vonsay

Thanks a lot! I think that I'll take the advice and always use the practice exams. I certainly don't want to fail and have to wait 6 months to retake anything!

How do you get the practice tests? are they on the excelsior website? How much do they costs?

3pm to 11:30pm

If you cannot get federal financial aid for excelsior college. Can you defer old student loans? I know that you can defer loans if you are more than a half time student. But since things at excelsior are not set up as credit hours then how does this work?

Well I'm pretty ****** off because I am one of the "suckers" who have signed up with TCN. I thought everything was kool because I thought that the study guides were basically all that I needed. So they are not?? I haven't taken any of the tests yet and am currently study psychology. So are you guys telling me that I need to get more study books? TCN's guide wont be enough? How am I suppose to test myself before I take an exam so I won't screw up? How do I get the information for excelsiors recommended books? Is there any way to get out of my contract with TCN? They have already sent all of my books!

I totally understand how you feel. I received my license in May and started working in June. Everyday that I went in to to work I would tell myself that it would be my last day there. I was so stressed and so confused about half and what I was being taught. I had never seen so much paperwork in my life and the preceptors were not good teachers either. After about a month things began to get a little better, at two months I was still confused about some things but still it got even better. It DOES get better trust me! I think what messes up a lot of new nurses it that we don't really know what we are getting ourselves into while we are in school. So reality slaps us in the face once we get into the "real" world and boy is that a big giant slap! So through the grieving process of coming to grips with "reality" it becomes very difficult. It will get better! I tell myself this everyday.... It also helps a great amount to get a shift that your body works with. When I was on days I was a mess. I absolutely hate getting up early and takes me hours to finally "wake" up in the morning. I started my shift at 7 and wasn't really with it until about 9. Now I am on afternoons which are really good for my biological clock. So I am now alert and oriented x 3 for the whole day! LOL

There is no way that they can pin something on you if you were not working that day. Try not to worry about that! The proof is in the fact that you did not clock in that day. The protocol for some facilities is that you keep with the normal schedule for BID (in this case it may be 7 - 7 in your facility). So if the order didn't come through until 1pm, you had no choice but to either give it at 7pm or call doc and get a stat order x 1. I am a new nurse as well and I'm telling you that a lot of (not so good) places will ALWAYS try to pin any mistakes on the new nurse! Do not let this discourage you! Cover your #ss at all cost and write down EVERYTHING! If you chart, chart, chart thoroughly then you have your proof. Another thing, we are constantly bombarded with the threat that you will lose your license for anything. Make sure that you know the rules and regulations for your state. This will give you the confidence to know if it will be a "license" threat or just a "job" threat in the case of an error. Trust me you'd rather lose the job then your license so know the difference by knowing the rules and regulations.

Hello all, I am enrolled in college network and have been sent all of my books, materials etc. The problem is that I kinda jumped in while I was still in LPN school and wasn't working. So now I am like 4 months behind on my college network tuition payments ( I pay as I go through one of the credit unions that they offer). They are threatening to send my loan to collections. I was wondering if that does happens before I am able to pay it, will that affect my being able to enroll into excelsior? Do I need to take my 5 clep prereqs before I can enroll and is it another way to go about it? Yes I am going to pay them asap because I have just started working. But it may be too late if they send me to collections. I want to call and discuss this with them but I know that they are going to say "yes your chances will be ruined" because they want me to hurry up and send the money. Thanks for any input.

Well I guess I better stop complaining. I took my boards yesterday and got a lot of SATA and priority (like 25 to 30 of them) and computer shut off at 85. I don't think I did all that well and was praying that the test kept going to give me a chance to reprieve myself just in case I was doing bad. When it shut off I about went crazy!! Everything seemed like a blur while I was taking the test. Almost like I really wasn't there but dreaming instead. Here in Illiniois we can get quick results in 48 hours. So I only have to wait until tomorrow. They should do that for all states because a person can literally go crazy waiting for those results. Vonsay

Well I read the book like crazy. And I did the CD until my eyes became sore. I think I studied out of that book more than any other. The book is good but the CD can be frustrating. Although they claim it is 3000 questions, I kept getting the same ones over and over. I took my Nclex yesterday and I don't think I passed it. I can rattle off diseases and all kinds of content like crazy. But I wasn't prepared for the many many priority questions that I kept getting. I only got 1 math and 3 med questions. I will know the results tomorrow. Back to the book, it is useful and I really like the cram sheet in the front of the book and took it everywhere with me. I just seems that I had a hard test that didn't have much exam cram content.

So did you get the job right after school or were you experienced?

Yes, that makes perfect sense. I guess I wouldn't want to be in a situation where my license is jeapordized because I wasn't experienced enough to know how to do something. I'm anxious to get on with my career, not anxious to have to work in a nursing home for a year to get experience! But I've come this far and I suppose a year is not such a long time......

How likely is it that a fresh LPN could get a job in HH? I am doing a preceptor at a home health agency and they seem so excited to have me. I'm wondering if this means that there is a possibility of them offering me a job? I know that I don't have any experience but is it feasible to think that they may train and hire me? Also, what exactly do LPN's do in the home health setting opposed to RN's?

Congrats!! Good luck, you always have us here for support!!

Oh, good! I graduate next month and am anticipating working overtime on a regular basis to get back on track after not being able to work for the past 15 months! Hopefully I am going to want to work overtime? LOL!