CCRN study probs...

Medic14 · Mar 15, 2005

I would recommend two books:

1) Pass CCRN by Robin Dennison 2nd Edition Mosby publishing

2) Critical Care Nursing Secrets by Schell & Puntillo Secret Series

Maybes:

3) Core Curriculum for Critical Care Nursing by AACN JoAnn Alspach

4) ICU Recall by Tribble & Cope Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

No:

1) any products by Laura Gasparis PhD

-purchased a vcr set of her two day review course, the first tape was with equal amount of time btwn her discussing things about the exam to study and her complaining about doctors, how she saved some patient's life, degrading less educated nurses and her annoying laugh, enough to make you hurrle. Basically a waste of my time and not worth the $80 I spent on the product through ebay, Original cost I believe ?$150.

2) CCRN Secrets by MO Media, http://www.mo-media.com

$67 for a collection of facts, without an rationale behind the fact.

A friend and I purchased these resources, I found all of them to be a waste of money with the exception the the first three books. If I had to do it all over again, I would just go with number 1.

Good luck, very doable exam, its all in his head if he wants to pass it. Those who fail, have already convienced themselves that they have failed even before they get to the test center.

big sweet life · Mar 15, 2005

I agree with Medic, that in hindsight, PASS CCRN is all I would purchase to study for it. I had also purchased some other books but felt overall PASS CCRN was the book I read the most. It was more concise. The Core Curriculum is good to have but I think it sometimes assumes a bit more knowledge on the part of the reader. PASS CCRN is what I would go with as well.

tridil2000, MSN, RN · Mar 15, 2005

I would recommend two books:
1) Pass CCRN by Robin Dennison 2nd Edition Mosby publishing
2) Critical Care Nursing Secrets by Schell & Puntillo Secret Series
Maybes:
3) Core Curriculum for Critical Care Nursing by AACN JoAnn Alspach
4) ICU Recall by Tribble & Cope Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
No:
1) any products by Laura Gasparis PhD
-purchased a vcr set of her two day review course, the first tape was with equal amount of time btwn her discussing things about the exam to study and her complaining about doctors, how she saved some patient's life, degrading less educated nurses and her annoying laugh, enough to make you hurrle. Basically a waste of my time and not worth the $80 I spent on the product through ebay, Original cost I believe ?$150.
2) CCRN Secrets by MO Media, www.mo-media.com
$67 for a collection of facts, without an rationale behind the fact.
A friend and I purchased these resources, I found all of them to be a waste of money with the exception the the first three books. If I had to do it all over again, I would just go with number 1.
Good luck, very doable exam, its all in his head if he wants to pass it. Those who fail, have already convienced themselves that they have failed even before they get to the test center.

i purchased the cen secrets from mo media and found them a huge waste of money. there was nothing there that i didn't already know. as a matter of fact, i requested a refund and they sent me the check in about 3 days! so, at least they're reputable.

i disagree about laura's videos. yes, she tells a lot of stories, but i think that's how she gets you to remeber things, plus it helps break up the monotony of information. imo, the stories help you process the information she is reviewing. i will say, that on the videos you can ff the stories, and then review over and over the info you need to review. you can't do that with a live session, so the tapes are an overall better deal for the money.

pass ccrn's cdrom has at least 10 errors on it. but, i love the rationales they give.

gwlillith · Mar 15, 2005

I have to also disagree. The L. Gasparis video's were a magnificent help to me in passing. I learned alot, and also helped me to focus on areas that were definately asked on the exam.

The "Pass CCRN" is so boring I thought I would die! It's a great reference for the "bits and pieces" and explanations that you might need to brush up on. But the best advice I have is to practice, practice, practice the test questions. I learned that from the L. Gasparis videos.

Had I not done the practice questions and my "mental aerobics" before the exam, I'm not so sure I would have done so well.

I also purchased her CCRN Review practice questions book. It had over 800 questions with the answers and rationales. I went through each and every one.

If you know how to take the exam it's half the battle.

LNsrna · Mar 15, 2005

I have to also disagree. The L. Gasparis video's were a magnificent help to me in passing. I learned alot, and also helped me to focus on areas that were definately asked on the exam.
The "Pass CCRN" is so boring I thought I would die! It's a great reference for the "bits and pieces" and explanations that you might need to brush up on. But the best advice I have is to practice, practice, practice the test questions. I learned that from the L. Gasparis videos.
Had I not done the practice questions and my "mental aerobics" before the exam, I'm not so sure I would have done so well.
I also purchased her CCRN Review practice questions book. It had over 800 questions with the answers and rationales. I went through each and every one.
If you know how to take the exam it's half the battle.

Reviewing the CCRN Core practice questions from the AACN is the only way to go if you're interested in not wasting time and interested in not getting bored. I took the CCRN exam twice in 10 years and this method was perfect for me. Each question has explanations for the right answer and explanations for why the wrong answers were wrong. I believe that the questions are also cross referenced to the CCRN Core book (Huge book that makes me sleepy just thinking about it) if I remember correctly. The advantage to having the huge CCRN Core reference is that if you are completely lost you can review the subject matter in more detail.

gwlillith · Mar 16, 2005

Reviewing the CCRN Core practice questions from the AACN is the only way to go if you're interested in not wasting time and interested in not getting bored. I took the CCRN exam twice in 10 years and this method was perfect for me. Each question has explanations for the right answer and explanations for why the wrong answers were wrong. I believe that the questions are also cross referenced to the CCRN Core book (Huge book that makes me sleepy just thinking about it) if I remember correctly. The advantage to having the huge CCRN Core reference is that if you are completely lost you can review the subject matter in more detail.

I also had L.Gasparis' CCRN review questions book. It has over 800 questions with all the rationales for the correct and incorrect answers. This was also a big help...