Lost In Transition

Hang in there! I know it's terrible but I'm sure you passed if it turned of that soon. If you're like me you'll hit a wall of shock when you find out you're a RN!!! Let us know when you hear the good news!

So I posted a few days ago that I had taken the NCLEX, shut off at 75, and convinced myself that no doubt I failed. I passed. I'm hoping to give some comfort to those waiting on results. If you shut off at 75 you probably passed. I know I know you aren't supposed to count on that but it's common sense and I've asked hundreds of ppl to see the correlation between the numbers. If you are failing, your answers will begin to get easier and easier and you will go past the 75 questions. They want you to redeem yourself by giving you more opportunity to answer correctly. If you are finding your questions getting increasingly difficult and you are completely miserable you are probably doing fine. So far all our students have passed at 75, one failed but went to 185 questions. If you have not taken the test yet, do yourself a favor. Before going in to the test center promise yourself that no matter how you feel coming out you wont beat yourself up afterward. This test is built to challenge each person individually which means NOBODY is going to come out feeling confident. 85% of all NCLEX takers pass on their first try, chances are you are in that crowd. If you are waiting on results save your money on the "quick results" I had been checking it like crazy and still 48 hrs afterward it said "results are not available at this time". An old instructor called me and said congratulations you passed!!! I asked her how she knew that when I couldnt even pay for my results yet. The state board of nursing has a website with verification of licensure. Type in your name if it says pending then it's not there yet obviously. If says "Active" congrats your an RN, if it says "closed" then you failed. So save your money and find out OFFICIALLY, quicker, and free. Good luck everyone, take a deep breath and have some faith.

Did you feel like your questions were extremely difficult and you guessed on many? I'm just surprised that they didn't get easier if I missed them... it's all so confusing. They say it's possible to fail at 75 but after all the schooling and effort put into a nursing career it sure doesn't seem fair to judge a nurses fate on only 75 questions. Well... I'll continue to wait.

I understand, my test was set up the exact same way your's sounds. I turned off and 75 and felt like I was going to be sick. I wanted to scream at the computer for not giving me more questions to better test my ability. I really think I failed it because I guessed on more than I knew for sure. I guess I'll know in a couple of days. Good luck.

Hello KarmaRene, I honestly think your success in an independant study program depends 100% on your motivation to do it...not just right now but every single day until you're done. I was a single LPN at the time and had just bought my first home. I obviously couldn't stop working (like yourself) to go to school and didn't have anyone to support me financially. I thought TCN sounded too good to be true. I tried it and after the first couple of weeks I knew I wasn't going to be able to do it. I had to have that schedule to go by. I needed to know I had a class at 3pm and there were people there expecting to see my face. I really haven't heard of anyone getting through it personally- I'm sure they are out there somewhere. CHeck it out very well because when I tried to get out of it i uncovered a whole new can of worms. The College Network is not a college at all, it's actually a publishing company and they basically print papers and put them in binder notebooks and call it a text book. A joke if you ask me, especially since I paid $5,000. just for that! I enrolled in a small community school and entered their transition program, I now have 1 quarter left and then my preceptorship then I'm done. I have to say I'm so glad I did it this way. I was able to quit my job and since I'm a full time student I use the remainder of my tuition refund check to live on. Works quite nicely for me. Good luck in this difficult decision. Whatever the route- don't give up on getting your RN.

Hello Pageantnurse- I'm having a heck of a time with this... will you private message me your email address so I can get back with you. I must not be able to reply to a PM since I'm not a paying member?

Pageantnurse- I guess I haven't figured this whole thing out. I don't know how to reply to a private message, don't see a reply button anywhere??? Anyway, I do apologize this is the only way I knew how to reply to you... I would be happy to send you the two books- if you want to send me another private message with your email address perhaps we can figure it all out that way.

I felt the calling when I was 7 years old and was always in my doctor's office as a sick little girl. It was kinda something that I never really second guessed. However, I don't think that to be a good nurse you had to have known it from birth. What makes a good nurse, it's actually pretty easy. I think if you are willing to give of yourself ( I mean really GIVE)in order to make someone elses life easier or less painful then you will be a good nurse. I've been an LPN for 6 years now and will be an RN in a few months. I've seen a lot of suffering in that amount of time. I've also had so many people reach out to me for my hand to thank me for being there to take care of them. I wont lie, I've felt used, abused, beaten emotionally, and at times physically. BUT, there were far more nights of going home feeling good about what I was doing than there were those nights that I questioned my decision to be a nurse. Long answer short, it's about love for people. It is a hard profession, and it's those nurses that go into it for the "money" that end up burning out and becoming bad nurses. It might be good money but it's not always worth the money so you have to really care about the good you are doing, the difference you are making to make it in the nursing world.

I do actually, here is what I have: English Composition, Intro to Psychology, Anatomy and Physiology, Sociology, and American Literature. All are unused and in perfect shape.

I understand, I think that all of the schools try to make it sound so easy just to sell it to you. I'm learning it's all about the $ wherever you go to school. Yes, I have been an OB/GYN office nurse most of my LPN career. I very much love prenatal care and getting to know the girls throughout their pregnancies... they really remember you later and send pics of their little ones. There is a lot of trust building in that specialty. I loved office nursing for many reasons mostly because the hours are perfect if you have a family, can't ask for much more than weekends and holidays off! You become an "office family" with other employees and the doctors because you spend so much time together. Also, I for one prefer not caring for the critically ill. I like to help people and see them on their way- hopefully better than when they came in. The money was considerably less than hospital nursing. I was maxed out at about $14.00/hr. In my area (very small town) that pay is hard to find in an office. Average is about (10.00-12.00). RN's have a lot of trouble finding office jobs because doctors generally don't want to pay an RN. I worked with an RN in our OB/GYN office who made about $20/hr. Usually specialists are about the only ones who may have an RN on staff. I plan to continue with hospital based OB care- probably more the L&D side rather than nursery but who knows. Sorry I get so excited about nursing stuff I ramble on and on. I do have to share with you this though. Because I am and have been a student I know how difficult and exhausting it can be. If you ever need a little "pick me up" or begin to question why you chose nursing, go to Johnson & Johnson's website and watch some of their nursing videos. They are pretty short I PROMISE you by the end you will be so inspired and crying if your like me! Discovernursing.com

Well, I'm going to give you both sides of the story. I had been an LPN for 6 years when I decided to go back for the transition. The pros of being an LPN: you do have a great knowledge base to build on, you are looked up to by the regular RN students, you can work during your RN schooling if need be (I don't recommend it once your in the actual mud of the nsg courses), and often employers will pay for your RN if you agree to work for them as an LPN and when you finish RN school for a certain pd of time. Now, there are also cons... I'm still paying on my student loans from LPN school on top of what I will need to pay back when I graduate (I've wasted A LOT of money!). I am expected in clinicals to "teach" regular RN students who don't have experience and I feel I'm missing out on my own clinical experiences. My school, and many others, would not take my LPN schools credits for prereqs and everything else....so I spent 1 year in LPN school and now I'm in my 3rd year of RN school with one more to go!!!! I could have gone in 4 years and had my BSN but I will only have an associates degree. 2 years of prereqs as an RN was never explained to me when I signed up for this school. However, it's all in personal preference really. I can say I could have, should have, would have done things differently but the fact is that it is what it is. My situation was that when I graduated LPN school I was 19 years old, I was just excited to be able to be a nurse and start life. I bought a house and ended up meeting my husband ( a funeral director who had to come for one of my patients), we had a baby together. If I would not have been an LPN, I would have none of those blessings in my life right now. My advice, do what you feel is right in your heart. The truth is that the answer is not the same for everyone. Good luck to you.:heartbeat

I am not doing either actually. I am attending Central Ohio Technical College. I have to go a few times a week but I couldn't get it done any other way. It's just my personal learning style that I need a teacher in front of me. Another LPN friend signed up also and she ended up eating the cost as well. However, there must be people out there that are able to succeed or it would not exist... so I wish you luck. I will tell you that even though you're going thru TCN you can request study guides from EC that TCN does not send you. The EC guides are more like what you see on your tests. They are free you just contact EC and specify which guides you need.

Hi Shannon, I was just wondering how you were doing with College Network... I tried it and was really dissapointed. I was unable to get out of the contract because I signed my name to the fine print I didn't understand. I did not have the ambition to make myself sit down and do it on my own. I am still trying to sell my books on ebay. Is it working for you? I ended up starting a transition program at a local technical school and found that I have to have a teacher. Good Luck.