BeachieRN84

I deleted my post. I don't want to argue with anyone. I found the post to be rather insulting but that is neither here nor there--I am a RN and I passed the boards like every other RN out there. EC grads work hard for our degrees and bad and good nurses come from everywhere.

Hey Nervous 1, how did you like English 2 and Stats through Straighterline? I am going to use them for the pre-reqs for the BSN program and I was just wondering if you liked the format. Thanks !!! :-)

Changed mind. Not defending. Proud to be an Excelsior RN and would be proud to have one taking care of me !!!!! :-)

Boston nurse, you pick a region (in your case you are going to the NPAC) and you can select one, some or all of the sites in the area. The NY sites are now two in Albany, and then Syracuse, Utica, Queens, and two in Pennsylvania, York and Chambersburg. The more flexible you are the quicker you will get your date, and you can always sign up to be called with a cancellation.

So excited for you Tasha !!!! Good luck girl, very proud of you !! Are you going to Grady ?

Can you send me a private message on here? I am always happy to talk to someone coming up on the CPNE. It was an experience I will remember for the rest of my days, that's for sure, but it had a very happy ending for me and it is doable. If you are on Sheri's workshop Facebook page, my journal is also posted as a note there. I tested in Syracuse, NY last sept.

I never did post mine on the Excelsior website because I included a ton of details and even the names of my examiners, and I wasn't sure how that would fly with them (even though there was nothing negative). I would be happy to share mine with anyone interested, let me know your email and I will send it :-)

I stayed at the EC recommended hotel the Genessee Grande. It's like a $400 a night hotel but with the Excelsior discount it ended up being $109 per night, it was beautiful. It was within walking distance to the hospital and to Syracuse University and the downtown scene. You can pick Albany and Syracuse and see which one ya get assigned to :-) Lmk if I can answer any questions about Upstate for you!

Idk about Albany, but Syracuse is amazing. I have nothing but nice things to say. I can send you a copy of my CPNE journal if you like. I passed there back in September, along with a group of 8 other people I met online (my study buddy, another local friend, an LPN from work, an LPN from here at AN and a few other friends I made from networking online), we all tested from the end of August til the end of Sept and came out victorious :-). The hospital is beautiful and so modern, the staff was helpful, the CA was instantly calming, the CE's were very kind and down to earth and the downtown Syracuse scene was great, kinda wish I got to stay another day and hang out!!

I am also in Florida but I am on the eastern coast... about 50ish miles north of West Palm Beach :-)

Guys in retrospect, if you look over the Taylor's Fundamentals books that EC recommends for the H&S exam, you might see some very familiar things... ie every single critical element for the CPNE. The way things are explained and demonstrated in that book is pretty much word for word how they got the assessments for the PCS's. I got the book and the DVD's on Amazon.com, one edition early, for like $30. I didn't even open it until a week before I left for New York, and good Lord I wish I had done it sooner. It's all right there. I'm just sayin.

Yep it's just one exam for 6 credits. It's pretty much a fancy literacy test. I didn't study for it. I think Loops used the REA book when she took it though. You can check on the College Board website to see where you can take the CLEP exam, it cost me $77 plus a proctor fee, so it was like $115 for 6 credits, not bad at all :-)

If you need Humanities take the Analyzing & Interpreting Literature CLEP. Easy easy 6 credits and it's only one exam, so you'd just have to do two exams. I used the REA book for Sociology and passed, it's not too bad at all. Good luck :-)

I tested in Syracuse, NY at Upstate University Hospital. I would recommend it to anyone, had an amazing weekend there, the CA was just wonderful and all my CE's were great too. You can do it this year. You can take the FCCA and the CPNE when you are within 10 credits of your gen ed's being done. I had A&P and Micro to do when I applied for mine, and I took them over the summer before I took the CPNE.

studying for tests wasn't bad once i got into the swing of it. the first one i took i passed after a month, and then i got addicted and started testing every two weeks. not saying i recommend doing it that way, but i was in a hurry. i also had to do almost all of the gen-ed's so i did many clep exams and the rest through excelsior. i used saunders nclex-rn and a few times study group 101 but that was about it. i bought a couple of the texts but the only one i really ever opened was the med-surg one and then the fundamentals one for the cpne. i started in january 2011 and completed the cpne sept 2011. i graduated nov 2011 (because ec makes you wait forever for your diploma) and passed the nclex-rn dec 1st. the cpne really in retrospect is not a difficult exam. it is a doable exam with preparation and practice. they are not asking you to do anything hard except to keep yourself under control and do things their way. that being said, the weekend is brutal, mainly in part to stress, nerves, emotions. the only time i was ever more terrified was when i went in to be induced with my son. it is a rollercoaster but you are also the one controlling the gears. they tell you exactly what they expect of you, let you use any mind cues you want and you can ever bring your care plan and drug book. you have to be able to show them how you can prioritize and care for patients as a nurse under an incredible amount of pressure. the areas of care are basic and simple. overcoming yourself is the nightmare. i was a lpn yes. i have friends though who have also completed the program who were paramedics and 50/50 students and they did great throughout the whole program too. just have to be determined and self motivated and push yourself. excelsior will make you bring out more in yourself than you ever knew existed. good luck!

Reebok where in Florida are you?? I'm in Florida too. @Erica--yes it is a legit program. I am an EC graduate and a practicing RN :-)

I used the 3rd edition for the FCCA and the CPNE. I think I got it for $14 on ebay, just be careful there is absolutely NO writing in it if you purchase used, they will examine your books each and every day of the CPNE. That thing will become your best friend as you prepare for the CPNE, and you can take it with you as you test. You can also use tabs for the pages and put the diagnosis (and only the diagnosis) on there for quick references. :-)

You don't prepare for it. It's open book! The directions are vague, but if you call EC, they will tell you if you are on the right track. You can use your Mosby's Care plan book and your Taylor's fundamentals book for it. Don't sweat it. It really is as simple as it looks. It's a nice break before the beast. :-)

Hey Reebok, here are a few links for you that I frequented (and still do now and then). Great way to network with other students. I made so many great friends and it's nice to have the support. Lots of students on there trading supplies, bouncing ideas off each other, asking questions, setting up study dates, sharing experiences, and sending positive thoughts. You'll find alot of us alumni lurking around too, once you graduate it's nice to pass it forward, us EC students have to stick together since we don't have a classroom :-) https://www.facebook.com/groups/2389119042/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/123967580955207/ https://www.facebook.com/PasstheCPNE https://www.facebook.com/ExcelsiorECE

I work in a hospital and my study buddy was a paramedic so between the two of us we had enough supplies to keep us going the whole summer. I had gotten some stuff from a previous student like the wounds and the lab guide, vial adapters, syringes, etc, and whatever we didn't have we got from work. We had lab stations set up at both our houses, and we just got creative. For IV push just got an IV cath and cut a swim noodle and put an arm band on it and it worked good. For IM and SQ took a pair of my leggings and stuffed it with towels and grapefruits so it looked like a butt and made a belly button on the other side with a sharpie. The wound is a must, you have to get the EC wound, it's a goofy shape and it takes alot of practice to perfect. For the IVMB I got an IV pole off walmart.com for like $25 and dripped it into a cup, flower pot, whatever we felt like watering that day LOL. The grading sheets are in the study guide, I laminated them, one for the "student" so you fill everything out just like at the CPNE, the other for the "examiner" and one of us would practice, the other would time it and check off the critical elements. By the time I took my CPNE, I had those freakin things down to where I could start over completely and still have time--and I did end up having to during the SQ station--and passed it :-) Sheri's videos once you join you can watch 24/7 over and over, and the other great thing is that she sends you care plan homework and grades it, and also you can do evals and documentation too and she has videos going over that. I watched those videos for hours and even uploaded them into my phone so I could watch them until the very end. Happy to help w/any questions, let me know if there's anything else I can help ya with. Check out the CPNE FB page and Sheri's workshop FB page... networking with other students is really easy on there, great support available.

I was thinking about taking it through Straighterline. I'm waiting for my advisor to tell me whether or not that satisfies the requirement since it's one of the approved classes on the Straighterline website via Excelsior. Otherwise, I will definately check that class out, next one starts in March right? Thanks!!!

This was SO helpful!!! Thank you so much!! :-) I pretty much had my heart set on getting my BSN through EC anyways, I just wanted to learn a little more about it... so the financial aid + discount for being an EC alum + generous transfer in = sold!!! I will probably start up in May, tho I may try and test out of Stats, Ethics and some of the other testable gen-eds before then. Anyone else starting up soon??

I did an online workshop and I passed w/out repeats 1st try. Sheri Taylor's online workshop is awesome and well worth the money, and she's there for you from start to finish with support and answering questions. I think it's $147 a month. Used what I learned on there and practiced and studied my butt off, everyday I studied for atleast a few hours, and me and my study buddy would study for 5-8 hours a day atleast once a week, just writing out care plans, documenting, doing labs, assessments etc. Read the study guide from start to finish 4x. I also did the online documentation conference through EC and that was great,kinda expensive but worth it. Also used Rob's DVDs, got them passed down from another student--the material is outdated (I think he was prob a 14th or earlier edition tester) but as far as a general idea of what to expect and the flow of things, he's really got a good method and I tweaked his mneumonics to work for me, I used alot of his "script" too in my PCS's. I think in total I spent a few hundred dollars on prep for the CPNE, but not having to take the thing ever again and passing on the first try, was priceless. Good luck!!!! :-)

Thank you for the info!! The RN-MSN seems like a great option with them. I have e-mailed my advisor from the ADN program but they want me to enroll before they can really tell me what I need, but they did offer me a discount on enrollment if I enroll within a year of November. After getting my ADN w/EC, I have no desire to ever sit in a classroom again. I am definately in love with the freedom from distance learning. A friend of mine is going to UCF online but since I did almost all my pre-reqs with EC, I'd have to repeat alot of them to get in. I know this is a really dumb question, but how do the group projects work, since it's not face to face?

I am looking at a few other schools too, Loops. I really love EC and how it was set up but I am making a sheet on all the BSN options for me and I need to pick one soon. The big seller for me is gonna be the transfer in policy. I know EC gives something lke 65 or 68 credits which is really good. I am also looking at Fort Hays State and Slippery Rocks University, they are accredited and the cost is decent. I am just waiting to hear whether they are EC friendly since almost all of my pre-reqs are from EC, and I don't wanna have to repeat. I am hoping someone here will give us some insight!!! I am hoping to start by April or May to get it done this year, once I get out of school mode, it's going to be very hard to get me back in!!! Are you looking at the RN-MSN option too w/EC? I was looking at the one for nursing education, but if I'm gonna go that route, I might as well wait until my son is a little older and in school. I want to enjoy him while he's still a little snuggler and thinks I'm cool :-)