gaylebco

Scooter is correct in that you will ahve to go to WI for training but the 3 trips for 2-3 days per trip is for one certification (probably ambulatory). With each certification you go back for more training and there are many (perhaps dozens) of certifications available for Epic. Our hospital has had Epic for over 4 years now and I love the system. It's a great opportunity to learn a good system. If you get the opportunity and this is what you have a passion for, then I'd say go for it!! Gayle

I'm very excited to get my final test results back and passed the 3rd test and 2nd project in Ambulatory EpicCare certification. Got the e-mail on friday stating i had passed and obtained my certification. My boss set a goal of 6 months. I set one for 3 months on myself and got it in 2 months from the day I was hired, including all classes. Not to bad, i'm pretty proud of this one!

Bake 40, I went to Madison WI 2 weeks ago and started the steps for ambulatory certification. It depends on what your being certified in. Epic is not the certification but the different areas within your hospital and what you are planning on being certified in. With my course, i have 3 trips to Madison each lasting about 3 days. After the classes you are tested on the material from that class, the reading materal and additional information on there web site. The project is actually "doing" the things you learned in class on a training web site. I got the stats at the last class and the numbers were much higher for pass rates. The instructor told us people take the test and if they do poorly they can retake it. a 50% and a 100% give the pass rate of 50%..one passed and one didn't...but that was the same person. Can you see how things can look off with the numbers. Hope this helps. Gayle

INwannaB, Wow i see all these amazingly smart well educated people on here wondeing if they need the next 2 degrees before thinking about applying for a job in Informatics. I was an LPN (almost graduated with my associates degree in Nursing) when i applied for my job as a System Analyst. I got the job by being hands on as a end user with Epic and striving to do my best. No BSN, no MSN, no specialized degree in NI. Just a drive and ambition and a workplace that was continuing to go live with an electronic medical record. Has any of the nurses or people in general who have a desire to work with an EMR, applied for a nurisng job at a place that has an EMR now? worked there for a bit to see if it's what you want and gone for it? I debate getting my BSN at my ripe old age of 43 because i'm already in the EMR now. Will it benefit me at the place i work? ( I plan on retiring from here..not moving on-- i think that matters too) I think people need to get their hands wet, so to say, and get a job working with the sytem and being a super user if you can, also being proactive ans trying to help others with it. I made tons of power points for our department so others that lacked skills, would get it. I did that for our department not to get ahead. I discovered my passion for the EMR this way. My department is still looking for System Analysts, and only says a BSN perfered. If you live in the Columbus Ohio area, has any type of experience and want to work with the EMR, go to the Nationwide Childrens Hospital website and look up both nursing and IS and see the jobs and what they want from a person and see what you have already. Never trying to ding a futhering of a Eduation...please get what you need to be happy in your life...but also see what you can do now and where you can go now before investing years into a degree you may or may not want to use without trying it out. This is just my views and again...i would never say do not go back to school Gayle

Ok gang! I had my first day in IS as a systems analyst. It was so funny. I realized i had NO computer! It was 3:30 PM before i got it so i spend the day following the other people on my team seeing what they did. second day was kinda slow and i had a few meetings and surfed the EPIC site a bit but my training is the 30th of June in Madison for first round of Ambulatory EPIC training!

I did not have any audio questions onn my test

ALthough i do not start till June 14th (I'll likely post then also), my background is ... I graduated in 1988 as an LPN and worked all over till 2000 when i started at my current workplace. Our clinic went live in 2007 with EPIC. We were the second clinic to go live in the hospital. In fall of 2007 I started back to school for my RN. Although the superuser position was given to a nurse who worked with the supreruser MD, i quickly became the go to person for EPIC. I made powerpoint persentations on how to do certain things and even a spreadsheet for doing chart audits for EPIC. I spearheaded a huge project where our lab was having issues with EPIC and MD orders. When I was in my final months of school they posted the position for system analyst EMR clinical. They wanted a BSN but with my ADN, incredible drive, desire and proven 3 year history as a end user, they picked me for the job! I'll let you know how the first day or week goes after the 14th start date. (I have been told Madison for training is up as one of the first things i do!) Gayle

Thank You!. I found out that not all schools do it the way we did. Our school took 4 hours out of one day and we all applied on the same day, paid and submitted to the board all our application information. This happened months before graduation. I was surprised to know most schools dont do this and find students getting information that their application is incomplete. I's sad that more schools dont take the bull by the horns and help their students make sure they are getting things done right! Gayle

Amazingly after 11.5 weeks since i applied, 4 interviews with 7 people, yesterday i was offered the position!!! I'm really excited to get to Madison to start EPIC training. Ambulatory certification is my first goal! Thanks for the support i'm ready to go now!!

Nehal, The state boards change every 3 years, this happens all the time. It's already past the time frame for this change, you iddn't have a chance to take them before now so you will not notice any difference. Just study as normal, not real differences from any past changes. Gayle

Sadly smugirl, not everyone who studies hard and dedicated the time and effort passes on the first try. We are all nervous and this is a life altering event for every one of us. The difference between the test before April 1st and after is not the questions but the percentage calculated that is needed to pass. The questions are always changing. Perhaps the second test was easier than the first for you because you studied harder or more, or even were just overall more mentally prepared for it. Congratulations to you for your efforts paid off! Gayle

I used the saunders NCLEX review guide and our class has a mandaotry 3 day review course during our last quarter. Sadly i didn't dedicate tons of time towards the NCLEX but i had been and LPN for 21 years and lots of experrience in Nursing which really helped. Gayle

Also another quick note, I took my test on wednesday the 7th of April and my test results were posted on the OBON web site ( RN number and all) in exactly 24 hours!

I'm sure for everyone the test will be different. One of the things i had noticed over and over were priority questions..or "what would you do first" type situations. It's something you simply can't study for and know the answers but studying the labs and diagnosis might help out a bit in those situations. The man at the pearson desk told me every person who walked out of the room said either "I don't know if I passed" or " I know I failed". No one walks out with the confidence of " I know I passed this" I guess it's a good thing to say if your going for your license, your getting tested to make sure you know your stuff. Remember that 15 of the questions are not scored (for RN's--not sure of the number for the LPN's anymore) so when you say to yourself...I just don't know this, perhaps becasue it's one of those questions. Good luck to everyone! Gayle

I PASSED!!!! got the results in 24 hours on the state board web site! It was the hardest test i had ever taken in my life. HESSI was a cake walk compared to that tragic mess of the NCLEX but i passed and am an RN now!