offtowrk

Where can you find Rob's CPNE DVD? Thanks! :nuke:

CONGRATS CONGRATS CONGRATS!!!! What an accomplishment!!! Did you have to pay for your CPNE when you made application or before your clinical weekend started? :balloons: c;2233567]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

Yes, I agree with you folks in CA. Very limited practice there. I worked in Northern Ca as a travel nurse and was very disappointed with the limited skills I could use there. I live in NC and have found the scope of practice varies extremely. I worked in a hospital that I was an Advanced LPN. I did pushes, hung blood, monitored chemo, phlebotomy, started my own IV's, ACLS, PALS and EKG certifications. Now I am back in school living in another city and all I can find in this area is LTC and home care. I have been an LPN for 12 years and I am back in school for my BSN. I was tired of doing the same work as the RN's and getting paid a lot less. My travel RN friends are making over $100,000/yr.

That's true. I am also with Excelsior. Good luck to you!

To get your Advanced LPN, you have to be certified by the facility that you work in. They don't offer courses on the web that I am aware of. I have only seen this in hospitals on the east coast.

I am from NC. I'm pretty sure that Tennessee accepts Excelsior. Call the college and check with their office of BON. I know CA does not at this time.

Yes I loved Cape Fear. Stay away from Med/Onc (6 South) They have some serious issues going on right now. Womack was great. I worked mainly in the ER, but also worked Tele, Peds, M/S, MICU. Good Luck!:smiletea2:

An Advanced LPN can do the following: monitor chemo, insert huber needles in a port-a-cath, IV's and drug pushes (except for a few cardiac drugs), administer blood, administer TPN/Lipids, phlebotomy, dressing changes to central lines. Not all hospitals in NC offer this though.

I started traveling after 2 years of experience. I live in NC. The hospital that I received my Advanced LPN was Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, NC. (and I also worked at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg. (right outside of Fayetteville) I currently am back in Raleigh, NC to receive my BSN. An RN friend of mine made $121,000 last year traveling in CA, and did the very same job that I did. That's why I'm back in school. Good luck to you!

I have been an LPN for 11 years. Last year (traveling) working 48-50 hours a week I made $69,000. If you live in a state that allows LPNS to work in hospitals and do everything that RNS do except charge then you are really marketable. They would rather pay LPNs $5-10 less an hour for the same work. I have been very fortunate to have worked in several different areas. I have never done LTC. The money is there if you have the experience. Good luck!

I live in NC am doing excelsior. I was a travel nurse and have just moved back home to finish school. I am only working parttime and doing home study through Excelsior during the week. So far, they have been very helpful, though expensive. Good luck!

WOW! $20,000 to attend LPN school? CA is ripping you guys off!! Do you have friends/family in NC? Community college is cheap! I think about $7000. I have been out of school since 1996. The biggest problem with paying that much in tuition is that CA doesn't pay well for LPNS. (unless you are a traveler) Just left there in Oct. after a year in Northern CA. I cleared $1200 wk, but I know that the other LPNS were not making that. Also you are very limited in CA as to what you can do. The last fulltime job I had in NC I monitored chemo, had IV certification, ACLS, PALS, puhed most IV drugs except for a few cardiac, TPN/Lipids, inserted huber needles in portacaths, basically I did everything the RN did except charge (in the hospital) Good luck to you. Hope you can find a cheaper school!