Taking med/surg certification exam

[2bTraumaRN2008]

I plan on taking this exam in about 2 weeks or so, but I have not studied much. I heard mixed reviews....some say basic knowledge and others say it is tough - these are co-workers.

Any thoughts/input? I have 5 years of med/surg experience. Also, I am taking the one thru MSNCB.

Getting nervous about my lack of reviewing/studying.

Thanks

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

I had three good friends who also took this exam. They had been licensed for at least 5 years. They studied their butts off.

All three said it was ridiculous. There was a lot to know just becuase med-surg encompasses so much. There were a lot of questions about cardiac and electrolytes from what they told me.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

I have almost 20 years and still studied my butt off and took a cert course on the class. I have a friend that only studied for 6 weeks prior and others like me, we studied for three months.

The tests are much like the old nursing boards. They seem to focus heavily in certain areas. Mine was heavy in a few topics, and other nurses I worked with had other areas of focus. Some of the questions are random. I haven't known anyone to not pass the test, but we all studied.

If you work on a floor that sees a lot of everything, you probably will do fine.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!

[kayern]

I took the exam after 13 years of experience and studied as if I was taking the NCLEX again. A word of advice.......they are certification exams....no one is giving certification away. The exams are hard, the purpose of certification is to prove you are an expert in your field. You should start studying.

[2bTraumaRN2008]

Well, I actually took the exam today after procrastinating. Studied/reviewed for about 3 days and I am offically a CMSRN. The test wasn't bad at all...in my opinon. I basically did review questions and focused on my "weak" areas.