Saved Chronicity for last...

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.

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!

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!

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!)

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.

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.

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.