Someone here asked me to post a review of Rob's CPNE DVD once I received it and watched it, so here is my opinion ...
It's great! :)
There has been some criticism because he's charging money for it, instead of posting it on YouTube or something similar for free. But frankly, I have a slow-ish internet connection at home (WildBlue satellite; we don't have cable or DSL out in the woods on the side of a mountain), and watching it on YouTube would make me insane with the lag time, plus I would exceed my monthly download allowance in just a few days. It's a large file, and would be too big for YouTube. I really needed it to be something I could watch while NOT online. He's offered it as a download (AVI file that will play in Windows Media Player) or as a regular DVD, which worked great for me. Providing both formats, along with setting up a website and allowing large downloads (lotsa bandwidth!), are not free, or even cheap; thus, the charging.
So I have my laptop set up in my practice room so that I can have the DVD going while I walk through my areas of care (AOCs). I have a dummy and all the lab stations in that room. I can post pictures of my set-up, if anyone's interested. It's kinda goofy. :)
Watching another student go through the AOCs has been very helpful for me -- the only alum I personally know did her CPNE in 2001, and doesn't really remember every nitty-gritty detail. So for me, watching Rob's DVD is like practicing with another student.
What Rob did was such a simple but smart thing! Setting up a mock PCS room with a dummy and doing the AOCs on a daily basis will reinforce good habits for the CPNE, and will make the AOCs very familiar when you're actually at the CPNE, doing the PCSs.
