dizzydolphin

how was research in nursing?

no. 10 from suesquatchrn no. 10 from suesquatchrn no. 10 from suesquatchrn suesquatchrn, i love your attitude! you have a lot of positive energy! i have read a few negative posts this evening re excelsior, and somehow it gets me down, even though i only come on this site every few months. i think all nurses should try to bring each other up with positive energy. we all have our strengths as well as things we could work on, should we choose to pursue such goals. i mean, if a nurse is not great on the floor, she will most likely "self-select" herself into an area she finds personally more interesting and/or rewarding; otherwise, she will work hard to bring herself up to a competent level where she's at (especially if she has supportive co-workers, with whom i am blessed to work.) personally i have only good things to say about excelsior. i think they are very responsible about letting you know what you have to do to make it through. it is true it is rough getting a job in certain areas, but i relocated within my state to take a job at a hospital, where i've just completed my first year as an rn, which is far superior to any where i used to live. some people seem to feel so strongly that ec grads are substandard b/c they feel their clinical experiences are limited:smiley_ab. my opinion is that most quality clinical experience is gained on the job, not during nursing school. it is true however that i have observed an instructor of adn students on our floor who does a great job with them. however, that was not my own experience at large midwestern state u, where 80% of my clinical instructors provided absolutely zero guidance on the floor, matched me with rn preceptors who were downright dangerous, and saw me maybe 5 minutes during a shift, during which time they used those precious few minutes to completely berate me:uhoh3:. a final point: i don't think there should be a difference between lpns and rns; i think it is an archaic distinction and potentially degrading to lpns. to me, such a distinction is yet another example of a "i'm a better nurse than you because you are {insert put-down: inexperienced/finished at an online school/don't have a bsn/don't work in icu}". we should all look up, be proud, and take care of each other :loveya: thanks for reading

Amazon Visa rocks! Except my bibliophile husband always uses up the $25 gift cards. :angryfire Anyone out there enrolled/considering Excelsior Masters in Nursing? PS (b/c I can't PM yet) Lunah RN, congrats on the CEN, and thanks for your support (we did EC CPNE around the same time and chatted a few times) I just happened to pass the CCRN and think you'd be a shoe-in for it--doesn't require ICU experience; the AACN states acute care is OK.

LPN_2005, you PM'd me asking for tips but I don't have authorization to PM back (I guess I have to have 15 posts or something... I have several documents I can forward if you'd provide your email... I am very wordy and I cannot condense into small post; sorry, and you are doing pretty good w/ 50's to 60's on EC practice exams; I got A's with 60's and 70's. I think you'll do fine:smokin:

i have been working as a floor rn in one of the top 4 hospitals in the us for the past year. i obtained this position as a new grad, fresh from passing the nclex. i just passed my ccrn exam. i have nothing but praise for excelsior, which took me from midwestern state university grad-entry (i.e. no bsn degree) np program dropout to rn (all 7 nc exams plus cpne & nclex) in less than 10 months. excelsior also contacted me regarding and have granted me a $990 scholarship to attend their masters in nursing program for the 2009-2010 school year. to any naysayers, please pardon my enthusiasm for the opportunity this school has provided me. i just want to describe my honest and positive experiences at ec, and encourage anyone who's currently in the program or seriously considering it. ps if you'd like my tips re 1. quickly preparing for and passing excelsior college nursing concepts exams without spending much money 2. setting up your skills lab to perfect cpne skills in order to pass all 4 on the first try 3. preparing for the cpne in order to pass it the first time through; or 4. tips for how to use $50 worth of an ncsbn nclex study program (https://www.ncsbn.org/263.htm (or http://www.learningext.com/) to study for and pass the nclex in less than 3 weeks' time let me know and i'll pass on some .doc's i've prepared that address the above issues. hope this helps!

FlashGrad, I am a new grad who just interviewed there and would really appreciate your update on how it's going for you... I would have to relocate to take the position, so it is a big step for me... Thanks

I am a recent EC grad scheduled to take NCLEX next week. Had no problems with the Ohio board...

Absolutely. TAKE THE EC PRACTICE EXAMS. For all. Do not wait until you think you are "ready"--use them as part of your study. I always got in the 60's; doesn't matter. Study ALL the questions and ALL the answers and understand why you got each question correct or incorrect. (PS if you don't like reviewing stuff on the computer screen--utilize your keyboard's Print Screen button & paste to Word .doc) I also utilized LWW's Straight A's Maternal & Neonatal for #3--I'd used it during my clinicals back in "brick&mortar" RN school. This is the newer edition: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781582556932&itm=2 I did 4 NC's in December '07, passed w/ A's, and am scheduled to take Tina's workshop in Feb '08. Good luck to both of us!

I would like to receive your 4-page story & 22 file attachments RE CPNE but I don't know how to PM me your email address (what is PM? how does one do that?) Hopefully you will see this and can post some guidance. I appreciate your help.

Did you ever get your test date? I am curious b/c I am CPNE eligible and thinking I should apply to the NPAC (thinking it will be the quickest route). Thanks

Thank you for the information. I don't know how to PM, but if you see this, I'd love to see a copy of your 4-page CPNE experience. Thanks for being so open and helpful.