Last minute TNCC. Frustrated. Venting.

EDRN10 · Feb 20, 2012

First off take a slow deep breath as all will be okay. I was placed in a somewhat similar situation all thought not quite as time constrained as yours prior to taking TNCC. Yes you are correct in the focus of TNCC being your ABC's and DEF and so on. There are also areas in it referring to burn nursing. However TNCC focuses on the initial assessment of the patient as if they just arrived to the hospital. Make sure as you go down the ABC's make sure you address all possible issues with each letter before you move. An example would be pt is not breathing. SO you would begin to bag the pt if this is available and then reassess pts breathing. Upon reassessment if pt is still not breathing then you must continue to address the issue of breathing until the issue is resolved or another team member such as RT is able to take over bagging the pt o pt is on a ventilator. Once this is completed and pt is either breathing or we are breathing for them then you can move on to letter C and so on. Another area that was emphasized in my TNCC class was to physically touch the pt as you examine them and of course to remove all clothing. The idea behind the touch is pt's may not realize they are injured in a area until you touch it. Also if you cannot see body of the pt then you cannot fully assess them. These were all the big take home points i took from TNCC. As far as the test goes it is just like all nursing exams. There are multiple correct answers but you must pick the best one. Just remember to follow the ABC's and you should be fine. Plus if your TNCC course is a 2 day one like mine just make sure you pay attention to the things that the instructors seem to place a lot of emphasis on as these are likely things that will be on the exam. Hope this helps you some.

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2012

^Thanks!

It is a two day course, and I'm partially betting on what you said in hopes that I'll at least pass the written.

Thank you so much for the advice about the touching/clothes/in other situations would be pervy stuff. I'm really nervous about the practical portion -- just because I tend to get very self-conscious when "pretending" stuff. Have a hard time taking myself seriously. And I have ACLS/PALS next month. Eep.

ninjago · Feb 20, 2012

dirtyhippiegirl said:
I actually work on a burn unit but put this here because it seems like the most relevant forum that actually gets the occasional traffic.
I was told on Friday by my nurse educator that I would be taking TNCC this Monday. (She forgot to enroll me in the class.) I was handed the textbook, as well as some useless study guide notes, and the pre-test. The lady who gave me the textbook explicitly said "I don't think you're going to have enough time to study for the test."
I worked Friday night, didn't have any time to study because I had a patient who was violently detoxing, and...yeah...
I'm an incredibly fast read and study well...but I feel like crying. I've been doing the pretest as well as practice questions and a lot of them are ABC oriented. Which is nice. Some are even relevant to burn nursing, which is even nicer.
But I haven't even LOOKED over the practical portion of the exam. Most people get nearly a month to study and read through the textbook. I am just so frustrated right now. My nurse educator totally blew me off when I asked if I could be scheduled into a later class. I'm about 85% certain that I'm going to fail.
Anyway. Does anyone have any experience with TNCC? Any advice? I did a search but didn't get much on AN at least.

I didn't know we can get the TNCC book ahead of time. I got the book on the first day of TNCC class, listened attentively to what the instructor is teaching, read the book and above all, always remember the ABCs. You can make it. I did and I had less than a year of ER that time. Good luck!

edit: About being nervous in being "watch" by instructor. I get the same thing, I just try to keep a tunnel vision on what I have to do. Pretend they are not there and also, I try to convince myself that this is "real" situation. Now, that kept my brain going.

VICEDRN, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2012

two thoughts...

1. skip to the back of the book and review the scenarios. its the only way to study for the practical portion.

2. pay attention to the lecture for the written test.

keep it simple. trauma is simple. the cert isn't hard (at least not imho) and you probably know some of the material already.

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2012

Hey guys. Thanks for the tips! I kept them in mind while testing today.

I passed. Actually scored high enough on the written and practical that I got the "recommend you be an instructor" thingy. I lol'd pretty hard at that -- I've been a hospital nurse for not even three months now. (So I obviously don't meet the two year requirement.)

I was kind of thrown off by the written. There were probably a good 8-10 questions that were very specific in nature with answers that could really only be found in the book ie. they weren't covered in the lectures at all. I DID read the textbook.

I got a 96% on the written and one of the questions that I missed was a burn question. Derp!

EDRN10 · Feb 22, 2012

Congrats. Glad to hear all went well.

badphish · Feb 26, 2012

i just took the course this last week. if you want to give your email, i can send you a couple of study guides that really helped me out. i was given great advice for the practical. there will be equipment next to the dummy for you to use. place everything you use on or next to the dummy, when the table is empty you have done all the interventions you can. My buddy is a burn unit girl and she did great on TNCC. for the written there are two distractors and one near miss. i found it for the most part straighforward. they gave plenty of hints in class. most important suck the knowledge out of those seasoned trauma bay nurses. we had a gal that could of taught the course herself. i learned some great stuff. i was a paramedic before becoming an ER nurse and i still learned a lot

i started leafing through the book the morning of day 1

youll do great.

maverickemt · Oct 9, 2012

Hi badphish - Can you send me study guides you used for TNCC? And of course, any suggestions for the practical would be greatly appreciated also...My email is [email protected]. Thanks.

Maverick

KiekRN · Oct 9, 2012

Me too badphish? Could I get a copy of the study guides also? I have to take this in December. I've been a medic for 12 years and in July got my RN license and working in the ED. TNCC is part of my orientation.

jsgero · Oct 9, 2012

I am taking TNCC on monday and tuesday and completely freaking out, as i am not a good book reader comprehender. Oh and by the way that name is bad ass as I am a hard core phish head

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