barbiedee

You can have 9 general ed credits left when you apply for the CPNE. I did one course while waiting for my CPNE date.

I go to Madison next week (gulp) I have tons of CPNE info, tips and help which I have collected over the year. PM me with your email address and I will gladly email them to you. I think the mneumonics are the best I've seen (I did a lot of research on these!). Thanks to Spazzy Nurse for her help, she supplied a lot of the info! Thanks Spazz!:cheers:

I had a three and a half month wait just to get a date, and due to a bunch of errors (on EC's behalf, not mine!) I received the CPNE package a few days after the date when I was supposed to accept or decline the CPNE date! So obviously I had to refuse. I go to Madison next week, Sept 15 - 18. All good thoughts and prayers for success will be gratefully accepted! I do agree about asking for a cancellation date. Sometimes you can get one right away. But you have to be prepared to travel with little notice and you have to be prepared to take the CPNE at any time. But if you can do both those, its certainly a great option.

Maybe if you could be a bit more specific regarding what you want to know about NC1 it might help us help you! There are lots of great people here who provided me with really helpful support, advice, and encouragement. Notes and tips, too! Hope we can help you too!

DaisyC. check out the used study guides available through eBay. Same info, lots cheaper! Also, used guides are sometimes advertised on the Yahoo/Excelsior College groups. If you need to buy textbooks, check out half.com you can choose from a wide price range for the same text book. Good luck!

Bravo! Glad you weighed all your options before you decided to go with a study guide company. I went with one too, and have never regretted it. Personally, I needed the guided structure a study guide provided. However, I do encourge people to do just what you did...explore your options before signing on the dotted line. I think these study guide companies have a less than stellar reputation, not from the study guides they produce, but from the questionable and misleading sales tactics they sometimes use. (Like implying they are somehow connected with EC.) Well, now that the decision has been made...good luck with your studies!

I used a Microbi study guide and did well. As I usually do, I recommend going to eBay and purchase these study guides for a fraction of their regular cost. Practice exams help also, and a lot are available on the different Yahoo/Excelsior College groups.

I am glad to know you purchased the Excelsior practice exams for A&P. That was a big help to me. I also went to some of the Yahoo/Excelsior College sites and downloaded a bunch of practice exams. You can also find "100 things to know" type notes for A&P also. Most of the Yahoo sites require permission to join, so it may take a few days before you can do this. It took me a LONG time to complete this course (months...and months..and months) ...longer than any other EC course, and that was studying 2 hours a day, minimum. Hats off to anyone who can do it faster. Six weeks is incredible! I think A&P and Microbi were the two hardest and longest courses. I have a HUGE file of notes for A&P if you would like them, PM me. Good luck!

Just to reiterate, Rue is NOT a part of Excelsior College. Rue supplies study materials for the courses that Excelsior offers. They also charge a LOT of money. Many people complete Excelsior without utilizing a study guide company (Rue, Chancellors, College Network, DLSI). I used a study guide company and was happy with them, although the $$ was quite high. If I knew then what I know now, I would enroll in Excelsior directly and buy used study guides off of eBay for a lot less that the study guide companies charge. I agree with Spazz....DON"T SIGN with a study guide company until you have researched them. There are lots and lots of posts here about study guide companies like Rue. And, there are lots of other options if you want to use study guides, (buy them used!!! Cheap!!!) Many of these study guide companies imply that they are part of Excelsior college...but they ARE NOT! In fact, Excelsior college is now offering "guided learning packages" for a lot of their courses. So check out all of your options first.

As an LPN I rarely have much interaction with physicians, however, there was one doc whom we all didn't like for his demeaning behavior towards all nurses. After being called to assess a resident who was becoming more and more aggressive and violent, the doc had the nerve to tell all the nurses present that it was just our approach. It was our fault we were getting hit, hurt and punched. This doc then walked in to see the resident with a jolly "Hi there." Can you guess? Yup. He got a fist right in the kisser. That brought him down a notch or two. And I imagine it didn't do his ego good to have a bunch of snickering nurses watching! Sometimes there is cosmic justice.

I am NOT an ER nurse, and after reading this thread, probablly never will be! A note to Sugar...when people get stressed out, burnt out, have bad days/months/years, etc, there are two things they can do.,...cry about it, or laugh about it. Obviously these dedicated nurses are laughing about it. (good choice) . Not only are they laughing about it, they are sharing their humour so I can laugh too. THanks for sharing. OH, and thanks for caring. Millions of legit ER patients appreciate you!

I totally share your frustration. I am finding insubordination, arguing, fighting, shouting at work among RCA's/CNA's getting worse. Part of the problem is working short staffed almost every weekend, and more frequently lately, on week days. Picking up the extra workload, doing O/T, its all stressful, but no excuse for behavious I have been seeing. I had a near mutiny on my hands a few weeks ago when staff on one wing were working short staffed yet again. It's sad when I don 't want to go to work because of the atmosphere caused by some staff members. And I am not the only one to feel this way. Sad to know its a problem almost everywhere.

Now this one's almost beyond belief! Last evening the fire alarm went off. (It was a false alarm in the end..faulty something or other.) While the NA's and I were running around securing and checking the wing, one of our residents rang her call bell. The reason? To tell us the fire alarm was going off. :smackingf Heck, she had to scream to be heard above the clanging bells.... OH, and while I was there.,...could I fluff her pillow? I love my job...I love my job....I love my job...... :-)

At least you can get a license after chalking up some clinical hours. My EC ADN will NEVER be recognized where I live. So all my money and effort is for naught if I want to stay here. (and yes, I did check with the provincal RN association first. Long story. If you really want to know the particulars PM me!) So smile....it could be worse. And, no, I haven't decided whether to move to the US or not. I'm still trying to figure out what my options are. And thinking of possible solutions so it can be accepted here. Oh well, too late to turn back now. I'll be the most over educated LPN in BC.

I also recommend the practice exams from EC. You get two exams with 100 questions each for $75. The exams also give you the rationale behind the correct, and incorrect answers. I would also recommend purchasing a study guide from eBay. You can get them used for almost every EC course. I know I wouldn't have been able to pass any of the EC exams without using a study guide. I need a more directed approach to learning than just having a course outline and textbook, and study guides provided that assistance and direction I needed. There are four or five different study guide companies, but you can usually find them used, for a heck of a lot less on eBay. Perhaps trying a different studying approach will help!