RTsoonRN

FCCA, the Focused Clinical Competency Assessment, is basically a 2 part written(computer) evaluation of your clinical assessment skills with patients and a multidisciplinary setting. It is now done entirely on the computer, and per Excelsior academic honesty policy is discouraged to be discussed in any detail on allnurses. I took the first round last year and it is a bit ambiguous and difficult, but doable. The CPNE, which for me is on undetermined hiatus, is the clinical practical exam of both PCS check offs, lab check offs, and from what I hear is a complete monster.

pCO2 of 181. Pt was "a little tired"

Yea, i appreciate that. I'm in CT, so a little farther for me :)

I've actually been dying to see what Sherri's workshop is like, despite excelsior advising against it, and onY need to find time to get down to Atlanta.

Just ordered the CPNE skills kit. Been studying and writing my pneumonics and lab steps every day for the last 3 weeks. Still can't decide if I want/need to order the Excelsior CPNE workbook and DVD,also don't know if I should take Sherri's workshop or Excelsiors. Any suggestions?? Also stressed as heck about the prep but how's everyone else doing?

I live in CT too and I feel your pain. Biggest waste of money.

Agreed, I went with that loser organization Rue and completely regret it. Don't go with TCN or Rue you can do EVERYTHING through Excelsior. I would never recommend any of these organizations. Save your money.

Sounds familiar, I used RueEd and they have nothing to do with Excelsior. They did nothing for me except schedule for their "prep" classes and I'll still be paying them for another 4 years. Listen to Excelsior when they say they have NOTHING to with these programs they are a rip-off. Sigh.....I should've just used Excelsior.

Have you been using the exam content guides?

I can't answer that entire question, ( academic honesty policy) but yes the practice exams are INVALUABLE!! That depends on your strengths, I found some parts easier ( pulmonary, cardiac ), some (metabolic, endocrine, etc) you may find more difficult, it just depends on your strengths.

DON'T use RUE!!!!! I've been an RT for 3 years and I'm doing the program now. I'm done with all the theory courses and doing the FCCA now. I unfortunately went with rue and they are a huge waste of time and a HUGE waste of money!! There is nothing you can't learn doing the RUE prep hat you can't just do directly through Excelsior self study, Exam Content Guides, and practice tests. And, you probably can do it faster!

I totally agree with you.

I'm an RT, and currently in Nursing school. Your brother is right in a sense, RT school is easier than RN school, but it depends on how you look at it. RN school is difficult for me and I imagine others too because of the multiple body systems to learn the overload of memorization you have to do, the multifaceted approach to nursing, the myriad of procedures to learn, etc... RT schools different in that the dedicated learning of just a couple of systems and the same length of an ASN program allows the instructors to delve DEEPLY into those systems incorporating a lot of physiology, math, and physics concepts. Not that Nursing doesn't, but it just,to me, seemed to be more involved in RT school. I have chosen Nursing, because, while the jobs aren't bountiful, there seems to be more options than for RT's.

I'll PM it to you.

Wow, lots of questions!! First of all, i'm still pretty green as an RT, i've only been doing it for 3 years and I have several of my certifications, but they weren't doing me any good at the hospital where I work (small community hospital), and since i've always wanted to do nursing, this was a great opportunity. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of info about it and I (foolishly) went with a publishing company (RueEd, complete waste of time and money) to do my studies. You can go straight with Excelsior, print out their exam content guides, get the books, and as long as you are good at self study you should be set. Since I was a recent grad, I didn't have to worry about Gen Studies except for Lifespan Develop Psych, and Info Lit. As far as the books, if they're the ones Excelsior is currently using, i'd be happy to shake them off, because, since I went with that cruddy RueEd, they used different text books and I had to rebuy my books for the FCCA. I have the Fundamentals of Nursing text, Med-Surg, Repro Health (Maternal Nursing), and Transitions book. As far as what I used to study for the exams I used the RueEd crud, but ended up in the end using the Excelsior exam content guides, and Excelsior practice tests. Was/is it hard, yes and no. When you do the program, you can't think like an RT anymore just an RN, I did good with the Pulmonary/Cardiac stuff obviously, but like the Metabolic/Endocrine had me pulling my hair out. And even with the Pulmonary/Cardiac stuff some of the questions would leave me scratching my head like why would you answer it like that?? It may be a little easier for me considering i'm still new at RT, I don't know how long you've been doing it so it may be harder/easier for you.

Yes. I've been doing it since Jan last year, and made it into the first round FCCA computerized, doing that now.

Agreed. Not to mention getting completely ripped off by publishing companies like RueEd.

I did Rue, and boy was that a mistake. I regret not just going direct with Excelsior.

You did the right thing catching it when you did. Take it from an RT in school, I've seen these pts many times, they are fast crashers and slow crawlers (fast to desat and slow, sometimes painfully so, to crawl back up). He/She Han too many comorbidities to have you be the cause of his death. Take it from the seasoned ladies on this forum...he was already going.

I was just like you, in RT school. I'm one of those people who feels that if there isn't anything to say, why make up idle c**p just to maintain conversation. I'm a very introverted person. But, I have come to love talking to my patients about that "idle c**p" and find it one of the most enjoyable parts of the job. Some of these patients have VERY interesting stories to tell, and whether thy know it or not always have something to teach. It just takes practice and time, but you'll find your niche

Now i'm not an RN yet so I don't have all the funny stories y'all have, but, I did have a pt tell me (and she had one of those ortho beds with the assist bar) that i'll just hop in the bed and grab onto the bar and you can go to town on me....and she was dead serious. Borders on SH but I just had to walk out of that room laughing.

Ok so this is my first thread so I hope I do it ok. I just had a question for all you "salty-dogs" and students that hopefully are experiencing/have experienced the same thing. Right now I am an RT with several years experience going for my RN. I am doing it online through Rue/Excelsior (i'm sure most of you are familiar with the concept of the program) because I am working 40 hours and taking care of a 10 & 6 y/o. My question is I find myself CONSTANTLY reading the texts, doing the workbooks, doing the online material, and then doing it over and over and over and over. I ABSOLUTELY love it! But, I find myself getting more and more exausted and lots of the time barely able to keep my eyes open and concentrate. I've passed all my exams on the first shot every time and have been doing this non-stop since Janurary. I just wanted to know if this is what it's like for someone in a traditional nursing school/class because I find myself trying to push myself harder and reading or doing anything remotely related to nursing even if it doesn't have to do the class(es) i'm taking because I worry about the job prospect of someone who has taken an online bridge program to ASN as opposed to a traditional program ASN.