Nursing Course Guide

Excelsior College* is currently running two different sets of Nursing courses. While both lead you to your Associate Degree in Nursing (ASN), there are differences you must be aware of.

The purpose of this article is to make you aware of those differences, what exams you really need to take, as well as what courses to take at Accelerated Learning Center to prepare you for the exam.

The first thing to be aware of are the eligibility dates. Eligibility dates are based on when you ENROLLED with Excelsior College*.

If you are taking the new examinations (you enrolled with Excelsior College* on or after October 1, 2007) you just take the courses listed above. The board in our hallway lists them by the course number, not the exam number. For example, Essentials of Nursing Care: Health Safety is listed as NURX104. You can also find the class schedule at:

As of October, 2008 we stopped running classes for the old Nursing Concepts examinations. By that point, it had been 12 months since Excelsior College* converted to the new exams. To be frank, most of our students taking the old exams are already finished. We simply don't have enough students taking the old Nursing Concepts exams to field a class anymore. However, we do have a plan for you if you need the old exams.

Classes to Take for Old Nursing Concepts Exams
NC Exam Needed	Course(s) to Take	Weeks	Completion Date

Nursing Concepts 1	NURX 104	6	NLT 9/30/09
Nursing Concepts 2	NURX 105	6	NLT 9/30/09
Nursing Concepts 3	NURX 106/107	6 - 12	NLT 9/30/09
Nursing Concepts 4	NURX 107/211	6 - 12	NLT 9/30/09
Nursing Concepts 5	NURX 212	6	NLT 9/30/09
Nursing Concepts 6	NURX 213	6	NLT 9/30/09
Nursing Concepts 7 (Foundations )	NURX 214	6	NLT 9/30/09

It has recently come to our attention that Excelsior College* has changed the NURX 104 exam before they issued a new content study guide for this course. When the curriculum change originally occurred, NC1 and NURX104 had identical content guides and exams. Apparently, that is no longer true. Distance Learning Systems (DLSI) is in the process of re-writing the NURX104 tutorial. Unfortunately, that takes time, as it is a major project. Therefore, in the interim, please be advised that you should supplement the present tutorial with basic information about Pediatrics and Pharmacology. Specifically:

The Pediatrics text by Hockenberry (7th ed.), Chapters 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 22)

Perspectives of Pediatric Nursing, Family Influences on Child Health, Developmental Influences on Child Health (growth and development) Promotion, History taking and family assessment, Physical & Developmental assessment – physical examination, and Pediatric Interventions (safety, environmental factors, transporting and restraints).

The Pharmacology text by Kee, Hayes, and McCuistion (5th ed.) that emphasizes drug usage safety and penicillins and cephalosporins.

Of course, many medical texts have this type of information, so whatever you choose to use is fine as long as the above topics are covered. Meanwhile, DLSI is working on supplementals until the new tutorial is ready – probably in January, 2009.

*Accelerated Learning Center, Inc. and www.RNsooner.com are not affiliated with Excelsior College or the College Board.

****NCLEX preparation is geared toward the states of Tennessee and Kentucky. Kentucky residents will have to complete an additional 120 clinical hours after passing the CPNE. RN licenses are transferable to most states, but there are exclusions. Should you desire to take the NCLEX in a state other than Tennessee or Kentucky, or transfer your RN license in the future, check with that state's Nursing Board. We do not guarantee transferability, or eligibility to sit for the NCLEX, for any state outside of Tennessee and Kentucky.