mo09

Is the material of the Urbane scrubs hard and scratchy? I am wondering because I just got a pair from Amazon, and they don't fit like I feel like Urbanes should and the material is so hard and itchy! I am curious as to their "authenticity," but I have never tried on Urbane scrubs before!

I have just completed all my degree requirements for my Associate of Applied Science in Nursing and have accepted a full time RN position (7p-7a) in my local ER. My sister got me a lightweight littmann in 2007 when I graduated highschool. I have used it all throught EMT-IV school, Paramedic school and as a paramedic on an ALS unit since 2010, and also at a clinic. I LOVE my Littmann, but I am ready to upgrade! I would love the most recent Cardiology one, BUT it MUST be the Rose Pink/Breast Cancer Awareness color! The ER I'll be working at wears only black scrubs, so the hot pink color is pretty important to me so that I have some pink to look at! I am looking for information on which stethoscope is the "BEST OF THE BEST," it doesn't neccessarily have to be Littmann. Also, does anyone knows where online I can purchase the most recently released Littman in the Rose Pink/Breast cancer awareness color? Does anyone know if I can find the above type and color and get it engraved? If anyone has ANY advice on a stethoscope brand that is even BETTER than the Littman, PLEASE let me know! I am researching this because it's going to be an investment I plan to use for years to come (I've used my old one for the past 9 years fairly regularly!)!

I just passed both of my FCCAs today so It's time to start preparing for the CPNE! Please help me by telling me ALL about it! (Workshops, classes you took to prepare, what the best sites are.... ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!!!) Thank you!

I started in 2011 and I'm FINALLY done with all my prerequisites and nursing theory exams!! I did use the College network and Excelsior practice exams for all but one of the nursing theory exams (Health differences. Keep reading for more about that.) I made mostly Bs, but I made a C on Lifespan 3 and a D on my first attempt at Health Differences. The D was all my fault. I didn't get the Excelsior practice exams for it and also didn't read over all the College network material. I made a B on the second attempt! Everything I could find on Lifespan 3 said it was really hard. I felt pretty comfortable with the material and felt certain I could make at least a B, but made a C. If I had it to do over I would not have used the College Network. If you are thinking of signing up with them please do your research first! They have a F with the Better Business Bureau and currently owe me $1,050 in exam fee checks.

I'm interested in hearing from others who are currently in, or have been in (whether you successfully completed your degree or didn't), Excelsior's Paramedic to RN Bridge program. What's your story? What is/was your experience with the program? Do you have any advice? I have been a paramedic for four years, worked at a walk-in clinic for a year, and before that worked as a tech. In the ER for 3 years. My passion is in EMS, but I've always wanted to fly and there are so many options and different directions you can take with nursing. I wouldn't mind doing the FNP thing, but That's allot of school and I don't really like school. I did A&P and Micro through EC. A&P took me over 6 months to prepare for the exam. I bought the bundle of learning materials through EC and it felt like there was SO much info. I couldn't figure out what was important and what wasn't. I made a C. Then after hearing about the College Network, I signed up with them. I used only TCN materials for Micro and it took me half the time and I made an A. I made B's on Transition and Essentials of Nursing: Health Safety. I thought I was doing good and had this "self-study" stuff all figured out, but last month I took Essentials of Nursing: Health Differences and made a D!! I'm really frustrated at this point because I keep reading where people flew through the nursing classes and I feel like I'm going SO slow! I heard about study group 101 on here the other day, so I bought the Study Guide and the Audio Review. I'm hoping between TCN and SG101, I can get this Essentials: Health Differences done (I can re-take the exam at the end of this month) and then be able to speed up and finish the remaining exams. I'm having a hard time thinking like a nurse and not a medic for example, the whole "Nursing Process" deal and "Nursing Diagnosis" and "Nursing Interventions." I'm also wondering, do you study on shift? How does that work out for you? I had a partner who it seemed like would always start talking to me or trying to show me stuff or being loud or distracting in some way, EVERY time I started studying. He didn't do it on purpose, but it got pretty frustrating. Or when I'm in the zone and focused, and the tones go off. I haven't been able to find many other posts about the EC Paramedic to Rn Bridge program. I hope to find others on here who "get" what I'm going through and are experiencing or have experienced things that are more similar to me than say, LPNs or Respiratory therapists, etc.

Wow! That's good to know! I figured that the NCLEX questions would be very similar to the questions on The National Registry for EMTs and Medics! I remember one of the "SATA" questions on the exam described signs and symptoms of a respiratory patient and then asked something like, "what should the nurse do for the pt?" I think I selected ALL of the choices provided. That question blew my mind for some reason. One of the choices was to "put the pt. on oxygen". There was a separate question later; which, was similar to the one I just mentioned, where one of the answer choices was something like, "administer oxygen as ordered." As a paramedic, I don't have to wait for someone to tell me I can give the pt. O2, if they need O2, I just do it! But, when I was a tech. In the ED, I remembered the nurses could not administer O2 until it was written or ordered. Is that something I need to look out for when testing? Also, can you explain in more detail what you mean by, "nearly all successful students rely on the sources directly from EC (content guide & practice tests) for their primary study outline"? If you have the time to, read my previous reply. It has more details about why I am asking. THANK YOU SO MUCH for the info and I WILL be purchasing the EC practice tests for all future exams! I just need to understand exactly HOW to use the EC content guides to be proficient on the exams!! . . .

Thank you so much for the reply and info! This is probably the dumbest thing you have ever heard, but I'm not 100% what you mean by "follow the content guide outline." Do you take each section from the content guide and then research the topics or am I misunderstanding? If that IS what you're saying, then where do you do your research to master the content? I have about 4 months left until TCN loan is paid off. The loan included TCN modules for each nursing exam and also for each EC nursing exam fee. So, I would LIKE to know that I haven't wasted all that money and also that I don't have to pay for more learning materials, but I have made it this far and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to complete my nursing degree. I am wondering if I will be able to find the appropriate material on the EC content guide using TCN modules. I have also read and have had people tell me that ALL they used to prepare for the exams was EC content guide, practice exams, and "Google" when they needed more info about the topics listed in the content guides. Or am I going to need to buy the exact learning materials suggested by EC for each of my remaining nursing exams? I WILL be buying the EC practice exams from now on! Thank you for mentioning that because I realized that I did not do that for Essents: Health Differences, but I DID for the other EC exams I made As and Bs on!! Lastly, I have seen "study group-101" mentioned in several of the posts on here, but I have never heard of it. I was wondering if you could give me some info about it and what the cost is???

The first Excelsior exam I took was A&P. It took me over 6 months to feel like I mastered the content and to schedule the exam. I studied the recommended materials from Excelsior and did the practice Exams to prepare. I made a C. Then I began preparing to take the micro exam the same way and again, I was overwhelmed with ALL the information and spent several months studying on my own with the materials from the Excelsior book store, so after talking to some co-workers (I'm a paramedic), I signed up with The College Network and about 2 months later I made an A on my micro exam!! I then finished a few pre-reqs and I have passed the Transition and Health Safety exams, all with As and Bs! I took the Essentials: Health Differences exam last month and again, used TCN to prepare. I made a D on it. I felt like I had mastered the content because I made over a 90% on all of TCN end of ch. quizzes and took TCN practice exams. A majority of the posts I've read say that this exam was easy and people made As on it after barely studying, so I'm feeling pretty discouraged right now! I would REALLY appreciate any advice, help, or tips for this exam! One thing I noticed different on this exam were the questions that said, "check all that apply" instead of being just multiple choice. Those really threw me off because with the regular multiple choice questions, you can at least normally narrow your choices down between two of the answers if you're having trouble. Also, I feel like I may have spent too much time studying the lab values and not enough time on other things. And I'm having trouble differentiating the S&Sx of things like hypo&hyper calcemia/kalemia/natremia, etc. because allot of the S&Sx are the same!! Again, I could really use some help on what to do to learn the material for this exam! Thanks in advance!!