chayes

I'm with you BostonNurse, I live in Kansas City, Mo. & there are none close to me. I've been a Paramedic for 27 years and have good assessment skills but none with wound dressing, etc. The CPNE is a critical test that costs over $2000 to take plus additional costs for airfare & lodging. If I fail the first time then I have to reapply and pay the fee again. The two workshops that I'm looking at will cost me @ $1000 with workshop fees, air fare & lodging but they claim > 95% pass rate on the first attempt so it's easy in my mind to justify the additional fees to pass the first time. I think I've decided to take Sheri Taylor's workshop in Atlanta in March. Hope this helps, good luck...

After all this work and heartache I'm finally near the end.. I passed LS3 last week (my LAST Nursing exam) and just registered for FCCA!! The test should be here around Christmas. I'm well into A&P and should be finished with that by the time my FCCA arrives. Microbiology is my final course. After speaking with my Academic Adviser I decided to use the study guides and test out rather than take an online course for an entire semester for A&P and Micro. I've been following BeachieRN & Loops progress and I'm encouraged by their accomplishments. Beachie has to be a STUD to pass NCLEX in 75 questions!!! I've been a Firefighter/Paramedic for 32 years and this is one of the most exciting times and accomplishments in my career! I'm retiring soon as moving on as an RN. This forum has given me much encouragement even tho I don't post a lot, just reading others problems, solutions & supporting each other is tremendous! Looking at some of the posts from new students about Transitions or any of the preliminary Nursing Theory exams really makes me feel like an "old hand" in the exam trenches. Words of encouragement to the new students....keep at it, read your content guides and follow this forum. Graduation, here I come!!!

I just got home from taking the exam for LS2 and it's a very difficult exam but I passed with a C, this is only the second C that I've gotten. The first was Transitions and that was because that class was SOOOO very boring and dry. I'm normally very confident during my exams and finish them fairly rapidly but I had to take over 2 hours to complete this one! I also had to "flag" over %40 to go back and reread those questions and rationalize my answer. For those getting ready to take this exam know your anti-psychotic meds very well, also know your lab values for endocrine disorders. I hope I'm not violating academic policy but I can't be any more specific than that. There were some discrepancies between several of the text reading assignments. One specifically had to do with pain management of pancreatitis. One text states than morphine is the standard of care but another stated that because of spasm of the sphincter of Oddi that demerol was recommended, still another stated that because of the risk of seizures demerol was not to be used?! I can't say that particular question came up during my exam but there is some confusion. I'm now moving on to LS3 which is my final Nursing assignment before FCCA & CPNE. I'll take A&P and Micro while waiting for my CPNE test date. I've seen much discussion on this forum about taking 8 week online classes for A&P and Micro as opposed to just studying the text and then testing out. Is there a particular reason for this or are these two classes that intimidating? I guess that I'll have to speak with my Academic Adviser to get a recommendation. Anyway, good luck to everyone and keep the faith (mainly in yourself!!)

I'm 57 and completing a Paramedic to RN bridge program after 30 years in the Fire Service. I fully intend to work as a Nurse for at least 10 years. For me it seemed to be a logical step to RN after that many years as a Paramedic. Go for your dream, there are many here who have!

Hey Nervous1, I've read a few of your posts on other threads and it seems that we are pretty much on the same track. I'm testing LS2 11-16 and have already started LS3 (my final nursing class before FCCA & CPNE). I still have A&P and Micro to do but I'll try to do those while I'm waiting for my CPNE date. Good luck with your next class, we're almost there...

Just wondering if anyone is planning on going to either Tina's or Sherri's CPNE workshop in Jan. The cost, at least for me with airfare and hotel, is going to be about the same. I'm starting to get a bit nervous about the CPNE.

I had my copy printed in B/W and bound at Office Depot for $42.

Thanks for the confidence. I've done National Registry as a Paramedic, full ACLS, PALS, PEPP, PHTLS, AMLS stations that are far more complex than this but this one has me shaking in my boots.

Thanks for your reply. Seems like we are on the same timeline. Lynn who? Could you provide a link or her website address? I hope to do an actual workshop to work through the stations and get hands-on help. Are care plans required for CPNE?

I've not read many posts about the CPNE workshops in the past but I'm now within 2 classes of being able to apply so it's becoming a priority. Of the posts that I HAVE read most have to do with either Sherri Taylor (EC?) or another provider named Tina. I'd like some input from participants from either workshop about their experiences and recommendations. A Google search for CPNE workshops come up with thousands of hits and I don't have the time or the patience to research that many. One of the websites indicates that they provide or grade care plans. Are care plans required for CPNE? I've spent all of my study time in the content guides and have not done ONE care plan. Would now be an appropriate time to print off the CPNE study guide for early review? I know so little about CPNE that I don't know what questions to ask but I hope to test in mid to late Oct. I live in NW Missouri so any workshop is going to require travel. I need to make a decision in the next several weeks so that I can make reservations, travel arrangements and schedule time off. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hey OSUFan, I took Health and Safety several weeks ago and passed with an A. I was really sweating this one because of the emphasis on Electrolyte imbalances and ABG's. I studied out of the Content Guide then found that other texts that were listed for reading assignments, but not particularly for a given subsection, had very good additional reading. Particularly the Med-Surg book then I checked my knowledge base using the appropriate section of the Saunders NCLEX Study Guide to show me my weak points. I also found two websites that really helped me with with ABG interpretation: Welcome to Hansen Nursing ABG Interpretation Quiz I don't know if this strategy will be helpful for you but it worked for me. Always try to see if there is additional information in your other textbooks that may word a concept in a different manner that is easier for you to apply. I know how my mind works & I tend to be more of a visual learner. Hope this helps....

I'll be following this thread this because I'm having some difficulty deciding whether to take A&P through Edukan (which many of ya'll have taken and recommend but seems a little pricey) or self study out of the Content Guide. I've been a Paramedic for 26 years and feel that I have a very good foundation in A&P so I'm a little hesitant about spending @$1000 to Edukan only to find out that it offered no challenge as opposed to self study only to find out that I totally blew the exam!!!! I guess the best approach would be to download the Content Guide and see how comfortable I am with the material before making a decision. Anyone else have the same issues????

Thanks for the support Loops! I hope to take Repo in the next couple of weeks, let me know how you do on it. I've seen mixed opinions on the difficulty of that section. I'm grateful on finding this forum for support and down-right encouragement. My fiance has her degree in Social Work and is very supportive but doesn't grasp the depth of knowledge required for our chosen field so she can't really help with some of my frustration. Just reading others posts about some of the same issues I face and how they successfully resolved those issues with a positive outlook helps me continue.

I passed Chronicity today with a B! I felt pretty confident with the material and perhaps a bit over-confident and smug since I passed Health Differences with an A. The test was tough and I had to flag over 30 questions for review to be answered later but I did pass! I've already begun Reproductive Health but plan on taking a detour after testing this segment. According to EC I need to be within 10 hours of completion in order to take the FCCA & CPNE. I have 11 hours of academics yet to complete so I'm taking Life Span Development Psy. next that will cover my requirements for that class a well as an additional 1 hour for Additional Social Sciences that I have yet to complete then back to LS1,2,&3 for completion of the Nursing core. Since there is a waiting list for CPNE of 4-8 months I'll use that time to complete Micro and A&P then NCLEX study!!!!! I've heard so many good reviews of Sherri Taylors workshop that I hope to attend sometime in the last quarter of this year! Sounds like a plan & I hope it works......

If you're taking your RN through Excelsior contact your Academic Adviser, especially if you haven't take A&P yet.I'm in the same predicament. I called my Adviser and she told me that if I took an A&P that met full body requirements and totaled more than 4 credit hours the additional over 4 would satisfy the Sciences Supportive of Nursing requirement.