Anyone else studying for CCRN exam?

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  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 Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
just wanted to share that i passed cmc today!

i continued reviewing cardiac (more in-depth though) after taking ccrn and was inspired to go for it and i'm glad i did! :yeah:

graduate_2002 you rock!!! that is soooooo awesome that you have 2 certifications!!!!!!

congratulations ccrn and cmc!!!!

:yeah::yeah::yeah: :clpty::clpty::clpty:

:anpom::anpom::anpom: yaaaayyyyyy!!!!!!!!

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
Hi guys. I was planning on taking the CCRN last fall. My father suffered from ESRD and I needed to spend the time with him, not studying. After his death I was enrolled in classes working toward my BSN and thought I would resume thinking about the CCRN this fall once that was completed. I decided to take the summer off of classes and cannot see wasting this eight weeks so... I have decided to study for CCRN. If I feel I am ready I will take the exam the end of August, before my classes start again. I have the Gasparis videos (LOVE them!) and Pass CCRN. I will probably be stopping by for encouragement. I want this BAD! I don't get any big incentive from work I just want to feel as if I know my stuff. My problem is that I am a bit (LOL) of an overacheiver and am afraid of failure. I know I do not have to tell anyone that I am taking the test and if I am not successful the first time out no one needs to know. That said, I'm afraid of letting myself down. Okay, I've said it out loud now it's time to study!

I am sooooo sorry to hear about your Dad. :heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat:icon_hug: If you would like to share with us what that was like for you, I would be very interested in listening. My Mom died of ESRD as well, so perhaps we would have something in common.

I am also VERY proud of you for carrying on and going forward in your career. I totally understand that you wouldn't want to tell anyone about the CCRN exam!! I didn't tell anyone at work either!! But I want to tell you something you WILL pass...we have a tried and true method!! Not only that, it is really fun, with Dr Laura etc. Please stay in communication, as I know it inspires others!!

Thanks for your courage and strength to move on. ;););):saint::saint::saint:

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Specializes in DNAP Student.
Hi guys. I was planning on taking the CCRN last fall. My father suffered from ESRD and I needed to spend the time with him, not studying. After his death I was enrolled in classes working toward my BSN and thought I would resume thinking about the CCRN this fall once that was completed. I decided to take the summer off of classes and cannot see wasting this eight weeks so... I have decided to study for CCRN. If I feel I am ready I will take the exam the end of August, before my classes start again. I have the Gasparis videos (LOVE them!) and Pass CCRN. I will probably be stopping by for encouragement. I want this BAD! I don't get any big incentive from work I just want to feel as if I know my stuff. My problem is that I am a bit (LOL) of an overacheiver and am afraid of failure. I know I do not have to tell anyone that I am taking the test and if I am not successful the first time out no one needs to know. That said, I'm afraid of letting myself down. Okay, I've said it out loud now it's time to study!

Like you said, you want it bad so you will achieve it. Stay cool and focus on your study plan. I used the Core Curriculum as my reference and all the time it works for me. I am retaking the test next year to recertify. I have heard a lot of good things about the Pass CCRN book and the Thomas Ahren's book. I am cheap kind of guy so I go to Amazon.com and buy used ones.

This site has been helpful so come here every now and then...

Also, I know how it feels to lose aloved one. My mom died April 22, 2007 and I still struggle. Miss her a lot.

So good luck to you...

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Specializes in ER/ICU/PACU/ Nurse Anesthetist.
Congrats! How long after the CCRN did you sit for the CMC?

Thanks! I took CMC six weeks after CCRN.

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Specializes in ER/ICU/PACU/ Nurse Anesthetist.
Congrats!! Can you tell us some more about how and what you studied, and how you found the test??

NY, I so vehemently disagree with you about nurses understanding ECGs. I did a critical care course for a year, which did include a lot of ECG courses, but most good ICU nurses I know are very familiar with 12 leads - and could certainly explain what each "lead" of the 12 lead means (see Einthoven's triangle). Dawn gave you a great summary of the stuff to learn as a basic requirement for CCRN. The type of MI has huge implications for what adverse effects you can expect of your patient, so it's not just memorization, it needs to be understood.

Thank you! Really, I didn't study to much for the test because I didn't know how to prepare, I couldn't find anyone that had taken it and there is very liitle info out there about it. I mainly had to rely on my experiences of taking care of CCU patients. If you work with cardiac patients regularly then I think passing will not be a problem. I recently took a 12 lead EKG course (my job offered it, check with your nurse educator) and I recommend doing this if you can, if not, make sure you can identify which ares of the heart corresponds to EKG changes (example: II, III, AVF= inferior MI) and what are the expected complications and treatment. I remember having no less than 5 questions related to that alone! So not knowing it could make the difference of passing vs failing. It was heavy on hemodynamics, I got many questions where they gave me a hemodynamic profile (and NO other info about the patient) and you're expected to know what's happening and how to treat those numbers. On some questions, they would give a very detailed picture of what was happening with the patient, and on others they give nothing but the hemodynamic profile. I got several questions about valvular disease -mitral regurgitation & aortic Insufficiency, so know the signs & treaments. Review medications- inotropes, vasodilators, pressors, fibrinolytics. There is a test plan on the AACN website with recommended references, everything that was on that test plan was on the exam.

Also, there were no nursing fluff questions (professional caring & ethics) on the exam, just clinical scenario based questions. And there was a lot of "what would you do first" "what's most important" priority type questions.

You would think that CCRN wold be harder because it covers every body system, but I found CMC harder than the CCRN. On the CCRN, the answers were fairly straight forward, on the CMC they were tricky- it seemed like there were two correct answers so it was harder to narrow down and it took longer to take the exam even though there were less questions than CCRN. The answers just seemed ambiguous and unclear, I felt like I was back in nursing school taking an exam from one of my least favorite instructors (I'm sure everyone can relate to that)!

Not all of the questions were like this, but a good amount were.

Hope that helps :)

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Free CCRN review Program

Found this site in the Educators Forum!

http://www.chartingandassessment.com/index.html

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Specializes in Open Heart.
Just wanted to share that I passed CMC today!

I continued reviewing cardiac (more in-depth though) after taking CCRN and was inspired to go for it and I'm glad I did! :yeah:

Is this test entirely medications? What did you use to prepare?

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Specializes in CTICU.

No, it is not entirely medications. It is cardiac medicine. The test plan is online at aacn.org

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Specializes in Open Heart.
No, it is not entirely medications. It is cardiac medicine. The test plan is online at aacn.org

My bad, I guess I misunderstood the title of the exam.

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Specializes in CVICU.

Im taking CCRN tomorrow at 1:30pm.

I've read the PASS CCRN! book and done hundreds of practice questions ...

Work in the CVICU so familiar with swans, hemodynamics, etc...

Wish me luck ...

Kolt

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Specializes in ICU, Cardiac Cath/EPS Labs.
Im taking CCRN tomorrow at 1:30pm.

I've read the PASS CCRN! book and done hundreds of practice questions ...

Work in the CVICU so familiar with swans, hemodynamics, etc...

Wish me luck ...

Kolt

Good Luck! I'm taking it @ 1:30 the day after you (Thursday)---hopefully, we'll both have something to celebrate ;-)

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
Im taking CCRN tomorrow at 1:30pm.

I've read the PASS CCRN! book and done hundreds of practice questions ...

Work in the CVICU so familiar with swans, hemodynamics, etc...

Wish me luck ...

Kolt

ALL RIGHT!!! Good luck!! Will be sending you good wishes!!! You will do just fine. Let us know, so we can congratulate you!!!

Knock it out of the park!!! :yeah::yeah::yeah:

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