Anyone else studying for CCRN exam?

Published

  1. I have or would like to get my CCRN certification: (you may select more than one)

    • 851
      Yes
    • 17
      No
    • 365
      If yes: I get some kind of financial reward or incentive to achieve and maintain certification.
    • 331
      If yes: There is no financial reward or incentive at my institution for CCRN certification.
    • 360
      If yes: I have or can have CCRN on my name badge or there is other forms of acknowledgement.
    • 291
      If yes: I find the certification has empowered my practice and would encourage others to pursue it.
    • 13
      If yes: It really hasn't been worth the work and I would discourage others from pursuing it.
    • 5
      If no: I don't have the certification and feel no need or have had negative experiences.
    • 53
      If no: I would like to pursue it, but have had difficulty getting motivated.
    • 12
      I am undecided.

379 members have participated

Is there anyone else out there who is currently studying for the CCRN exam and would like to start a thread as perhaps a study and support group? I have just applied for the exam and have not yet set a date, but about in 3 months is when I will be taking it. I would love to be in communication with others in the same boat! I hope there is at least one other nurse out there! Thanks!

deeDawntee

Specializes in CVICU, PACU, OR.

I'm getting motivated because of all the people studying!

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
Just took a practice test:

Cardio: 33/47

Pulm: 19/26

GI: 5/6

Neuro: 4/5

Renal: 7/8

Endocrine: 8/9

Heme: 8/8

Multisysyem: 11/12

Caring & Ethics: 25/29

120/150 = 80%

I still need to watch cardio, pulm, and multisystem on the DVDs. This is my best practice test yet! :up:

BTW: I floated to CICU the other night and had a patient on a rotorest bed for the first time. I volunteered to take it, crazy me. :bugeyes: It was cool! I also learned a bit about our ARDS protocol. Sometimes I actually enjoy floating.

You rock girlfriend!! You are ready to go! When is your test? Very good job.

Yea ARDS management is pretty remarkable. What was that pt's peep?

Glad you are keeping us informed! How about everybody else??? How is it going???

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
hi all, i have been reading this thread on and off for the past few weeks and i promised myself that i would post after i took my ccrn exam (i don't normally post on boards, so i was a little apprehensive...). i wanted to say thank you for being so candid in your comments and supportive or each other. all of your comments have been spot on about ways to study. i too used pass ccrn by dennison, as well as some hints from critical care nursing certification by ahrens. plus i had some very old dr. laura gasparis vonfrolio vhs tapes that i would watch at random times over the past few months. i had the pass ccrn book for only a few weeks (purchased after a recommendation here) and for the past week i have done nothing but crazy amounts of practice tests and practice questions. my main focus was on the "big guns," the cardiac, pulmonary, and multisystem sections. i used the website www.pacep.org to review pulmonary artery and swan-ganz. i also recertified in acls yesterday, which helped a bit with studying and confidence. the main thing i would recommend is doing the practice questions and several practice exams before taking the actual test. today i found that i got approximately the same score on the real test as i was getting on my final few exams, and i passed!

:yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah:

congratulations ccrn!!!

wooooo hooooo!!!!

way to go!! awesome job!!!

:up::up::up::bow::bow::bow::chuckle:chuckle:chuckle

thanks for posting, please consider hanging out with us on the thread.... i would love to hear how having your ccrn feels for you and what kind of reception you are getting at work. do you get a bonus? are there very many other ccrn certified nurses at your workplace?

isn't it remarkable how closely those dennison questions correlate with the actual ccrn? did you notice many verbatim questions btw the both? i had a few.

thanks for joining our thread!!!!

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
Well I just finished a practice test I got 98/150 or 65%. I will review what I missed and focus on my weak areas (cardio). Ha ha, funny cause I worked a tele floor right out of school :bugeyes: (I got 27 out 47 on cardio and 13 out of 26 on respiratory).

I plan to take a practice test every other day and do some reviewing on the days I don't test.

Hey you are only 10% away from a passing score! You will do fine and I have no doubt you will pass the exam. One tip, don't keep your eyes so focused on the score that you miss the game....it is kind of like a tennis player trying to win while keeping her eyes on the score board...doesn't work real well. Maybe that applies, maybe not....

:p:p:p

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
hi all, i have been reading this thread on and off for the past few weeks and i promised myself that i would post after i took my ccrn exam (i don't normally post on boards, so i was a little apprehensive...). i wanted to say thank you for being so candid in your comments and supportive or each other. all of your comments have been spot on about ways to study. i too used pass ccrn by dennison, as well as some hints from critical care nursing certification by ahrens. plus i had some very old dr. laura gasparis vonfrolio vhs tapes that i would watch at random times over the past few months. i had the pass ccrn book for only a few weeks (purchased after a recommendation here) and for the past week i have done nothing but crazy amounts of practice tests and practice questions. my main focus was on the "big guns," the cardiac, pulmonary, and multisystem sections. i used the website www.pacep.org to review pulmonary artery and swan-ganz. i also recertified in acls yesterday, which helped a bit with studying and confidence. the main thing i would recommend is doing the practice questions and several practice exams before taking the actual test. today i found that i got approximately the same score on the real test as i was getting on my final few exams, and i passed!

flowersbanner3.gif

congratulations, ccrn!!!!

flowersbanner3.gif

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Specializes in ER/ICU/PACU/ Nurse Anesthetist.

Just finished my third practice exam, I got 116/150- 77%!

I'm in the process of reviewing cardiac. I need to bite the bullet and register, I would like to test around the end of May or early June! Then I can focus 100% on GRE:uhoh3:

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
Just finished my third practice exam, I got 116/150- 77%!

I'm in the process of reviewing cardiac. I need to bite the bullet and register, I would like to test around the end of May or early June! Then I can focus 100% on GRE:uhoh3:

YAAAYYYY!!!! You could take the CCRN next week and do fine....way to go graduate2002!!!

:yeah::yeah::yeah:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

thanks for posting, please consider hanging out with us on the thread.... i would love to hear how having your ccrn feels for you and what kind of reception you are getting at work. do you get a bonus? are there very many other ccrn certified nurses at your workplace?

isn't it remarkable how closely those dennison questions correlate with the actual ccrn? did you notice many verbatim questions btw the both? i had a few.

thanks for joining our thread!!!!

no bonus for me at my job and i have never seen it on anyone's id, but some people have scrubs or pins that they wear with ccrn on them. i am in an emergency department and critical care/icu resource pool at work (i.e. i work in all of the icus, irad, endoscopy, pacu, and ed) so i don't really have a home base and don't know how many of the nurses throughout the hospital have their ccrn certification. the day after i took my exam i was working in the cicu and there were several patients who had a vad; i got to see them in a different light after having vad questions on the actual exam and practice exams. it was pretty cool. also, i spoke with some nurses who did not take the ccrn yet and encouraged them to sit for the exam (they had been thinking about it, but didn't know how to study or think they were ready). i also referred them to this thread.

though i don't get recognition at work, i am glad i did it. in the very near future, i will most likely begin travel nursing and hope it helps with getting a good position. at the very least, i feel much smarter and confident in my knowledge since studying for and passing the ccrn.

as for the questions... i only saw many that were similar to dennison, but really none that were verbatim. there were many more acid/base abg questions on my actual exam than the practice exams. some of the questions could have come from the explanations on the dennison cd, and i am glad that i read many of the explanations to the questions.

thanks again for your support, both before and after!

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.

Wow, you are one of those rare nurses who are masters of the entire hospital and can float easily between all your areas or expertise. That is so cool! To take all those skills into any travel position should give you lots of options. If you ever end up in the Twin Cities, I hope to run into you. It is also very impressive that you had the initiative to go ahead and get the certification without incentive from your employer. You definitely come across as incredibly self-sufficient and self-directed! Do you plan on going for your CRNA at some point? The sky is the limit for you, my friend. I would love it if there were more discussions on this thread regarding really anything in ICU nursing. For instance, I have never even seen a VAD. What was the prognosis for those patients? Were they waiting for transplants. How long can someone actually live with one of those and with what quality of life? There is so much to know in nursing, I feel that I could study all over again for the CCRN and it would be beneficial. Have you thought about getting your CEN? That is the next thing on my agenda, I think, it is harder finding really good resources. Although, the crossover between ICU and ED nursing is pretty similar.

Again, congratulations!! Have you thought of anything to do or get for yourself as a reward? Especially in your case where your employer won't do much, if anything for you, acknowledgment with something special is a good idea!!

:yelclap::yelclap::yelclap:

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Specializes in ER/ICU/PACU/ Nurse Anesthetist.

Studying is going great! I'm consistently scoring > 75% on practice exams, I hope to see that number increase to ~85% before I test. I am sending off my application this week and would like to test by June 1st.

Hope everyone else is doing well :)

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
Studying is going great! I'm consistently scoring > 75% on practice exams, I hope to see that number increase to ~85% before I test. I am sending off my application this week and would like to test by June 1st.

Hope everyone else is doing well :)

You are DEFINITELY rockin and rollin!! Way to go!!

:lol2::lol2::lol2:

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Specializes in Cardiac.

I'm still trying to study. I had lost my motivation over the past few months...

I'm afraid to retake the practice CD exam because I might start to memorize the questions and get them right for the wrong reasons...

But, I still have a date of mid June to take the test, so I best start re-watching the tapes.

Laura is coming to Vegas in June or July! I wonder if I should go see her....maybe she will motivate me, lol!

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