The Limey

Jascouniforms.com has the best prices online i've found for steths. I have the Classic II and it's great.

Oops, forgot about this thread. Well, I took the NCLEX and passed with the minimal questions. Lots of questions in my weak areas - maternity, growth and development, and meds I'd never heard of - but that's the CAT for you. Targeting your personal weak areas. Also had a lot of priority questions, and some random diagnostic test questions, and repositioning of clients after procedures etc Started a new job at a sub-acute center, just got off orientation, things are going well. Onto RN!

There will be 8 nursing exams instead of 7. Along with the CPNE there will be 3 more required clinical "tests" - managing multiple patients, interacting with a disciplinary team, A head to toe assessment. Check the PDF file on Excelsior for more details (Bottom of this page, right hand column: link )

Look up stuff that you've heard of but aren't sure about - Dx tests, Labs, Disorders, etc - anything that you know that you don't know. I did this, just looking up random things, and I had several questions I wouldn't have been able to answer had I not.

I've actually met a few people who own houses in upstate new yory but work for agencies in CT, work for a few days, then take their money back home with them. Something to consider.

I have to confess *raises hand* I'm a new grad, I removed a Pt's staples from his head, then charted on it. Instead of writing dehiscence I wrote: "7 Staples removed from left side of scalp. No signs infection, No signs evisceration. Patient tolerated well." Oops. At least it was true and his brain didn't spill out!

Just got this e-mail back from EC:

BigKenny pretty much covered it. The prices you listed are for the exams only. You don't have to purchase the study guides from Excelsior, but if you do then that's extra. For example, English Composition is a $280 exam and EC sells a guided learning package for $225 (I think, somewhere around there). So your total cost will be about $500... or you can just pay for your exam and find your own material to purchase (be it new or used). You can take CLEP and Dante's tests for the General Education classes, but I'm unsure of which ones Excelsior accept for the Required Courses (I know that sociology is CLEPable, but as for the others I'm waiting for a response from EC.) Also, like already mentioned you can take NC1 before enrolling and get NC2 waived with an LPN license. Good luck in whatever you choose.

Congratulations! And good luck with the others.

I don't think it's entirely appropiate for men to work in OB in nursing. Not because they aren't competent, but because of the comfort level for the patient (and the family). If I were a gambling man I'd stake large sums of money on the vast majority of women (and their partners!) being more comfortable with a female OB nurse than a male. I felt uncomfortable as a student in my Maternity rotation because I could sense the discomfort of my patient and family.

I don't know about any others but Apple HealthCare doesn't pay good. I worked as a nurse's aide there whilst going through LPN school. They start aides at somewhere around $10 an hour (I think I started at $10.40 with 2 years experience). They started a friend of mine as an LPN there at $18 p/h. I can assume by trend that they start RNs at the lower end of the range.

I literally just graduated, passed NCLEX-PN and landed a job at a sub-acute center where I've been for a little over 2 weeks and loving it. Just enough time to come up for some air before diving back down into the books again for RN through excelsior. I looked into TCN (and then looked away. It was good for some information though.) Will be buying study guides off ebay. So, I need all of my general education requirements: English Composition Life Span Dev. Psych Sociology © Anatomy& Physiology Microbiology Ethics College Algebra © Technical Writing (d) The ones marked with © or (d) are the exams that TCN told me that I could CLEP or Dante's but I'm wondering about the others. I see that there is a CLEP exam for English Composition for example. Does Excelsior college not accept it? I'm just wondering how much of the above I can CLEP before I have to suck it up and pay the enrollment fee and the more expensive exam fees... Thanks in advance.

I took the test on thursday 8th feb at 8am, just got my results today (saturday, 10am) so yes, you should be able to get your unofficial quick results today.

The NCLEX Exam Cram books are terrible!!! For the review book there are countless spelling and grammatical errors. Numerous FACTUAL errors.. one I recall is the book tried to convince me that the thyroid produces thyroid stimulating hormone. The rationale for the answers are poor at best, and are usually non existant. NCLEX Made Incredibly Easy is my top rated book.

NCLEX-PN Made Incredibly Easy. It goes through each of the systems, and begins each one with a little A&P reminder. Then there's a 'cheat sheet' which is basically a list of the disorders with key S&S, interventions, treatments etc. Then there's a section on the diagnostic tests involved in this system, and includes any nursing actions you'll need to know (ie diet requirents prior/after the test). This is followed by a more detailed examination of the disorders - each one has the pathology, etiology, s&s, interventions, drug therapy, treatments (with rationale for the interventions which I really liked.) Also, all of the key elements in this detailed account is highlighted in purple (and is also what is found on the 'cheat sheet'). Then there's the obligatory question and answer section - excellent questions with very clear rationale for the answers, even the distractors. Scattered through the book are images along the sides with helpful reminder tips, acronyms for things etc. Also, there's a bunch of 'stepping up' reminders through the book, explaining how to perform certain procedures (eg, NG suctioning). What appealed to me most is that it didn't read like a dictionary, or like a reference book. It's very much a learning tool, rather than a 'look up' book, which I found many of the other leading books to be. I aslo really liked that the book can be very detailed, or concise - so if you're strong on a certain system you can use the quick cheat sheet for a referesher, and if you're weak you can go into muhc more detail quickly and easily. Thumbs up imo.

There are a lot of good books out there, and many of them cater to your specific needs. I read a lot of posts here by people asking "which book is the best?" or questions along similar lines. The simplest answer is whatever works for you! Probably the best advice is to go to a book store, pull several books off the shelf, take a seat and start looking through them. I had many people recommend books like saunders or mosby's, but when I looked at those books I felt like I was reading a dictionary. Great reference book, but totally unstimulating, and I'd probably study less because of it. In order for your studies to be successful they have to be stimulating. Speaking of excellent books, I just picked up "NCLEX-PN Made Incredibly Easy" - The title threw me off because I thought it wasn't going to be detailed enough, but it's very thorough and the layout doesn't bore me to death. I'd also like to add that I returned my Exam Cram NCLEX book. I'd definitely discourage people from it. There's numerous spelling errors, but worse than that is I found a lot of misinformation in it. The book completely confused Angiotensin Converting Enzyme inhibitors, for example. And later suggests that the thyroid produces thyroid stimulating hormone. Just a few examples of the errors that I can't afford to be unclear on. Also, the rationale for the answers in the Q&A section sucks.

Hmm.. anybody have any insight or opinions on this? (in other words: "bump") :)

I just finished LPN school, (still to take the NCLEX), and I've been thinking about which route to take to get my RN all this time. I'm very much leaning toward EC. I really hate the idea of going back to a physical building school AND working at the same time and would prefer to remain working full time, and learning from home. (I'm a good learner by myself, so that's not really an issue for me). My wife, on the other hand, is very ambivalent about it. She's worried that getting my RN through a distant learning school will come back to bite me, and that future employers wont look on with the same regard as from a "real school". Or that when finish my RN and intend to progress further with my education that another school wont recognize it as valid, per say. So, I'm just curious, how has getting a degree through distant learning affected your future career and future education? Have you had any negative experiences because of it? What about positive experiences? or has anyone felt like they've been treated exactly the same as somebody who obtained their degree through a non-independant study institution?

I'm sure her goal of the day wasn't to deliberately anger you. Remember that disease affects family members as well as the patients, and it's our jobs as nurses to also care for them; a patient's illness is always harder on the family members than it is on the nurse caring for the patient. I guess what I'm trying to say is: Forgive and forget.

Due to take my NCLEX-PN pretty soon and I'm just curious how difficult it was in comparison to the questions in your study book. It seems that every study book is different and some books are easier/harder than others. So, which book did you use to study for the NCLEX and how did the questions in the book compare to the questions on the exam? (I have a theory that most NCLEX books are more difficult than the actual exam....)

I think 24K is expensive for an LPN program, but then I've been attending a state technical school so it's been around 5K for me. You should look further into the costs of an RN program. I believe after a certain number of class & clinical hours in an RN program you can sit for the NCLEX-PN. Then you wouldn't have to pay for two programs, might work out cheaper and be just as quick. Good luck.

I just installed the ExamForce CramMaster software that came with the NCLEX-PN practice question book from Exam Cram (Rinehart, Sloan, Hurd) and it doesn't work. After selecting an answer for the first question it displays and error message 'No value at 1', and then forces the software to shut down. Anybody else experienced this issue? Did you get it resolved? *********************** Oops. If you're having this problem then load up the software and before you select 'begin exam' click: File > Check for Updates Save the updates to your computer, run them. Should be good to go now.

Congratulations Nurse Dehnert! As soon as I pass the NCLEX I'm firing off my resume to get a job and start working to pay off the debt I've accumulated in school!

Good luck!! *fingers crossed*

I'm attending the LPN program at Vinal, due to graduate in January. It's a great program and the instructors are awesome, so I think if you did decide to take the LPN route first then you wouldn't regret it. I don't know much about the Associate Degree programs in Connecticut, but I do hear about more and more people going through Excelsior. Although, I've heard the clinical testing in Albany, NY can be VERY tough. Anyway, I think I might be going through Excelsior to get my RN. Good luck, whichever you choose!