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
