or less, they just grant me the rn credit because i will be licensed. that is all from me though. ~Jasmine~

There is another wa bon post, if i can find the link i will post it, but try finding it. I don't want to quote it cause I am not exactly sure off the top of my head what it says, but when i find it i will post it for you. ~Jasmine~

I will be starting this fall, but it is only gonna take me til 2010 cause I am double majoring in accounting. I have quiet a few pre-reqs done so let me know if you need help or just wanna chat. Don't get discouraged!!! ~J~

I am not a big fan of the less than helpful staff of UNLV but I had to bite the bullet and am now attending UNLV as a double major in nursing and accounting. If you want to study and might possibly wanna take a class or two with me let me know. I am taking math and my accounting class this summer as well as an information systems class. Fall I am taking NURS 299, Anatomy & Physiology I. I am planning to do like 3/4 of my accounting major while concurrently getting myself put on the waiting list of the nursing program so I can complete both degrees at the same time.... WEll send me a pm if you wanna talk or anything... ~J~

I don't work at Summerlin Hospital, but I am attempting to gain employment with them. They are a wonderful hospital, the most expensive hospital as well. It is a great town and a tons of entertainment. Let me know if you want some specific information and I will see what i can do. ~J~

Hi All I am in Las Vegas and I am just getting started. I have a goal of just over a year to finish this. I am currently in a financial bind that is stopping me but I have found a way around it and will carry on. I am just starting to study for the Anatomy and Physiology. If you wanna study let me know. From there I am doing: Microbiology, Pathophysiology, Information Literacy, NC 1, and NC 2... I should be gettin those done about the beginning or mid august and then I am off to training for 91w in the Army reserves for 4 months then I should be back around November or December and I wanna finish to Graduate in July. I am going to have plenty of down time in training to study for my NCs just gonna be unable to take them until I get back to Nevada cause my "school hours" interfer with that plus i have to have my AATRS transcripts from the Army to be able to enroll. I have already talked with the Offices at Excelsior and found that I am more than eligible to enroll with just my medic license but i have to take my Natinal Registry for that and Imma wait on that until after I finish the training. Anyway if you wanna study with me or chat or something let me know. ~J~

Hey ya'll so I was lookin' at excelsior and was wondering if any of you know whethere or not a 3credit univeristy intro to information systems would work for the information literacy area. I know I should ask them and plan on calling them tomorrow morning, but I am trying to get some information on that so i can plan how much i have to do and how long. My goal is july 2007 grad so i can take part in the commencement ceremony, but i dunno if it will work. So any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in Advance, Jasmine

In about a month I am going to start recording the "required readings" I will email them to you all if you want..... maybe sooner than that i just have to get the books and then I can email or mail them on cd in a car friendly file type or email as mp3s and you can change them into whatever you need. Let me know and I will get that done. And if you are already on like nc 3 or 4 let me know. I am not taking those until next year but i can still get started and read them since I am currently stuck at home sorta disabled... lots of time in bed which means I can't finish the training i need to enroll in ec because i can't walk, stand, etc. anyway back to topic I will put that stuff together for you guys as soon as I get some money to buy books. ~J~

Hey all I am just getting started with the Excelsior and was looking for people who will be going through this with me.... I gave myself a time line of up to August 2007, but would prefer to be done sooner than that. I am not actually enrolling until like december because of financial issues, but I am going to be doing the following classes in the meantime: Microbiology, Anatomy & Physiology, Pathophysiology (not required but recommended and my friends found it masses useful when it came to later doing another program.... helps with understanding) NC 1 and NC 2..... that is all on my this years todo list and I am clepping out of Analyzing/Interpreting Literature, College Algebra, and Human Growth and Development. Thanks a ton and you can PM me or let me know here. Mass Apprecionado. ~J~

:::: have the templates for the care plans & meds, saved all my care plans, wish I had saved all my meds, too. The care plans have saved me a TON of time, seriously, we know the interventions, and how many times do you need to type out risk of constipation r/t medications? Cut and paste is wonderful. I also agree with lots of liquor, just be careful, you dont want to add 'ineffective coping' to your own personal care plan. :rotfl: 62 days to Graduation..... Great advice on this thread, by the way.::: I am going to make a program with a drop down menu or the kind where you just click the little box.... God I love my computer and having tons of free time while knowing how to make programs and stuff!! If any of you have the templates for care plans or med sheets that you use can you please pm me cause I would LOVE a copy of the different kinds as I am new to nursing but want to start my program so it will be useful and i can convert it to PDA format when I am done with my nursing studies. Thanks a ton ~J~