question about EC weekend clinical

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I am an LPN and recently decided to go to EC for my RN when I ran into someone at work who had just come back from the clinical weekend for EC. She FAILED because of not melting jello in the microwave to measure it for a patient with fluid mgmt. This has made me very nervous. Does anyone have info on the clinical test to share? I am so worried to go through this program and fail the clinical (a lot of $) to pay to take it again! This woman I am speaking of was a very bright girl with wonderful grades and did great on all aspects of the clinical except that jello incident..

Thanks,

Kris

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Specializes in MED-SURG,CARDIO/PULM, Home Health.

Don't be nervous! u will do just fine, that was just a honest mistake your friend made(failed because of that she must had a VERY strict instructor) just go into it with the attitude I can do it!:yeah:

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Although it can be expensive, a person has up to three tries to pass the CPNE and during any one CPNE you are given second chances within that particular weekend. This is still a better situation than not being able to complete an RN education at all. You have to make certain that you put in an honest effort to prepare yourself by practicing mock skills labs and patient care situations over and over. Most people have problems because they get so nervous that they forget something. Within reason, slow yourself down when you do things to give yourself time to think. You can do this just as well as all those who have already passed.

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Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.

Thread moved to Distance Learning forum.

PS- is this Jello thing new? This was not something that was encountered or discussed when I was an EC student.

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I don't know if it is new or not. The nurses RN'S &LPN's were stumped by this. The instructor told this girl that in mgmt. of fluids the jello must be measured by putting it in a microwave and melting it for accuracy. She stated that for a patient on fluid management this is vital. This is the reason she failed her clinical. They said the importance of FLUID MANAGEMENT.

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Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.

That's just weird. Not to sound mean, but I'm not so sure she's being 100% honest with you about that. Even if she did fail that particular PCS for something minor like that, she would have had a chance to do another one.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Honestly? That sounds like complete and total nonsense to me. I'm sorry, but it does. I passed my CPNE in June, and never, ever did anything like that come up. I encourage you to participate in EC's Electronic Peer Network (EPN) when your CPNE time comes -- seriously, every possible scenario is discussed, sometimes to the point of ridiculousness. The EPN is monitored by faculty, too. And it all the time I've participated on the EPN, not once has anyone had to microwave Jello.

And yes, the important thing to remember is you can repeat one adult and one pediatric patient care situation (PCS), and you can also repeat each of the four lab stations once. A person DOES NOT FAIL because of ONE MISTAKE. EVER. It might be the LAST mistake they make, but it's not a failure on the first! There is some leeway, a bit of a safety net.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

I passed my CPNE as well, and have never heard of anyone dealing with a similar situation. I agree with Lunah, though, that no one will fail the entire CPNE for only one minor mistake. (Physical/Emotional Jeopardy I think is the only instance I can think of, besides acedemic dishonesty.)

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

But even if you fail a PCS based on Physical/Emotional Jeopardy, you can repeat a PCS, as long as that wasn't your last try. The study guide states that if you fail on physical or emotional jeopardy, the PCS will be terminated immediately and that PCS will be a fail.

Academic dishonesty will get you thrown out of EC completely, that's true!

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

if she failed one pcs she would have been able to do another as the others said. one thing to mention is with ec it does not matter if you have been a nurse 50 years or 50 minutes...nor does it matter if your grades have been 4.0 since you fell out the sac you must know the critical elements and do things the ec way or you jut wont pass... what it sounds like is maybe she was not as prepared as she should have been or she is not telling the whole story ..i'm not trying to be mean but this is just the way it is with ec...dont let this scare you from doing the program. if you prepare and study you can pass the cpne. :wink2:

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Specializes in pediatric, geriatric.

Could it have been that the patient was on strict I and O's??

Maybe this patient had to have input that was under strict guidelines. I am just throwing that out there because I had a patient once(in real life though) that the doctor was very strict about her intake/output and was constantly calling me to get her totals and her weights.

You never know if this info. was passed during report and she was too nervous and didn't hear it.

Otherwise I just can't see why you would do that.

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Yes the patient was on strict fluid mgmt. and that is why the instructor failed her.. He stated that the only way to be completely accurate about her intake was to microwave the jello and measure it....

Kris

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