dvapwr

I am a Excelsior graduate. Before you make your final decision do a lot of checking especially now there are many states with stipulations. Seems more and more states are making it harder for the excelsior RN to practice.

Caring comes from within that nurse. It's in her eyes, it's in her voice, it's in her touch, it's in her listening to the patient, it's in her compassion, it's in her sharing of herself and time with her patient, a nurse that has a love for human life and her profession will carry that love into caring for her patient.

Hi...After 30 years wearing white ....I now wear colored skirts (solid ) and print tops but I still wear white hose and shoes....when I wear pants they are white with colored or printed tops .....This helps the patient to distinguished your role especially when they see white hose....

Thank-you ...if ever I can be of help through your journey to get your degree please just let me know ....

I believe that EC grads can eventually practice in every state ... there just may be certain criteria as far as clinical hours are concerned...I am in Illinois, so I have to practice 2 years in another state for 2 years ....after 2 years I don't think I will then change and practice in Illinois....

I have just completed Excelsior's Nursing program ... Despite all the hype California has doen against the Excelsior RN, I am very proud to be a graduate from EC... It was not an easy way to earn your degree but it is flexible and works well with a family and working. You have to organized and a self motivator. The CPNE is stressful .... your are not there on a teacher - student level as with a traditional school of nursing but on an examiner - student level. You have to know your critical elements... I call it the Ivory Tower of Nursing... you have to be 100% ...you must know how to critical think... California has no idea what these graduates have to do in order to pass CPNE .. but I am telling you, once you Graduate from EC's nursing program you will realize it is one of the best schools of nursing .... and you will be one of the better nurses because of what EC demands of you.... Thank-you

Hi Everyone ... this is just my opinion on the subject ....... we live in a changing world with different avenues that we can lead to obtain our educaion .... whether you are an LPN or RN studying for a higher degree. As far as the LPN getting her RN lthrough a long distance college ... I would rather have a seasoned RN from Excelsior than a new RN with no prior experience .... expertise in your skills including patient safety issues comes from years of experience ... yes, in a traditional school you are taught safety issues ... but those that attend a non traditional nursing school are already seasoned in patient care .... for ex: I seen a new graduate RN 9 Traditional School )give atenolol (sp) with out first taking the pulse ... as one with experience ( LPN ) know that you count the pulse before administering .... so a traditional student can also jeopardize safety .....Thank-you Hope this made sense...

Hi Everyone, I also passed my CPNE this past weekend ... I have been a LPN hospital based for 29 years and I must say it was a weekend from hell .... not because of my PCS assignements or the sims lab but because of my strees level ... it was unbelievable ... no one can understand just how much stress it is until you have been there and done it ...the patients are stable patients and doable ....as someone pointed out you must know your critical elements inside out , you must document a plan of care and it must be approved prior to implementation and after you are finished you must make sure everything is documented ...what is not chartered is not done ...... then you must evaluate your plan of care with your rational successfully .... the bedside testing is amazing ...something that traditional schools really don't have because there are not enough instructors to do it ..... and one instuctor may have 6-8 students ..... I have learned so much from Excelsior School of Nursing and I value it so much .... this program is not easy ...the CPNE's are rigorous and you must test 100% .... but in the end when you have passed it seems so surreal ...I still cannot believe that I have completed this and now a canidate for NCLEX ......Thank-you....

Hi Everyone... I passed my CPNE's last weekend from Excelsior .... I am from Illinois where I have to work 2 years in another state before I can apply for my Illinois license .... in which I only live 1/2 hour fom Iowa .... What I want to share that I have learned so much from my Excelsior experience ... there CPNE's are rigorous and tough ....you have lab skills on Friday ....Sat. and Sun. you have bedside testing ... you must have an approved Plan of Care before you are allowed to begin Implementation ...you have approx. 20 -22 different areas of care with critical elements you must know inside out... you must know ow to critical think and last but not least you have to evaluate your plan of care with a rational before you can pass...Everything you do is 100% ... no room for error or you will not pass ...After going through this process I respect anyone that goes through this ...you nursing care is under scrutiny from the time you begin ...but this has been very rewarding to me and has enhanced my patient care ... too many underestimate EC graduate .... and I am thankful for Excelsior giving me and others this opportunity to continue our education ...Thank-you

Mudskipper...wherte is your group going for CPNE prep? I requested mid- March in Racine ...Heard it was excellent for testing but I am sure all the sites are equal...

Hi... I am also waiting for a confirmation date for CPNE in Racine, Wisconsin. They received my application September 1 and EC is still working getting CE,s lined up there for March. Anyone else planning to attend Racine's CPNE in March? Is anyone going to EC's workshop in Memphis, TN. in January 2006?

4-6 months depending where you go... do you work in a hospital? Veda

Jeanne ...I felt the same way about EC's english comp ....I studied faithfully for 6 weeks but still didn't feel comfortable with it so I decided to take it in the summer.... How many classes do you yet have to complete? Veda

Hi Jeanne .... I had 9 electives to do ....I have them all completed except one where I need 6 credit hours ...I have NC#1-5 completed ...doing NC#6 now, testing in June then testing in NC# 7 in July ... I wanted to finish up the NC's so I can get a CPNE date .... doing English Comp this summer and a humanities in the Fall .... I started for my RN in July 03 .... I spent 22 weeks for A&P and Microbiology.... and only 6 weeks on the other electives ....Hope this helps....Veda

Hi Kelly.. I live in Illinois and The Illinois Nurses Association said that I have to practice as a RN in a hospital setting before I can apply for Il. license .... this did not discourage me going Excelsior way ..I only live 30 miles from the Illinois border so that is no problem for me ..I would recommend Excelsior any day .... when I decided to do this I had to do it all the pre-req's and the NC#1-7 ..I had a total of 15 exams and I am down to 4 exams plus CPNE"S ...and yes I did go through a publishing agency just so I had it all together and didn't have to find all the info/books .....Veda

Hi...Has anyone lately taken the EC English Comp? If so, any words of wisdom with this exam?....Thanks

Hi ...has anyone recently taken the English Comp exam through EC ....if so just how difficult is it ...Thanks...

Hi ...has anyone done English Comp through EC .... If so, How was it ....thanks

Hi Cliff notes you can obtain at any of the bookstores..... Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com or go to cliffnotes.com ..... to me after studying from the cliff notes it brought it all together .... this exam was easier than A&P.... I studied above and beyond the difficuty of this exam .... I would rate it 6/10 and rate A&P 9/10 ...hope this helps you....Veda

Rue study system is structured in that it gives all you need to pass the exam ... it has a workbook along with each course ..tells you what chapters to read in the text book before doing the workbook .... but I feel you also to have to be structured ...I started in June and hope to be completed by March or April 2005 ... I needed all the pre-req's ... so in 20 months I will have taken 9 pre-reqs and 7 nursing classes....hope this helps...

Hi ...I am also from Illinois and I am using the RUE system ... I am glad that I chose them .... they do all the research etc ... all you have to do is study and learn it .... I started in June of 2003 and I am already getting ready to do test#5 ...I had to do all my pre-req's... There is 15 exams that I have to take before I can do cpne's ....Hope this helps ...also, for Illinois all you have to do is work as an RN in a hospital setting for 2 years then you can apply for Illinois license ... there is no certain amount of hours justr the 2 years and hospital setting....hope this helps ...any firther questions e-mail me privately because I don't get to this site too often...Veda

Hi, I knew about Illinois reciprocity ... but I am preparing to see our local representative to see what my steps are or if he would represent the LPN's in legislation to reduce the # of years to practice out of state before being able to apply for Illinois license ....especially when second year ADN students have only 10 hours a week of clinicals and some of those student never had a medical background.... so Sept-May does not account very many hours of clinicals and that does not take in consideration of thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring breaks .... seems like to years to practice out of state is a bit steep ..plus the fact once a nurse has 2 years elswhere ..what is the likely hood of them returning to Illinois ... not much ... Thanks

Hi...I would like to know if there are any LPN's from Illinois here that is obtaining their RN through Excelsior College.... thanks

The microbiology testing with Excelsior was very doable .... study their guide outline and I had Cliff Notes Review for Micro which simplified everything ....

Hi ....I am doing the external classroom to obtain my RN through EC... I am doing Microbiology now and would like to CLEP in November ...Can anyone tell me just how involved was the testing ...thank-you...dvapwr