Excelsior College CPNE LPN to RN Examination Albany New York

Many of these comments are by nursing students, or people working in the medical field in some capacity. As a nurse, being empathetic, considerate, and above all else professional is an integral part of the the occupation. The majority of these comments are extremely unprofessional; if this is how you treat people, it gives an abundance of cause for concern regarding your career choice. If you did your research you would find that between eighty and ninety percent of reviews for excelsior are negative and express the surprising unprofessional attitude that the staff giving the exam exhibited. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would advocate that the program is great, but it is not fair nor warranted to be so critical and utterly rude of those who do not feel so.

I passed the CPNE with no repeats and I know several other nurses who have passed their CPNE also. It boils down to preparation and controlling your nerves. Just because you are a very respected nurse in your field who was thought to be an RN by your peers does mean you were ready to take this very stressful exam. I don't know where you work but where I work actually taking lunch on your scheduled "lunch break" is a gift from Heaven. The Excelsior program is made for people with the self discipline to instruct themselves through a Associate nurse program which normally takes 2-3 years in the traditional college world. I studied for the just the CPNE alone for 3 months straight almost every single day at least an hour, sometimes more. I  was very competent LPN, also very much respected by my peers and thought of as a strong and reliable resource in my field but I would have never, ever passed that CPNE on that alone. You have to prepare yourself for this. Excelsior is not out trying to fail people to make money. The waiting lists for some sites are months to a year long. They have plenty of people waiting in line to earn their degrees. Take responsibility for yourself for goodness sake !

Get real! Excelsior Employee! You would have done better by not responding at all!

It does not matter how long you have been a nurse. In fact, being an LPN for 20 years is probably more of a hindrance than a help in ANY nursing program. You have learned 20 years' worth of shortcuts and bad habits, and this is biting you in the @$$.

The long and short of it is this: YOU failed to properly prepare for the CPNE. You thought that because you have soooooo much knowledge as a med/surg LPN, you should be entitled to an automatic pass. Guess what? It didn't work for you the first time. It didn't work for you the second time. Why did you think it would work for you the third time?

If you cannot accept accountability for your own failures, then perhaps you shouldn't be a nurse. Period.

You complain about faulty equipment. You complain about not having a lunch break. You complain about timed scenarios. You complain about stressful situations. If you are not familiar with these problems with your massive med/surg experience, what hospital have YOU been working at??? These are things that nurses deal with ALL THE TIME. Stop being such a baby about it!

With 4 years of LPN experience, I successfully completed the program and passed my CPNE on the first try with ZERO repeats. Students do it every weekend.

The CPNE, as you mentioned, is a very stressful exam. It, however, is not deserving of a ripoff report. Not sure what it took to fail three times, but most fail due to stress affecting their performance or due to being ill-prepared.

As far as oversight of the exam, the Georgia Nurses Association oversees and operates the SPAC, so it's highly unlikely that Excelsior College is encouraging them to fail students so they can make more money. The wait list is now a year or more, so volume doesn't seem to be a problem.

Good luck to you. This exam is very tough, but is in NO WAY deserving of a ripoff report.