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paramedic to nurse


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If I am not mistaken, "The College Network" is one of the many companies that provides students with cram material in order to help you pass the written exams for the Excelsior College program. I have had many medic friends enrol in the program. I have known one (1) to complete it. All the rest spent thousands of dollars for nothing, never finishing their core courses or failing the CPNE. The LVN's I have known to do the program fared much better.

Have you taken all of your basic degree requirements yet? If not, quit wasting your time and money. Nobody who takes their nursing exams before getting their core requirements ever completes the program. It's a FULL TIME year of school just to get your core requirements done. Two years or more of part time, which is what you will probably have to do if you are working fire or EMS shifts. If you do the nursing exams first, you won't remember any of it when it comes time to take your final and your boards.

What happens here is what happens all throughout EMS. People get ahead of themselves. They want to rush right to dessert without first eating their salad or main course. Consequently, they end up intellectually malnourished and never achieve their potential.

Even done in proper sequence, the completion rate of Excelsior students is abysmally low. And even LVN's with a tonne of hospital experience fail the CPNE in large numbers. If you are nothing but a medic without significant hospital experience, and you somehow manage to complete the program and pass the CPNE, you're going to suck as a nurse. And every other nurse around you will know it.

But yeah, do a forum search for "excelsior," "regents," and "college network" to find plenty of prior discussion here.

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Dustdevil, that trend seems consistent over in my area as well. We have had 4 paramedics, 1 RT, and 1 LPN try completing nursing school this way. They started about 2 years ago. Everybody with the exception of the LPN dropped out. The LPN is still in the program and expected to finished his "accelerated clinical" in July 2006. We have had 1 other paramedic enroll in a 2 year nursing program. He is expected to graduate in December of 2007. He is gearing up to take the NCLEX PN this summer.

Take care,

chbare.

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Yeah, it all looks fast and easy on paper, but I have never known anybody to do it who thought it was fast or easy. It always takes significantly longer than the two-years (minimum) it would take to do it traditionally, and it definitely isn't cheaper! So really, there really is no true benefit to the program. They only people they should even let in are LVN's who already have ALL prerequisite courses and lots of experience.

Don't misunderstand me. I respect the hell out of anybody who can git 'er done. It takes a tonne more effort and discipline to finish Excelsior than a traditional nursing school. But I don't respect most people who enter the program because they are doing it thinking it is an easy shortcut and are just trying to get a licence without the effort the rest of us put in. They never finish either, proving my point, so there is nothing to respect.

Good luck to ya! But honestly, I think there is a good chance you have wasted your money, just like 99 percent of the others.

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