My Personal Experience With The College Network Study Guides/Modules

The World Wide Web is home to many differing opinions regarding The College Network and its study materials. I cannot speak personally concerning their business practices, or the costs associated with purchasing anything directly from them. I can, however, comment about their study guides/modules themselves.

I have spoken multiple times on this blog concerning how I have been using older versions of TCN guides to prepare for my Excelsior College exams. Although a single study system rarely works for everyone, I have had great success using these modules. I have used TCN modules to pass 6 exams so far, scoring an "A" or "B" on each. These include:

1. Anatomy & Physiology
2. Microbiology
3. EONC: Health Safety
4. EONC: Health Differences
5. EONC: Chronicity
6. EONC: Reproductive Health

I have used the test-prep CD's offered for sale by Larends and SudyGroup101 found on Ebay as supplemental sources, as well as FlashcardExchange.com, but haven't used either extensively. My personal opinion is that the TCN modules are well written and cover all necessary information. The versions I have used up until this point were printed between 2004 and 2006, with the exception of one. The EONC: Reproductive Health guide was printed in 2007.

I hope that this information is helpful. Again, I have no experience in dealing with The College Network directly, I have only used second-hand study guides.

Good luck to everyone, and please feel free to contact me if you feel that I may of some assistance.

Reproductive Health Exam

Just took, and passed, Essentials of Nursing Care: Reproductive Health this past Saturday (March 12, 2011). Scored a B. Was very pleased with this grade as there was a lot of information covered for that exam. For this test I used The College Network module and StudyGroup101's study CD to augment the module.

The TCN module that I used this time was not one that was written for the older series of Nursing Concepts exams, as I have used in the past. For this exam I used the updated TCN module Essentials of Nursing Care: Reproductive Health.

Thus far I have used The College Network modules as my primary study source for 6 exams, including:

Microbiology

Anatomy and Physiology

EONC: Health Safety

EONC: Health Differences

EONC: Chronicity

EONC: Reproductive Health

I'm planning on using the TCN module to study for the next exam, Health Differences 1, and will let everyone know how it works out.

Chronicity Exam

Passed the Essentials of Nursing Care: Chronicity exam on October 30th. Scored a C. Not to thrilled about that, but am happy that I passed on the first try. Didn't study as much as I normally do, so I should be pleased with a C. For this exam I used The College Network module, and additional information from StudyGroup101. I've mentioned them before. They sell CD's through Ebay that are intended to help you prepare for the Excelsior College Exams , or for CLEP / DANTE exams.

Passed Anatomy and Physiology !!!

Took the A & P exam on May 1, and scored a B ! Studied using only The College Network Anatomy and Physiology module, and the study CD's from larends and StudyGroup101. Both of those suppliers have stores on ebay.com.

Study Aids Available on Ebay

There are a couple of noteworthy suppliers of supplemental study materials for the Excelsior Nursing program. Both larends and studygroup101 have CD's for sell through Ebay that contain information, notes, and practice exams that can be used as a supplement to help you prepare for the Excelsior College Exams in Nursing. They also sell materials to supplement your study of Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, etc..

I have personally used the CD's provided by larends to help myself prepare for exams. I have used them to study for Essentials of Nursing Care: Health Safety, and Essentials of Nursing Care: Health Differences. I passed both of these on the first attempt. I am currently using a CD from studygroup101 to supplement my study for the Anatomy and Physiology Excelsior College Exam, and have found it very useful.

Both are available fairly cheap. Larends' materials are typically available for $12.50 per CD, with free shipping. Studygroup101s' materials are typically available for $9.99 per CD, plus a small shipping fee (currently about $2.51). Both also offer package deals that provide materials that cover more than 1 exam, usually all 8 nursing exams.

Be sure to read my other posts concerning The College Network study modules.

The College Network Module ISBN Numbers

Below is a short list that I have compiled of the ISBN numbers for the Nursing Concept modules, as well as the A & P and Microbiology modules, from TCN (The College Network):

The College Network

Nursing Book List / ISBN Numbers

Nursing Concepts 1: (2006) B000VHUAG6

Nursing Concepts 2: (2005) B000YA2AMW

Nursing Concepts 3: (2006) B000UOG02I

Nursing Concepts 4: (2006) B000VHUIP4 , (2007) B000WW54IE

Nursing Concepts 5: (2002) B000UOG0I2

Nursing Concepts 6: (2007) B000WW54YI, (2006) B000VHSU4K

Nursing Concepts-Foundations of Professional Practice: (2005) B000XS8EDY

Microbiology: (2001) B000UOHQSU, (2002) B0016LAITU, (2006) B000VHSMRU

Anatomy and Physiology: (2006) B000VKZ7L6

I had great luck finding most of my modules thru:

cheapesttextbooks

TCN - The College Network

If you are considering purchasing study materials for the Excelsior College AAS/ASN Nursing program from The College Network, I have some info for you.

I have used the TCN modules for 3 exams now, and they are actually very good. I have used them to study for the Essentials of Nursing Care: Health Safety exam, Essentials of Nursing Care: Health Differences exam, and the Excelsior Anatomy and Physiology exam. I have taken both the Health Safety and the Health Differences exams, and received an A and a B respectively. I am preparing to take the A & P exam on February 20th. I love the modules, but you DO NOT have to purchase them directly from TCN. The College Network will evaluate what credit you already have, tell you what you still need, and then want you to sign a contract to purchase ALL the modules for the exams you need to complete your degree. In my humble opinion, THIS IS CRAZY!

If you never even complete 1 single exam, you are still contracted to pay for all of the modules, and let me tell you that isn't cheap. The modules can cost several hundred dollars a piece, so a contract to buy all of the Nursing modules, as well as some General Education modules, could quickly turn into a promise to pay thousands of dollars!

A friend of mine who began the Excelsior Nursing program sometime before I did turned me on to a great way to buy and use the TCN modules. She purchased the TCN modules for the "old" Nursing Concept exams (for those of you that are unfamiliar with what I mean, let me explain. Prior to, oh I think 2007, there were 7 total Associate level Nursing exams for the Excelsior program, including Nursing Concepts 1 thru 6, and a role transition exam. Since then there have been a total of 8 exams, which are the exams now required.), and she used them to study for the current exams. She purchased her modules through sources like Ebay, Amazon, Half.com, etc..

Although the names have changed, the same material is covered in the "old" exam modules, but it is divided a little differently for a few of the exams. For example, the modules for Nursing Concepts 1 and 2 mirrors the material covered in the modules for Health Safety and Health Differences, BUT Nursing Concepts 3 and 4 have been divided in Chronicity, Reproductive Health, and Health Differences 1. I have used the Nursing Concepts 1 to study for EONC: Health Safety, and used the Nursing Concepts 2 to study for EONC: Health Differences, and as I said above, received an A and a B respectively.

To date I have purchased the modules for Nursing Concepts 1 thru 6,a nd for Anatomy and Physiology and thus far have spent a grand total, including shipping, of $220.46! the least exspensive, including shipping, was $17.94, and the most expensive, including shipping, was $53.99! I bought all of mine thru Amazon.com, Half.com, Ebay, etc..

Now of course these are not current editions because they no longer print these. All the modules that I have purchased so far have been 2005 or 2006 editions. One module was from 2002, but all have still been in their origional cellophane. I simply went through the Excelsior Content Guide for each exam to see what may have been updated, and then supplemented the modules with that. In all honesty, the yearly updates to the exams have been pretty minimal.

I don't know that Excelsior provides a comparison of the Nursing Concept exams and the Essential of Nursing Care / Health Differences exams, but they are available. I have one that I have put together myself from a variety of sources, and have found several online.

Here is a basic breakdown of the comparison:

Nursing Concepts 1 same as EONC: Health Safety

Nursing Concepts 2 same as EONC: Health Differences

Nursing Concepts 5 same as Health Differences 2

Nursing Concepts 6 same as Health Differences 3

and

Nursing Concepts Foundations of Professional Practice is the same as

Transition to the Registered Professional Nurse Role


The difference in division applies to Nursing Concepts 3 and 4, which are now divied into Chronicity, Reproductive Health, and Health Differences 1. Here is the comparison:

EONC: Chronicity topics - Comfort & Pain, Chronic illness, End of life care, Sensory Impairment, Community Settings, Cultural diversity - can be found in Nursing Concepts 3.

EONC: Reporductive Health topics - Human Sexuality, Child Bearing Family, Reproductive disorders, Congenital Anomalies, Genetic Disorders - can be found in Nursing Concepts 3 and 4.

Health Differences 1 topics - Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Abnormal Cell Growth - can be found in Nursing Concepts 4.

I hope that this information is helpful. Good luck with your studies. Below is a link for a site that I used to find most of the modules.

cheapesttextbooks