CRNE Prep Guide...am in second year now..so..

[Dratz]

Hi all:

Last year I posted asking if as a new first year nursing student I should bother getting the CRNE prep guide to look at through the year. I was advised by the posters here not to do that so soon in my program.

Now that I am heading into my second year here and graduate Dec 2007, is it too early still to get this guide and start studying up on the questions? I have 16 months left to my program and will diploma exit.

If anyone used the prep guide did you find it useful? I had read that it was useful only in that it helped a person by seeing how they format the questions.

Any advice welcome, Thanks

[Kamy]

Hey Dratz,

I am in my last year of nursing and still have not purchased the guide yet, but I will be doing so soon. I write the exam in February 2007. Some of my classmates will be writing the exam in October 2006 and just purchased the prep guide in May. I think most people purchase it a few months before they write.

Kamy

[Dratz]

Oh, Okay, thanks for the reply.

[Kamy]

No problem!

Kamy

[trent]

I just wrote the CRNE in June, and I really don't think that the CRNE Prep Guide is the book you want yet. Although it is great at helping you know what kind of questions to expect, it is very limited in the number of questions it provides - not nearly as many questions as you will see on the exam. I would suggest getting another book that is more comprehensive at this point and saving the CRNE Prep Guide until a few months before you write the exam (or even later).

[Kamy]

Trent,

I was just wondering what kinds of things you studied and resources you used to prepare for the CRNE? How far ahead did you start studying. I graduate in December and write mine in February.

Kamy

[grambograham]

I wrote mine in June and didn't study. The questions are very specific to different areas ranging from ICU to STD nursing. Different than what I was told. It is not a general knowledge test. I'm not sure if studying will do that much.

[trent]

Kamy,

I have to say that I really did not do that much studying. There were a few things that I knew I needed to brush up on (especially pediatrics since it wasn't much covered in my program), so those things I covered by reading textbooks. I felt that my program did a pretty good job of preparing me for the exam by stressing critical thinking. Critical thinking seems to be the big focus of the exam, so you need to be able to analyze the question before you answer it.

I did a bit of review in a study group with some classmates, one of whom had brought the Mosby's Canadian study guide for the CRNE, and went through the CRNE Prep Guide about three times. My school posted some NCLEX-type questions for us to try, and I did those too. The night before the exam, I tried the CRNE Readiness Test online, and then got a good night's sleep before the exam.

Most of the exam is case based, and communication between the nurse and others (patient, family, physicians, other health professionals) is stressed. The exam is not meant to discover what specific things you know, but whether you have learned how to apply nursing knowledge to any situation. (For example, the questions are less in the format of "which of the following are not side effects of drug X" and more like "in order to foster the patient's spirituality, which of the following nursing actions is most important").

Whether you are in your final year of nursing school or your first year, I think the best way to prepare yourself is to get as much experience interacting with patients as you can during your placements using the communication strategies you learned in school. If you have problems with tests (anxiety, problems with multiple choice questions or short answer questions) I would suggest seeking out some help from your academic skills centre at school because the CRNE is an 8-hour exam and you want to have every possible tool at your disposal.

Good luck!

Trent

[nurse_nightingale]

Hi Dratz,

I think it is not harmful to purchase the book and practice here and there. Although you can't fully depend on that book. The book will at least let you see how the questions/format will be. Talk to people who have written the exam and find out questions for short answer questions. I found that to be helpful for me...even then they always put in surprises. The multiple choice, I didn't knwo how I did. You can't come out thinking I did great or failed because you just don't know. It depends on how others did as well. Some were confident, their schools prepared them. Unfortunately, my school did nothing of that sort. The MOSBY book you can study but the questions are black and white answers. If you have time do it. It is helpful for short answers. See the exam is unpredictable. I had no questions on maternity. My short answer questions focused on peds and cardiology and a lot of referral questions. My friend had maternity and skills. So you just kinda have to ask around and focus on what you need to study on. Good luck.

Nurse_Nightingale