Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2015 3:54:13 GMT
Here is another test experience from my past files....
In response to your request, here was my personal experience. I
would encourage others to read this against my first posting as this
posting addresses "what happens" while the first addresses "how to
get through what happens". The following is basically a
chronological account of my weekend. It is lenghty, but then again,
so is the CPNE...
Friday:
Drove up from NJ (about 3.5 hours) and got to the hotel at about
13:00. BTW, the hotel was about $200/night since they charged
premium rates due to it being the weekend of SUNY graduation. Before
I actually checked in, I stopped and got something light to eat.
Checked in, took a shower, and the suspense of the wait was killing
me, so I left for St. Peter's at about 14:30, even though it was only
a mile down the road. Sat around in the waiting area next to the
gift shop and the group of us testing kind of found each other
amongst the crowd of hospital visitors. We all introduced ourselves
to one another and shared our backgrounds. Exactly to the minute,
the CE appeared, introduced herself, and ushered us to a meeting room
where she made some idle conversation to ease our nerves and then
read the scripted material as appears in the CPNE video. She also
checked our photo ID's against the passport photo we sent in with out
applications. Then we took a 15 minute tour of the lab stations
which were set up right on the other side of a wall partition that
was 3/4 open. After that, we had 15 minutes of our own to
familiarize ourselves with the equipment at all the stations. There
was a quick bathroom break, then we all sat back down at the desks on
the other side of the partition. We were then called in to each
station.
1) Wound Station
Did as I rehearsed it, basically exactly as appears on the video.
The CE watched me like an owl fixates on a mouse. I was nervous and
my right hand was shaking and my ring finger touched the bare wound.
At that point, I kind of got pissed at myself, took a deep breath,
told the CE that I contaminated my wound and would have to redo the
dressing. I pulled the gauze, doffed my gloves, and tossed all in
the garbage without turning my back to the sterile field. I repeated
the packing with steady hands and completed the station with time to
spare.
2) IM/SQ Station
Was assigned an IM injection. Nothing remarkable here, other than to
remember that you are able to turn the manikin on its side to
landmark the vastus lateralis. Also, on the particular manikin on
the table, the greater trochanter was only palpable on one side
(forgot which), so check on that during your 15 minutes of
orientation. Based on talking to the other candidates, it seems that
they switch up whether someone has to do IM or SQ for each candidate.
3) IV Minibag
Easiest one of the four. Nothing remarkable.
4) IV Push
Just like in the video. However, when pushing my second flush, again
the jitters got the best of me! The end of the (needleless) syringe
slipped off the lauer lock as I was twisting it on and it touched my
gloved hand. To be safe, I discarded the needle, still with the
saline in it, in the sharps container, wiped the port of the saline
and drew up a new syringe, wiped the port of the iv site, and
administered the flush. The other point that I remember about this
station was that I had kind of an unusual dose; 2ml over 30 seconds.
I had to check my math three times as that comes out to 0.5 ml every
7.5 seconds. On talking to the other candidates after the lab
stations, I think I was the only one who had that particular dosage.
Similar to the IM/SQ station, I think they switch up what they ask
candidates to administer.
Passed all stations on first attempt.
After we all finished, we were seated back down. We were instructed
to meet the following day in the cafeteria at 07:00. Slept very
poorly that night.
Saturday:
Again, our CE met us at exactly the time promised and took us to a
small meeting room where we were seated. She leafed through our
nursing diagnosis books and drug books to check for notes, etc..
Then our names were called out one by one to our assigned CE's who
were standing just outside the door. On meeting the CE, I was
immediately taken to the floor and given a 5 minute tour. The PCS
then started. See my other posting for what is provided regarding
the two binders and what I did with them.
PCS 1:
70 year old female, general malaise, GI bleed, hemoptysis
AOC: siderails x2, OOB to chair c one person assist, intake/output,
fluids ad lib, cardiac diet, v/s: oral ivac temp, apical pulse,
resps, bp, o2 sat (report if less than 95%), abdominal assessment (no
girth), peripheral vascular assessment (lower extremities) ,
medications (all PO), and respiratory management with deep breathing
and coughing.
I used "risk for injury related to weakness" as one diagnosis, but in
all honesty, I can not remember what I used for my actual.
PCS 2:
34 yr old female (no appropriate pediatric patient available),
bilateral salpingo oophrectomy, hysterectomy.
AOC: siderails x2, ambulate c one person assist, intake/output,
encourage fluids, clear fluids only, v/s: oral ivac temp, radial
pulse, resps, bp, level of pain on 0-10 scale, abdominal assessment
(no girth), respiratory assessment, comfort management.
Acute pain related to tissue trauma AEB patient verbalizes pain level
of 4 on 0-10 scale. Patient will report pain <= 2 on 0-10 scale.
Obtain patient's level of pain using 0-10 pain rating scale.
(effective - patient quantified pain using 0-10 pain rating
scale.)
Reposition patient to position of comfort.
(effective - patient rated pain = 0 after repositioning from
bed to chair.)
Control of pain is a fundamental need according to Maslow's hierarchy.
Risk for injury related to antihypertensives on sensorium.
Patient will remain free from injury during PCS.
Maintain siderails up x2 while patient is in bed.
Provide patient nonskid socks before ambulating patient.
That afternoon, went back to the hotel, showered, wasn't very
hungry. Went to a local movie theater and watched the 15:00 showing
of Iron Man. Stopped for dinner and bought a little something extra
for breakfast the following morning. Passed out around 19:00 and
slept right through until the alarm woke me up at 05:00.
Sunday:
PCS 3:
83 yr old male, bilateral hip pain, fx was ruled out and pain thought
to be arthritic.
AOC: siderails x2, ambulate c one person assist, intake/output,
fluids ad lib, v/s: oral ivac temp, apical pulse, resps, bp, o2 sat
(report if less than 92%), peripheral vascular assessment (lower
extremities) , medications (all PO), respiratory assessment, pain
management, oxygen management.
Acute pain related to inflammation AEB patient verbalizes pain level
of 6 on 0-10 scale. Patient will report pain <= 4 on 0-10 scale.
Obtain patient's level of pain using 0-10 pain rating scale.
(effective - patient quantified pain using 0-10 pain rating
scale.)
Reposition patient to position of comfort.
(effective - patient rated pain = 0 while maintaining a seated
position.)
Control of pain is a fundamental need according to Maslow's hierarchy.
Risk for injury related to effects of opiate analgesics on sensorium.
Patient will remain free from injury during PCS.
Maintain siderails up x2 while patient is in bed.
Provide patient nonskid socks before ambulating patient.
Whereas I had time to spare on my first two PCSs, I used up every
last minute on PCS 3. However, I did pass all 3 and after the third,
I was escorted downstairs, given a congratulatory handshake by the
CA, some paperwork to get me started toward the NCLEX, and off I
went! Back at the hotel by 11:00, and in my home by 16:00.
Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences with me on this
forum as I prepared for the CPNE. I hope others get as much out of
this posting as I have from you. Best of luck
In response to your request, here was my personal experience. I
would encourage others to read this against my first posting as this
posting addresses "what happens" while the first addresses "how to
get through what happens". The following is basically a
chronological account of my weekend. It is lenghty, but then again,
so is the CPNE...
Friday:
Drove up from NJ (about 3.5 hours) and got to the hotel at about
13:00. BTW, the hotel was about $200/night since they charged
premium rates due to it being the weekend of SUNY graduation. Before
I actually checked in, I stopped and got something light to eat.
Checked in, took a shower, and the suspense of the wait was killing
me, so I left for St. Peter's at about 14:30, even though it was only
a mile down the road. Sat around in the waiting area next to the
gift shop and the group of us testing kind of found each other
amongst the crowd of hospital visitors. We all introduced ourselves
to one another and shared our backgrounds. Exactly to the minute,
the CE appeared, introduced herself, and ushered us to a meeting room
where she made some idle conversation to ease our nerves and then
read the scripted material as appears in the CPNE video. She also
checked our photo ID's against the passport photo we sent in with out
applications. Then we took a 15 minute tour of the lab stations
which were set up right on the other side of a wall partition that
was 3/4 open. After that, we had 15 minutes of our own to
familiarize ourselves with the equipment at all the stations. There
was a quick bathroom break, then we all sat back down at the desks on
the other side of the partition. We were then called in to each
station.
1) Wound Station
Did as I rehearsed it, basically exactly as appears on the video.
The CE watched me like an owl fixates on a mouse. I was nervous and
my right hand was shaking and my ring finger touched the bare wound.
At that point, I kind of got pissed at myself, took a deep breath,
told the CE that I contaminated my wound and would have to redo the
dressing. I pulled the gauze, doffed my gloves, and tossed all in
the garbage without turning my back to the sterile field. I repeated
the packing with steady hands and completed the station with time to
spare.
2) IM/SQ Station
Was assigned an IM injection. Nothing remarkable here, other than to
remember that you are able to turn the manikin on its side to
landmark the vastus lateralis. Also, on the particular manikin on
the table, the greater trochanter was only palpable on one side
(forgot which), so check on that during your 15 minutes of
orientation. Based on talking to the other candidates, it seems that
they switch up whether someone has to do IM or SQ for each candidate.
3) IV Minibag
Easiest one of the four. Nothing remarkable.
4) IV Push
Just like in the video. However, when pushing my second flush, again
the jitters got the best of me! The end of the (needleless) syringe
slipped off the lauer lock as I was twisting it on and it touched my
gloved hand. To be safe, I discarded the needle, still with the
saline in it, in the sharps container, wiped the port of the saline
and drew up a new syringe, wiped the port of the iv site, and
administered the flush. The other point that I remember about this
station was that I had kind of an unusual dose; 2ml over 30 seconds.
I had to check my math three times as that comes out to 0.5 ml every
7.5 seconds. On talking to the other candidates after the lab
stations, I think I was the only one who had that particular dosage.
Similar to the IM/SQ station, I think they switch up what they ask
candidates to administer.
Passed all stations on first attempt.
After we all finished, we were seated back down. We were instructed
to meet the following day in the cafeteria at 07:00. Slept very
poorly that night.
Saturday:
Again, our CE met us at exactly the time promised and took us to a
small meeting room where we were seated. She leafed through our
nursing diagnosis books and drug books to check for notes, etc..
Then our names were called out one by one to our assigned CE's who
were standing just outside the door. On meeting the CE, I was
immediately taken to the floor and given a 5 minute tour. The PCS
then started. See my other posting for what is provided regarding
the two binders and what I did with them.
PCS 1:
70 year old female, general malaise, GI bleed, hemoptysis
AOC: siderails x2, OOB to chair c one person assist, intake/output,
fluids ad lib, cardiac diet, v/s: oral ivac temp, apical pulse,
resps, bp, o2 sat (report if less than 95%), abdominal assessment (no
girth), peripheral vascular assessment (lower extremities) ,
medications (all PO), and respiratory management with deep breathing
and coughing.
I used "risk for injury related to weakness" as one diagnosis, but in
all honesty, I can not remember what I used for my actual.
PCS 2:
34 yr old female (no appropriate pediatric patient available),
bilateral salpingo oophrectomy, hysterectomy.
AOC: siderails x2, ambulate c one person assist, intake/output,
encourage fluids, clear fluids only, v/s: oral ivac temp, radial
pulse, resps, bp, level of pain on 0-10 scale, abdominal assessment
(no girth), respiratory assessment, comfort management.
Acute pain related to tissue trauma AEB patient verbalizes pain level
of 4 on 0-10 scale. Patient will report pain <= 2 on 0-10 scale.
Obtain patient's level of pain using 0-10 pain rating scale.
(effective - patient quantified pain using 0-10 pain rating
scale.)
Reposition patient to position of comfort.
(effective - patient rated pain = 0 after repositioning from
bed to chair.)
Control of pain is a fundamental need according to Maslow's hierarchy.
Risk for injury related to antihypertensives on sensorium.
Patient will remain free from injury during PCS.
Maintain siderails up x2 while patient is in bed.
Provide patient nonskid socks before ambulating patient.
That afternoon, went back to the hotel, showered, wasn't very
hungry. Went to a local movie theater and watched the 15:00 showing
of Iron Man. Stopped for dinner and bought a little something extra
for breakfast the following morning. Passed out around 19:00 and
slept right through until the alarm woke me up at 05:00.
Sunday:
PCS 3:
83 yr old male, bilateral hip pain, fx was ruled out and pain thought
to be arthritic.
AOC: siderails x2, ambulate c one person assist, intake/output,
fluids ad lib, v/s: oral ivac temp, apical pulse, resps, bp, o2 sat
(report if less than 92%), peripheral vascular assessment (lower
extremities) , medications (all PO), respiratory assessment, pain
management, oxygen management.
Acute pain related to inflammation AEB patient verbalizes pain level
of 6 on 0-10 scale. Patient will report pain <= 4 on 0-10 scale.
Obtain patient's level of pain using 0-10 pain rating scale.
(effective - patient quantified pain using 0-10 pain rating
scale.)
Reposition patient to position of comfort.
(effective - patient rated pain = 0 while maintaining a seated
position.)
Control of pain is a fundamental need according to Maslow's hierarchy.
Risk for injury related to effects of opiate analgesics on sensorium.
Patient will remain free from injury during PCS.
Maintain siderails up x2 while patient is in bed.
Provide patient nonskid socks before ambulating patient.
Whereas I had time to spare on my first two PCSs, I used up every
last minute on PCS 3. However, I did pass all 3 and after the third,
I was escorted downstairs, given a congratulatory handshake by the
CA, some paperwork to get me started toward the NCLEX, and off I
went! Back at the hotel by 11:00, and in my home by 16:00.
Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences with me on this
forum as I prepared for the CPNE. I hope others get as much out of
this posting as I have from you. Best of luck