[c fiser]

has anyone taken the aann neuro nursing certification. the book looks pretty tough. my hospital is starting a brand new neuro icu and they are talking about requiring it for all nurses. any thoughts/comments on starting a neuro icu from scratch would be appreciated

[jm10107@aol.ocm]

taking the certification is nice but I actually wouldn't suggest it until your up and running for a while . My hospital found that running an informal review course really increased the pass rate the neuro surgeons and cns really stepped up and gave inservices every month before the test Now we're looking at offering it out to the public

[Jonty45]

I've been offered a post in neuro critical care and intend to take the CNRN when I get to the USA. c fiser mentioned a book. Where can I get this information?

[mamboyaya]

AANN reccommends you to have two years Neuro ICU experience before taking the exam. If you take it without "any" Neuro experience, pray that you aren't audited.

[JACook1]

I have been a CNRN for almost a year with 5yrs of nursing experience 4 of those years concentrated in neuro-trauma. For those who have taken the CCRN, imagine the CNRN harder. This test is very tedious. We took an eight month reveiw course that focused on anatomy, physiology, out comes, and rehab. Ellen Barker is the neuroscience nursing goddess and has published several books on Neuroscience nursing (she is also on the committee that creates test questions) I would recommend finding someone who is a CNRN to develop a reveiw course utilizing your Neurosurgeon, neurologists, and rehab. There are allot of diseases that we don't see in the unit. Less than 10% of the test is TBI. Hope this helps.

Jaime A. Cook RN,BSN,CNRN