Saved Chronicity for last...

erinp88 · Feb 16, 2010

Do you know what that is equal to in the old curriculum? Is that NC 5? If it is, that was the one I saved for last too. After it was all said it done, I felt it was over-hyped. I wasted lots of time postponing the test and not necessarily studying that much more. If you can tell me what it's equivalent to, I may have more words of wisdom. Otherwise, I say schedule the test and do your normal schedule routine. Sometimes things aren't as bad as they seem once you get going.

GCmomRN · Feb 16, 2010

I think it's NC3 without the repro part.. I'm pretty sure the HDLS series is NC4-6 so I just took NC5 two weeks ago. I thought that one was hard but I also really prepared for it because it was supposed to be the worst!

erinp88 · Feb 16, 2010

Yikes! NC 3 was a long time ago for me! I didn't think it was too terribly bad. That was one of the ones I studied about 2 weeks with a TCN module and got a B. Sorry I can't help you more!

GCmomRN · Feb 17, 2010

LOL, thanks Erin! Isn't it funny how quickly you forget. I swear I walk out of that testing room and I couldn't tell you what the content was! They don't have to worry about me passing along information!! I'm planning on studying for 2 weeks for this one and I'll see if I feel ready. I gave myself 2 weeks for HDLS3 and I got through all the material in 1 week (I pretty much studied constantly for a week!)

dorrybnursing · Feb 17, 2010

I'm going to jump right in here and say something that has been bothering me about the whole Excelsior experience. Either you guys are way smarter than me (and I have enough confidence in myself to doubt that) or you are not taking the nature of the Excelsior exams seriously. Come on 2 weeks and you are testing out of a college course. I know I over study but I want to know the material not just pass the test. I have learned a lot in my 5 years of nursing and I also learned a lot in LPN school, but maybe Excelsior is turning out RNs with minimal knowledge. just my 2 cents.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Feb 17, 2010

I averaged about 3 to 4 weeks of study for each exam (more on the side of 3 than 4), but I also had my nose in a book every spare moment, and when you work three 12's a week, that's a lot of spare moments. I agree about knowing the material vs. just studying to pass a test -- trust me, even as an EC grad myself, it bothers me as well. This is not a shortcut.

GCmomRN · Feb 17, 2010

Speaking for myself, I have the knowledge from RT school and the experience from working in critical care that MOST of this is a review for me. So yes, I can pass these exams with only a little bit of studying AND know the material (because I already know it). I'm not sure the difference between LPN school and RT school, but I had a cadaver anatomy class, pathology, pharmacology (in the same class as RN's), etc. I certainly do not take this program lightly, I will not test if I don't feel I know the material (I don't think you can pass the exams if you don't learn the material). Most of the exams have taken me 4+ weeks to complete but now that I'm nearing the end I'm motivated to get them over with. If I push myself hard enough I think I can cover enough material in 2 weeks.

erinp88 · Feb 17, 2010

I'm going to jump right in here and say something that has been bothering me about the whole Excelsior experience. Either you guys are way smarter than me (and I have enough confidence in myself to doubt that) or you are not taking the nature of the Excelsior exams seriously. Come on 2 weeks and you are testing out of a college course. I know I over study but I want to know the material not just pass the test. I have learned a lot in my 5 years of nursing and I also learned a lot in LPN school, but maybe Excelsior is turning out RNs with minimal knowledge. just my 2 cents.

I'm not going to lie. I'm preparing for the CPNE and I don't feel as if I know THAT MUCH MORE than 2 years ago when I started this program. That's great you want to 'learn' the stuff, but there's certain things that are included in the curriculum that are not going to help me be a better nurse and a large amount of it was review from my LPN program.

My husband has a degree in packaging engineering. He tells me all the time that his college coursework could not prepare him for what he has learned on the job. I believe the same goes for nursing. You can throw all the diseases, disorders, lab values, statistics, treatments, medications you want at me in the theory portion and I'll remember it - for a bit. Until I work consistently and review/perform certain things, there's no way I'm going to remember it forever. Many BSN's I know laughed when I told them what I was studying. They couldn't even remember several of the conditions that we were expected to know in the concept exams. Point being, most nurses are going to specialize in a certain area anyways and become experts in whatever conditions they work with.

When I prepared for these exams I was not working for the most part and I don't have children to distract me. I studied 4-8 hours per day. I poured my heart into the material I was covering. Yes, I did fail one of my exams and it was devastating. It messed with my confidence so much, it took me 7 months to test again.

So, if spending a large amount of time on the exams is what is comfortable for you - great. For me, sometimes it's not quantity, it's the quality that is put into the preparation.