How long did you study for CCRN?

Specialties MICU Nursing Q/A

How long did you actually study to pass the CCRN?

I was thinking of a solid month. I work my 3 12s and, of course, on my days off, do the studying. 2 weeks of content and 2 weeks of pure practice questions and then take it.

What do you think/suggest?

Specializes in ICU, CVICU, E.R..

I have been studying on and off for almost six months, but I realized it wasn't enough, so I requested two weeks off and studied from 8 am-3 pm at the local library for two weeks straight! Which was awesome! Quiet and provided an environment conducive to studying. A coffee shop nearby within the Library helped a lot. I used Laura G's CCRN question/answer study guide, also practiced the questions on the CD PASS CCRN, and I also watched a lot of YouTube videos explaining key concepts, pathophysiology, anatomy, etc.

Specializes in SICU,CTICU,PACU.

I think it depends on what unit you work in. I took it after one year of SICU experience, did not study, and passed on my first try. I have no CTICU experience and did poorly on the cardiac portion of the test, as expected. My advice would be to study the area(s) you are weakest in and then take the test; a lot of it will be from real-life experiences.

Specializes in ER/ICU/Flight.

It's a very broad test for general critical care knowledge. I took the PassCCRN review CD, the areas I scored the lowest on I studied for a couple of weeks (Ignoring areas I scored >90%). I took the test quite a while ago and didn't know if/how it's changed since then, but it was MUCH easier than I thought it would be. If you have a general working knowledge of ICU nursing, you should be fine. The questions are not intricate or detailed, just very general. Here's an example: I have never taken care of a patient with a ventriculostomy, but the questions about neuro were easy to understand, and without the experience, you can still figure out what they're getting at (e.g., troubleshooting, anatomy, etc.).

Took it this morning. Passed! For studying, I watched the Laura Gasparis lectures and did the practice questions (all 1000 of them) from the Pass CCRN book. I watched the videos over the span of about a week and then did all those questions over this past weekend. I didn't take any notes from the videos, and I only read the first 37 pages of the book. I guess I was prepared enough.

Unlike the NCLEX, you don't have to pass each section - your overall score has to be passing, which according to the printout I got after the test, is 87/125 (25 questions are not scored), so you really only need a 70% to pass. Not really that hard to do, considering most of us need at least 80% to pass a test in nursing school.

I only have one year of experience, so I think I needed to study, but if you have been in an ICU for years, I think you could wing it and turn out okay.

I'll probably be studying for eight years or more.

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