Required attire for a CPNE test weekend is business casual on Friday night and all white uniforms with no flashy jewelry and no long sleeves Saturday and Sunday. Also on Saturday and Sunday hair had to be off the collar and there could be no visible tattoos. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I started to seriously study for my mid December test weekend early in August. Toward the end of September I had perused my closet for a pair of dress slacks. suitable top and conservative shoes for Friday night business casual. When packing a few days before the test I slipped the outfit back on prior to taking time to press it. Oh my. Four and a half months of study time munchies and nervous eating had turned my loosely fitting dress slacks into those "skinny" type pants the young women wear today. I tried on every pair of dress slacks in my closet. Oh my. Then I remembered a box of clothes I had not put away yet that my daughter had given me. Digging through it I found a larger sized pair of dress slacks that fit. Crisis averted. My shoes still fit.
The drive from SW Ohio to South Central PA on Thursday afternoon and evening was uneventful except for my last bathroom stop at a rest park just before getting off the PA turnpike. I was parked in an isle that had no other cars but right next to an isle that had cars. As I was walking toward the building I saw one of those vans without windows on the sides park next to me. I felt concerned but took my time in the ladies room and before starting back out to my car looked the situation over and the van remained. So I went back to the store area and asked for security to walk me to my car. They directed me to one of the fast food places to talk to the manager who assigned one of her young men french friers to walk me to my car. He was very polite and said he thought it looked really creepy too.
When I checked into my room at Country Inn and Suites I had two Queen sized beds and set one up with lab practice supplies and study materials. (see picture above) The motel was located near the hospital test site and there were plenty of restaurants to choose from in the nearby area. They had an Excelsior discount which was nice. Chambersburg PA is a small community so I was comfortable there. The girls at the check in desk at the motel agreed that I had every right to ask that french frier young man to walk me to my car. They said the man in the van should never have parked next to me and sat with his running lights on.
My mantra for the weekend that I kept repeating to myself was "I am competent. I am confident. I am determined. I am not nervous." And every day before I left my car in the hospital parking lot I played a you tube video of the Mary Tyler Moore show theme song. The one where she throws her hat in the air and they sing "This girl is going to make it after all". The CPNE is a weekend test of basic nursing skills. They don't ask us to do anything much that we haven't been doing all along in our careers as LPNs. Only LPNS, Paramedics, and Respiratory Therapists can take Excelsiors program. It is very stressful because so much is at stake. But it is a rite of passage. Nurses have to be able to handle stress as stress is an every day thing in many nursing jobs. It is three days where you have to do it the Excelsior Way and it is very much a frame of mind thing.
I slept good on Thursday night. I got up early for my second shift self - about nine am - on Friday morning and reviewed things. Business casual Friday night consists of four lab station simulations. I was to be at the hospital at 4:30 pm so arrived at 4:15. I wore my hair in one braid down my back because nothing said I had to put it up on Friday night. Putting my hair up had been a problem to figure out because it is long and heavy. Whatever I had tried to do with it the last couple of months would fall out. I got it off my collar on Saturday and Sunday and it stayed but it looked terrible. Of the four lab stations only one was a task that I hadn't done about a zillion times in the prior 37 years but that night I had to be sure to include all the Excelsior critical elements. Three of the labs were limited to 15 minutes and we had 20 minute to complete one of them. I got through them and passed all four. It seemed like they were most concerned with Asepsis. Of course they wanted other steps to look good too but the girls that failed labs were ones that made mistakes in the area of Asepsis. My hands shook which was silly because I had practiced these labs many times and knew what to do. I had to re-draw my insulin before I could stick the dummy. I have only mixed insulin in a syringe a half a dozen times a day for most of the past 37 years but that pm I pushed past the dose and could not re-enter the vial because it was the second med. I was glad to see the tape was not paper tape at the wound dummy station. The tape they had tore nicely and was easy to get that one inch limit on each side of the dressing when I used the method Sheri had shown me. The IV piggy back station went smoothly. It helped me that when I went to LPN school back in 1976-77 that we counted drips. Back then the IV pump era was just beginning. The station that had me the most worried was the IV push station. Other than flushes I did not do IV push as an LPN. It is out of the scope of practice for an LPN to IV push meds. I did have to redraw one syringe because of a stubborn air bubble. But over all I was pleased with how that station went. Those that failed lab stations on Friday evening had a chance to repeat them on Saturday afternoon. Only one student was sobbing Friday pm during the labs. Of the seven students that showed up Friday evening six returned both Saturday and Sunday morning. Three of us had passed when I left on Sunday. Three were still at it. I don't know how they came out.
Saturday consisted of two patient care situations and Sunday consisted of one. If a person didn't fail any of them then they would be done Sunday morning. If they failed one they could repeat it on Sunday afternoon. Depending on which ones they failed they might get the chance to repeat two. A PCS (patient care situation) consists of writing a care plan, then completing assigned assessments and managements and evaluating and charting. It is a basic nursing test. As LPNs in long term care we did Neurological assessments and Respiratory assessments daily. But since it is important that a nurse have the ability to pay attention to detail all the paper work had to be filled out exactly right. Missing one initialed spot could cost a student their goal. The double stethoscopes they had at my test site were good. I had heard that the ones that were used were hard to hear out of but I had not problems hearing.
Through out the weekend we were tested by CE's (clinical examiners) and we had a CA (clinical associate) that over saw the weekend and made sure we had a fair testing experience. I had heard stories that some of the CE's and CA's at some of the sites were pretty hard to get along with and pass hardly anyone. As nurses we have to know how to get along with difficult people so I guess that is why they have some of those types of people testing us. But I was so lucky at my test site. The CA and the CE's were all very nice. They wanted us to pass and encouraged us. One of mine got so excited when I had my bandage scissors in my pocket to cut open a transdermal patch she said "I know you are a nurse - you have your scissors". I silently thanked Jean Stone for that one. (see part one to know who Jean is)
During the entire weekend I did notice that they were very strict about Asepsis. With all the antibiotic resistant organisms out there these days I think that is important too. Once I picked up on that focus I made double triple sure I did all the gelling and hand washing needed and I gloved up when ever something was wet and wasn't mine as we are taught.
For any one who might read this in preparation for their weekend I would like to suggest one hint. On Sunday morning I left my name tag in the motel. This caused my stress level to soar. I would suggest a person leave their name tag in the glove box of their car and not take it into the motel. Then if they forget it they only have to go into the parking lot to retrieve it.
So that is the story of my Excelsior College Journey. If you missed the prior posts they can be found at the following links.
I am so very glad to be listening to audio books again on my way to and from work instead of my home made audio study files. I am so glad to be reading a fiction book instead of my huge almost 600 page study guide. I am so glad to have last weekend behind me. After the holidays I have to think about the state board exam. But I am not even going to think about it till after the first of the year.
And as far as my prior aspirations to continue my education, I really don't know at this point. Not for awhile. I have some of the past few months expenses to pay off first while I decide. And I have doubts that I would be a very good teacher following this experience. My home made audio study files revealed to me that I tend to mispronounce an awful lot of words. They sound right in my head but when I listened to myself on the audio files I realized that they are not pronounced correctly. So a teacher is probably not a good choice for me to use to supplement my retirement income. For now I have the goal of passing the state board nursing examination to keep me busy and a trip to plan to ride on a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail. Beyond that - who knows.
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