Excelsior College review: Astronomical Failure Rates 43

I have to agree with you 100%. I "failed" the CPNE 2 times and refused to pay a 3rd time. I regret the amount of money wasted at Excelsior but wanted to advance my career so I went to a community college, excelled there, and graduated 3rd in my class. I honestly feel bad for all of the nursing students who are trying to prepare for the CPNE. I could go on and on about it.

I passed the CPNE the first time in 2006. Great program, transfered ALL my Excelsior college credits to a state college and now finishing up my BSN. Thanks Excelsior. Some of the people who complain about Excelsior and fail is due to not preparing for the CPNE and not going directly through Excelsior but through CPNE mills who do take your money.

Excelsior is a big scam, that have to pass a few people to make it look legit
This is a big waste of time and money, they are just suckering people all over the USA. When there comes a time and they get sued, Ill be right there, Anyone interested in sharing there bad experiences and want to go to court with me, just email me and will talk.
email is tekbec69@yahoo.com
I went all three times, and major waste of money and time and energy
there was many major flaws with excelsior
you dont get the whole 2 and half hour, you dont even have access to charts and a report from the nurse, last clinical, I couldnt even delclare my vitals, never even had access to a themometer, and was in the room for an hour,
I even did the appeal, they didnt even read what happen to me,
so totally disguised. I beg anyone who is even thinking about it, dont do it,
I

I am in the process of taking the CPNE right now. I to have spent thousands of dollars. I failed over noted labeling a dressing with an ace wrap dressing chance with tape, time and intials, I work in orthopaedics and have never seen tape on an ace wrap. Next, I had a patient with a poor report on, the CE was to busy wanting to get finished, I was rushed and messed up a care plan. I even attended a work shop. However I didn't sign an ace wrap dressing but my CE pulled Potassium 20 meq instead of 40 mg, I had to inform her she had made a mistake, she also pulled coumadin fro a 5PM dose which would create more physical jeopardy, especially if I hadn't been careful and did the three checks prior to administering my medications. I even had a calcium channel blocker and a betablocker. The Ce advised me to give the medication and we could take the vital signs later. I refused until I had a pulse and B/P. She should have been more at risk of failing.I would have thought since she messed up more than I did, that she would have atleast excused . The second PCS was one that was a rush rush situation and I was so anxious after being rushed and getting a report of less than 3 sentences and the assigned nurse disappeared. Forget talking to the CA, she is there for the big bucks. Now, I risk losising my current job and the imbarrassment related to this whole ordeal.

I wish there was a way that legal actions could be taken against the college. If I fail on my last PCS I will pursue legal actions. This has nothig to do with nursing, this is a joke a true nurse would be more efficient than there program, some states have began the process of no longer accepting graduates from this program. When, they should have a rated grading scale verses PASS or FAIL. For $2000, we could all have had a nice vacation and a hell of alot less stress. All this is unconstitutional and a rip of like MADOFF who scamed so many others out of their money.

In additin to this they pick patients who, apparently agree to a student, who becomes totally uncooperative with care, perhaps intentionally. Another classmate had two PCS' and neither pt would allow her to do anything for them, guess what she failed her first two also. SO do we go back for the third day after being told, " Oh, go take it easy have a nice supper and get some rest and less stress, sure spend thousands you don't have and go have less stress, so we can fail you, humilate you, and collect more and laugh because you did something stupid, when there are alot of nurse out there that probably never do the things excelsior demands. Your response would be appreciated.

I feel for you. It was the most awful experience in my 15 year nursing career. I agree that there should not be a pass/fail grading unless it is a huge issue. I'm done failing as of today. I don't even get to go back for day 3. I am actually relieved. I don't think I could take another day of humiliation over such minor issues.
Disappointed Me

I'm glad that you are so holier than thou that you know what everyone else's experience was like. You know nothing about how much I studied or how stupid the reasons for my failure was. I have been a nurse fo a long time and am very sure in my care. I was nervous when the CPNE started but failing was not on my mind. I just wasted over $2000 dollars taking the exam so you have no right to tell me not to complain. The site I took my test at was being audited at the time so nothing was up for discussion. I'll whine all I want until "I" feel better.

Yes, I've been through the 3 day hell and i was unsuccessful. I did not enroll in Excelsior because it was going to be easy. In fact lpn school was not easy, however I was susccessful. The CPNE is indescribable until you've been there. I do not believe that any of us should take offense when we vent about our cpne. I am sure that all of our experiences were different. There were 7 of us (3 of whom were repeaters) and only 3 were successful(2 repeaters). To the person that passed, congratulations but remember you are not the only one that prepared and please don't be so bragadocious. To all of us who weren't successful let's regroup and think about what we are going to do about the careers that we want to achieve. I believe that with God all things are possible and that he has a plan for each one of us.

Anybody interested in starting up a class action lawsuit against Excelsior?The nursing program is a scam!..and for those who disagree keep in mind that the "school" does have to pass some for obvious reasons.

WOW, sue a college because you cannot pass due to your own lack of knowledge. Wonder who else you want to sue because of past failures.

EXCELSIOR IS A GREAT COLLEGE OF NURSING. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS. PEOPLE DO PASS AND BECOME EXCELLENT REGISTERED NURSES. OTHERS SOMETIMES FAIL AND BLAME EVERYONE BUT THEMSELVES FOR THEIR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS AS A REGISTERED NURSE.

GO EXCELSIOR! GET COLLEGE.

excelsior is a big rip out, most of the classes you take there will not transfer to a real college,
the people who did pass the excelsior program were not as smart as they think. Baby is was pure luck. The excelsior ce are not very bright. Most are total idiots. I had a ce who actually caused pain to a pt, she caused physical jeopardy. So before you feel so proud of yourself, those who did pass, it has nothing to do skill, or smarts, you just happen to get lucky in the random people who they have to pass. knowledge has nothing to do with it, Its a money scheme, just because you were one of the lucky one whom got picked in this lottery.
I guaranteed that anyone whom, went through the classes and passed, all were ready to take the state board and pass, and again dont pat yourself on the back, your not that bright, you cant see the underline of this scheme,

Not so Merry are you Christmas. As for you assumption that colleges do not transfer credits from Excelsior. YOU are WRONG! I got my BSN from a "REAL" college and now working on my MSN. All of the credits transfer from Excelsior, why, because Excelsior is accredited by the NLN just like other colleges. Am I proud, you bet I am. Was I lucky as you stated with all your venum, NO, I just was prepared. It's the bitter loosers like you who are always complaining. The lucky ones are the people in your community who don't have to have you as a Registered Nurse since you do not have the skills to pass the CPNE from Excelsior.

AGAIN, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE WHINNING, COMPLAINTS FROM PEOPLE WHO CANNOT PASS THE CPNE DUE TO NOT BEING PREPARED. THERE IS NO LUCK, JUST HARD STUDING, AND EXCELLENT NURSING SKILLS. THE ONE'S WHO FAIL JUST DON'T HAVE THE NECESSARY SKILLS TO BE A REGISTERED NURSE.

I wish there were more postings regarding the Pass/Fail experiences. I have my CPNE coming up soon and I'm nervous as hell. I have all the prep materials, dvd, and am contemplating signing up for the workshop. I did rather well on the theory exams and did not have any problems in that area. I just hope I can keep my "cool" and perform the skills I know I'm capable of. Any more advice out there?

Dear Piscean2378,

My only advice to you and all others is that hopefully you went DIRECTLY THRU EXCELSIOR COLLEGE and got all of the prep materials, dvd, and take the workshop thru EXCELSIOR COLLEGE. DO NOT TAKE THE WORKSHOP OR GET MATERIALS FROM OTHER COMPANIES WHO STATE THEY HAVE A 99 OR SO PASS RATE AND CLAIM THE ARE AFFILIATES OF EXCELSIOR. PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL EXCELSIOR COLLEGE OF NURSING DIRECTLY. WHEN I TOOK MY CPNE I TOOK ALL OF THE COURSES, GOT ALL OF MY MATERIALS AND TOOK THE WORKSHOP AND DEALT DIRECTLY WITH EXCELSIOR. ONE OTHER LPN TOOK ALL OF HER COURSES THRU SOME OTHER COMPANY AND SHE FAILED BECAUSE THEY HAD OUTDATED EXCELSIOR MATERIALS.
Good luck Piscean stay focused and you will pass.

If Excelsior was so great, why didn't you get your BSN with them? In fact, instead of being a non-supportive role model, go start up the first blog on the net how great the CPNE is and buzz off. You sound as though you are on their payroll. There is no reason that any program should be designed like this! If so, the pass rate would be higher and all states would accept the program. Besides, it should never be about memorizing a bulleted form of nursing care! I will never do that in the real world!

Disappointed and Numb,
I did take some BSN courses through Excelsior, due to personal obligations, I had to transfer all of my Excelsior College credits to another college.

As for you comments about memorizing a bulleted form of nursing care, I did'nt find that memorization helped to pass the CPNE, knowledge about nursing is what helped me pass the CPNE.

As for your negative comment, "sound as though you are on their payroll", no I'm not employeed by Excelsior, but believe they would be a great college of nursing to work for.

Lastly, I hope I am a positive role model for others to know that the CPNE is passable, and many people do pass. To be negative about failing is just what others do not need to hear in the nursing world. Instead of complaining about the Excelsior, Disappointed and Numb, why don't you start a "Why I'm so Negative" blog. If you turned all of that negative energy into a postive, I'm sure you could pass the CPNE.

Have a great day.

EXCELSIOR ROCKS!

I too attempted to pass the test 3 times. Failed. The original program that hooked me up with Excelsior College offered materials and promised a CPNE class to prepare for my trip to Wisconsin. After I had spent thousands of dollars in hard earned money to pass all of my tests and get ready to take the final study session through the original program, they informed me not enough students signed up for it, and they could not find an instructor. Left me out in the cold. I did find some people who were needing people to study with and purchased items needed to practice for the exam myself. I practiced day and night. Practiced until my husband and kids could have passed themselves. I memorized the script like it was my social security number. I was confident I could pass this thing. When I failed the second time, I appealed the decision. I recieved a standard letter and the response was as if the dean or the "commitee" did not even read my appeal. There was no refrence what so ever to my circumstance. I kind of new in the pit of my gut it was a scam at that time. I felt that I was had. I called and spoke with the dean about my concern to test a third time as I had reported that the nurse with me had lied about my performance. She told me that the CA and CE would never know I appealed. (I choose to return to Racine for the 2nd time) and she also assured me the appeal process was there to be used and I did the right thing to appeal. (Lot of good it did me) when I returned to Racine I knew from the get go I was screwed. Just the atmosphere given off by the CA. The nurse who I had reported lying was my last nurse to be my CE. I realized I had made a big mistake in testing there again, but did every thing I needed to do, and handed in my final paper knowing I would pass. NOT. I forgot to measure the milk the pt. did not drink. He had the cup in his room before I began. I did not measure it because he had it before my time began. Failed. Flew home totally disapointed in the program I believed was going to get me to RN status. After all they put you through and All the $ I spent, I should have passed on stamina alone. I feel like it should be assured that all students are treated the same. Some CEs help you, some dont. It is not an even playing field. I think Excelsior should really look in to this blatant favoritism with some of the students, and condesending arrogance some of the CAs and CE exhibit. It does exist. And all of you hard workers that did pass, all I can say is congratulations. You deserved it. But also, maybe you reminded your CE of her Aunt Matilda that use to read to her at night when her mommy and daddy were late getting home. Maybe I reminded mine of the ### that ran over her dog and sped off. I don't know, but it's been 8 months and I still cry about it sometime. The way some people can just rip you off without even a blink of an eye and leave one standing there without anything to show for it. GO to a traditional college and get a real teacher. People who teach tehemselves are pretty smart, but it won't matter sometimes.

such sad stories. as a EC student i am concern about their, pass/ fail situation. i do belive it should a rotation even if it last a few weeks. We do know the expence, but there are so much people out there that take pleasure in capitalizing on vonerable people who are egar to better them self, so sad . I have come so far i have to push on through, i will pray over the matter with God nothing is impossible.

Is there anyone out there ready for a class action law suit email me at nhjbrock@yahoo.com

Stow your lawsuit. The college is accredited by the NLN and regularly audited by them like any nursing program. You won't win.

The first time pass rate for the CPNE is 62%, documented on their website. This is a far cry from "passing a few for obvious reasons."

Each of you that failed clearly listed that you omitted a critical element. You think it's cool to forget to measure the milk someone drank? What if they're on strict I/O? You forgot to label your dressing? That's a huge quality control and infection control issue.

This is an ASSESSMENT program, not a TEACHING program. You are expected to learn and know the critical elements. You get assessed in one shot. That's the beauty of the Excelsior program. You don't have to spend hours in clinicals getting assessed over two years. Learn the critical elements, use memory devices to help you (yes, it is about memory when you're learning your skills), and go prepared and you will pass. I'm a medic with no bedside nursing experience and I studied, prepared, and passed last month with no retakes. It's done all the time.

I too failed two CPNE's and felt angry, humiliated, and unjustly treated. I failed do to stupid things like checking pt ID a second time after having to leave the room and returning, Writing a nursing action where a pt response should have been, and running out of time because I had a pt that took 45min to eat and did not want to be interrupted and a nurse that took 30 minutes to give me a report. I just ran out of time. The truth of the matter was that for every failed CPS there was spacific guidelines spelled out in the study guide. I had to understand that before I could continue. I did try a third time and got to know the study guide well. I also took a "take charge" attitude (not natural for me) in every PCS. I pretended the CE was not there unless I needed something and than I didn't hesitate to ask. I had to practice everything in sequence right down to wash hands, knock on door, introduce self, check ID...and so on. By making everything second nature I was able to perform despite my nerves and was able to pass the third CPNE. You have to learn things the "Excelier" way. But if you really think about it, how else could they actually test consistently. You also have to be willing to unlearn habits (many bad habits as well) I don't recommend this route to becoming an RN to anyone because I believe the traditional route is still better but, this was the only real choice in my personal situation.

I am ready to join a class action suit against Excelsior College and their CPNE. I just got back from Wisconsin where I failed my second test. I can assure thoes that think we are not prepared you are completely wrong. The things that they fail us for are bogus. They are continuously side tracking us with stops and starts that break our concentration. Especially when it comes to med passes, whats the deal with keeping us out of the room while they document the medication? That breaks our concentration and focus, since they take the medication and mar away from us, then call us back in the room when they are done.
I can be reached at: shellyevans@fhshealth.org

I just came back from my second attempt to pass the cpne. After very successfully passing my pcs according to my ce. I failed the second time. I will gladly take responsibility for my failure, but who is there to critique the examiners? I was to hang an antibiotic and the examiner told me the tubing was prepared and ready to go. I went into the room, being the lpn that i am and checked it, it was a totally different medication hanging there! talk about mistakes. She said oh I thought it was the right one. Surely she couldnt have even looked! Then she let me plug in my rate of infusion and start it and pulled me out of the room letting that rate run while she went to get the ca and lied on the paper and said she stopped me prior to starting the infusion! it was still running when we left. Oh well my failure. lol The next pcs starts out with my ce saying " dont get nervous over my dis organization" Great! I proceeded on into the room I did my 20 minute elements and asked her if she wanted them and she said no she wanted me to hurry and get some of my assessments in before they come to get her . shewas running a fever nad her o2 sats were 93% ( iwas to report anything below 94%) She said we could wait start on my assessments. The poor little lady couldnt lay on her back flat so I did an abdominal assessment with her partially on her side.I looked, listened and palpated all 4 quads. positive bowel sounds in all quads. Well she pulled me out. Got the ca and although she says I palpated all the right areas I listened at the level of the umbilicus not above it. Give me a break! I listened in the exact areas that I later palpated. Maybe they need to retire some of these examniners that are in their 70s and leave it to the younger ones with more skills, more organization and better eyesight. One of my coworkers passed on her first try also and she failed to identify her pt after going in the room. They let it slide. mmm makes you wonder. My DON and executive administrator at the hospital I work for assure me that my nursing skills are very good.I will chalk this up to one of life's hard lesons. Proceed with caution and alot of money to waste!

I would love to be part of a class action suit. You can email me at parkviewlpn@yahoo.com.I will file an appeal although I am sure it will do no good. My CA for this weekend at Medcentral in Ohio told me they got kicked out of Childrens Hospital.
She said they have no idea how stringent Excelsior is about the kind of nurses they put out. Maybe they should pay more attention to the examiners they hire! They made more mistakes than I did!

I know of at least 5 people that have passed the CPNE via Excelsior education. I worked with one of the first Nurses in the A.F. accepted from Excelsior Nursing School. At that time she was a Major. She was an awesome nurse. I have 2 co-workers that passed it last year. Both have jobs in local hospitals. I know of 6 other paramedics currently going through the program. All of them love it, and are excelling in their studies. I'm sure this type of studies isn't for everyone. They warn you up front that you have to self motivated.

thats great that you know of 5 people that passed it, esp since they test 6 every weekend at every site and out of that 1 to 2 pass. It's a game of russian roulette. If your CE is in a bad mood or incompetent look out! I had to correct them from making mistakes...lol. Guess that put them in a bad mood...lol

LPN & Proud:

Wrong again. It's not "1 to 2 pass" out of the 6 every weekend. It's 4 that pass out of 6 every weekend. The average pass rate is 62%, documented on Excelsior's website and verified by the NLN. That's an average of 4 out of 6.

"No idea how stringent Excelsior is about the kind of nurses they put out"? You could say that about ANY nursing program. I've known good RNs and bad ones, and it's not school specific. Forget about your whining, and your lawsuit, hit the books and pass that CPNE!

I passed the CPNE the first time. It was the hardest thing I ever did. Worse than giving birth to my daughter. I believe the reason I passed it the first time was of course studying what was needed as far as nursing skills, but more important was I knew what EXCELSIOR wanted! This is their program and like it or not you have to follow their rules. You have to be perfect! If not, you fail. It is like russian rulet. We just are not perfect. Therefore, we have to ACT like we are. When I took my clinical s, I ACTed like I was king of the hill and I made it, but no one else did in my group. All failed due to nerves, making "little" mistakes. My advice, If you do not know, ask: know your stuff or at least act like it : If you are not ready, do not go! I wish all of you good luck!

Please don't blame the school for your own failure to properly prepare for the CPNE. Presently, the first-time pass rate for the CPNE is 64%. That doesn't mean you have a 64% chance to pass. It means that 64% of first-timers have properly prepared. If you did not pass, it means you were one of the 36% who did not properly prepare.

I'm sorry, but not everyone that wants to be an RN is meant to be an RN. Just because you paid a ton of money, it does not entitle you to pass the CPNE. It takes a lot of hard work and persistence. If you think you've already put in a lot of hard work and persistence, then you need to put in more. It can be done. It is done every weekend by students who are preparing the right way. I did it on my first try with ZERO repeats, despite the fact that I wanted to throw up the whole weekend and my heart was trying to rip through my chest every second.

You can say the examiners were unfair. They were rude. They were overbearing nazis. 100% of the time, when someone makes these statements, it's a person that has failed the CPNE. Coincidence? I think not.

Stop externalizing. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Stop feeling like you were bullied or cheated or ripped off. The CPNE did not fail you. You failed the CPNE. Suck it up. Prepare right for it the next time. Go back and kick the CPNE's [censor].

Torva Mu - Your entire message is complete nonsense and fabrication. Add to that your poor grammar and insistence upon capitalizing your entire message, and it's no wonder that you were unsuccessful in an intense academic program.

As for your employer telling you that they would let you go if you graduated from Excelsior - you are outright lying. Hospitals only care if you graduated from an accredited RN program, although some will require a BSN instead of the ADN. Name ONE hospital that has told you that they will not hire Excelsior grads. I want an actual hospital name. I will call nursing recruitment myself and ask. I guarantee you that you cannot truthfully name a single hospital that specifically excludes Excelsior grads.

Passing the CPNE is not luck. It's not even about skill. It's about doing things the Excelsior way. Just like passing any other nursing program. You have to do things the way your clinical instructors teach you. It doesn't matter if you've been an LPN for 1 year or 50 years. You do things the way the school tells you to do them.

As for your Excelsior nursing credits not transferring to another program, this is normal practice for nearly ALL nursing programs. If you attempt to transfer nursing credits from one community college or university to another, you will likely have a very difficult time no matter where you are transferring to or from.

You mentioned failing the CPNE twice, despite studying for "several hundred hours". This is either a complete lie, or you were studying material that had nothing to do with the CPNE.

Excelsior's ADN is accredited by the NLNAC and is designated as an NLN Center for Excellence in Nursing. Was your "creditable college" an NLN Center for Excellence in Nursing? I'm guessing it wasn't.

http://www.nln.org/excellence/coe/index.htm

As for failing the CPNE, you are not failed for "any reason the tester chooses". You are graded on VERY SPECIFIC criteria which is available to you in the CPNE study guide, which you obviously did not care to read. CE's do not make up arbitrary reasons for your failure. They observe for specific behaviors and actions. Additionally, it's not as if you made one trivial mistake. You had to either fail your lab stations twice, or you had to fail two or more PCS's. Also, you get a different CE in each PCS and each lab station, so it's highly unlikely that the CE's were just picking on you.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

The CPNE did not fail you. The CE's did not fail you. Excelsior did not fail you.

YOU FAILED THE CPNE.

Take personal accountability for your failures and move on. I'm proud of my completion of a very rigorous nursing program, and I will not stand to have irresponsible drop-outs like you slander my school and make false claims that you're unable to back up.

Excelsior college is coming to a closing, more and more people are becoming aware of there un-holy, money hungry, soul-less ways. The number of states not accepting the degree is on the rise, so far it went from 1 to three and its going to continue to increase as these crooks are brought to light. Out of all the mean ways to ripp someone off this is just evil, not mean, but evil. I can't wait till the on-line nursing program is out rite rejected from the board of nursing in every state and they will stop making money off the blood, sweat, and tears and ruined lives of good nurses that where had!

The comments that "states aren't accepting an Excelsior degree" are false. Please research before you post. Currently there are a few states that require a certain amount of clinical hours or you can not get your original license there or endorse in until you satisfy those hours either by work or clinicals. This has nothing to do with Excelsior. Here's an example: If you went to school in a state that only requires 500 clinical hours to sit for the NCLEX and received your RN in that state and then moved to Virginia, you still would not be able to get your license by endorsement because the criteria is 750 clinical hours. I know this to be FACT not assumption or myth. So, whether you go to a community college in Indiana and get your RN there or you go through Excelsior, you could not endorse into Virginia until you managed 960 hours of paid work, then and ONLY then could you get your license by endorsement. Excelsior is very upfront about this, they even have a link to click on to tell you what states require additional education or clinical requirements. Also, before you even enroll with Excelsior they REQUIRE that you sign a form acknowledging that you are aware you can not be licensed in your state without further requirements being met.

Oh, a couple more things. 1) Excelsior is a not for profit organization, so comments as being "money hungry" are nonsensicle. 2) Excelsior is part of the State University of New York. I feel bad for everyone that has failed, I do agree that there should be some leeway. Pass/Fail does seem very harsh. There should be a grading system but Excelsior(Regents College) has been around since 1971 and they haven't changed and regardless of your opinions, they aren't closing any time soon either.

The CPNE's are horrible! We have 6 people in our group and it's day 2, 5 out of 6 failed at least 1 lab yesterday, 1 person is on their home after failing 2 PCA's today for things that she could have corrected if they would have given her the time and as for me, I have failed 2 PCA's today and have chance to retake them tomorrow. Why do I get to and the other person did not? Because in the beginning they have you draw a card to determine if you have an AAC (adult, adult, child) or ACA, or CAA. She had a AAC I had a ACA but there were no children for me to do a PCA so they substituted an adult. You are allow to redo 1 child and 1 adult PCA even if the child PCA was an adult you can redo it. She failed her 2 adult PCA's and I failed 1 adult and 1 child even though the child was an adult so I get to redo mine and she is on the plane going home. NOT RIGHT! Seriously, I do not expect to pass tomorrow seeing how rediculously picky they are. I'm not sure if I'll do this again, can't afford it.

I would agree to a lawsuit for Excelsior College it is a waste of time and money. I took the CPNE three times and failed all three. Believe me I rationalized both times I failed looking inward instead of out vowing each time to do better but I have come to believe they don’t mean for all those that enter the CPNE to pass and not to hold some grand high academic standard. I was failed on lab simulation because I did not wear gloves during an injection on the first try and I the second try I did not insert the needle far enough in the mannequin for them. I did not again blame them I looked inward an said maybe I chocked but I did do research and petitioned with evidence base practice citing the CDC, OSHA and the American Journal of Nursing stating that wearing gloves was not necessary for IM injections all this info is online and current believe me I called and verified before I cited. I could go on and on about the overuse of gloves and point out that gloves do not protect you from needle sticks but those articles do that for me. I also showed evidence based practice to support the depth of my injection citing Lippincott, and Mosby and they threw back in my face. Stating in so many words what we say is final. This would go against their very philosophy of nursing that is dynamic and based on the individual need of the patient not a task you do without thinking. I would like to say one thing about the test I thought was extremely unfair. Each time I took the test of six test taker one maybe two were male. I never saw any men go home but just about all female test takers left looking like they were at the brink of losing their mind. I would like to think that our nursing brethren are all sharp and skilled but you know male nursing staff are never treated the same as female staff. I also know this happens at many nursing school male students being treated like medical students instead of nursing staff but that level of bias should not be tolerated at this type of test. This is pass or fail and you cannot graduate without it. This is my experience and I know many would say: Oh you are only mad because you failed. I would and do accept failure with rational. The first two times I accept it was my fault I should have paid closer attention to what I was doing. (left a side rail down and forgot to sign for my meds) I contend that Excelsior did fail me capriciously and ignored legitimate nursing evidence in an attempt to close ranks and "nurse-up" and deny anything wrong. Even the surgeon one of the many staff members at work that help me craft my appeal letter (who is btw a PhD that currently sit on an academic board and reviews these types of letters frequently) stated that she was not surprised that my appeal was denied because what they failed you on was so subjective. All of the nursing staff to include an educational coordinator could not believe that the failure or the refusal of appeal. I asked many to review my failed CPNE and appeal letter ensure I am not going off on a tangent without real reason. Please tell me why they ingore appeals what is the rational behide this? Are they saying only that student can be wrong never the staff? Please forgive any errors it is late-nite.

oneblackvoice -- You're trying to argue that you don't need to wear gloves when giving an IM injection? Seriously? You will never find any academic literature suggesting that gloves are overused. The only "overuse" of gloves would refer to healthcare workers attempting to replace handwashing with gloves, or using gloves on more than one patient. There is no risk in using gloves after washing hands and then disposing of those gloves.

Hygiene failure. Patient safety failure. Technique failure. Documentation failure. And you blame Excelsior? And you top it off with the foolish accusation that Excelsior gives men a higher pass rate? You're just grasping at anything that you can in an attempt to avoid blaming yourself. You initially said that you took responsibility for your own failures, but you don't take responsibility for anything.

Good luck in your future endeavors. Perhaps you should look into a career that does not involve protecting the lives of others.

I am looking into a class action lawsuit. There are way too many of us hurt by this. Also I wonder if the failure rate is higher for those who go through a third party like The College Network like me? Excelsior didn't get all all the money from some of us they could have and biased? Hindsight is 20/20. Anyone interested in joining me please contact me.

I went through Excelsior's program and I was still treated the same way you were. What a nightmare!

Anyone on here who is still interested in a lawsuit against Excelsior please email me at cc1313.mh@gmail.com. Thank you.