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 MICU, SICU, CRRT,.

I have not even graduated yet. I will graduate December 18. I dont even have a job yet. But i do know that i want to be in the unit, preferably SICU, and i want to do my CCRN. There is no financial reward at the hopital i hope to work at, and in the unit i want, there is only one other CCRN that i know of. So, i have a while before i can even apply to test. But at least i know what my goal is and what i want to do. I am also hoping to reenter in the fall and begin my BSN, then masters. I am only worried because i have young children at home, and i feel that i have already taken so much time from them with school, and i dont want to get in over my head.

The funny thing is, i was always scared of the unit..my first clinical there i was so frightened i passed out cold (and my patient was being D/C-so i had an easy day ahead). I spent the whole day in the ER getting fluids and scans of my head. BUt, i love it now and cant see myself anywhere else!!!

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
hello everyone!

i have "lurked" on this thread for a few days and decided to take the plunge! gulp......anyway another officer and i have decided to study for the ccrn and take it within 3-4 months.

i ordered the ccrn review (dvds) by dr. laura gasparis and i also ordered the robin donohoe dennison book, pass ccrn. found out my dvd player on my lap top is no longer functioning but my wonderful s.o. sent me a dvd player. now i have no excuse not to buckle down and start studying....

anyway, thanks for making this thread available for one and all!

athena

yyyyaaaaayyyyyy!!!!!!!

:clpty:

:wlcmggrp:

:grpwlcm:

way to go!!! you are about to embark on a very empowering few months! please use this thread as fully as you want, as it will definitely inspire others to take the plunge as well!!

happy thanksgiving and hope to hear from you soon.

the ccrn dance!! :lol2::lol2::lol2:

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
I have not even graduated yet. I will graduate December 18. I dont even have a job yet. But i do know that i want to be in the unit, preferably SICU, and i want to do my CCRN. There is no financial reward at the hopital i hope to work at, and in the unit i want, there is only one other CCRN that i know of. So, i have a while before i can even apply to test. But at least i know what my goal is and what i want to do. I am also hoping to reenter in the fall and begin my BSN, then masters. I am only worried because i have young children at home, and i feel that i have already taken so much time from them with school, and i dont want to get in over my head.

The funny thing is, i was always scared of the unit..my first clinical there i was so frightened i passed out cold (and my patient was being D/C-so i had an easy day ahead). I spent the whole day in the ER getting fluids and scans of my head. BUt, i love it now and cant see myself anywhere else!!!

Wow, what a great story!! You know, there is no doubt in my mind that you will be a great ICU nurse! You must always follow your heart and/or your gut feeling.... depending on what anatomical part you focus on! hehe

I plan to be here on this thread for a long time. So, when you get to the point of being ready to take the CCRN, please jump in! It is inspiring that you have set such great goals for yourself. You go girl! Even with small children, I have no doubt that you will be able to make it all work.

:yeah::yeah::yeah: you can do it!!

Happy Thanksgiving and please stay in touch!!

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Specializes in SICU, CCU, MCU, peds, physician's office.

I've had my CCRN certification for about 3 months and I will start my ANP/GNP program next month. I am seriously consisdering taking the CMC exam after the first of the year because I love cardiology. Does anyone have any advice on studying for this exam? I would love any help. Thanks!

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Specializes in CTICU.

Try a search, a couple of people posted about CSC and CMC exams.

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
I've had my CCRN certification for about 3 months and I will start my ANP/GNP program next month. I am seriously consisdering taking the CMC exam after the first of the year because I love cardiology. Does anyone have any advice on studying for this exam? I would love any help. Thanks!

Hi Jennjen! Congrats on the CCRN!!! I second what ghilbert says, there is info on Allnurses on the CMC and CSC. Also, there are folks on this thread who achieved all three in a short time, perhaps you could look back on this thread and send a personal message....just a thought.

Unfortunately, I did not take those exams, so I cannot be a resource. I recall folks saying that they are a bit more difficult than the CCRN...but I don't know that for certain. But since you already have the momentum going of passing the CCRN, you are certainly in the mind-set and have a great base of Cardiac knowledge to perhaps fill in more details. Sounds like an awesome idea.

Let us know how it works out for you!! :yeah::yeah::yeah:

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Specializes in ICU, PACU, ER.

I was curious as there are many recommendations on what to look at for reviewing. I would like to see a rating scale.

0-10

0 sucks

3 pretty decent

5 it will work

8 good

10 excellent

I have found a bunch of different types of reviews and just wanted to get a good understanding what people have found to be most useful. The cost is up there.

$220 just to take the exam

$50-$300 for review information

One can spend upwards of $500-$1000 to study and test for this and not regain it financially as most hospitals dont pay extra for this certification.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

1. www.ed4nurses.com

2. PASS CCRN

3. Critical Care Examination Review by Laura Gasparis

4. Critical Care Nursing Certification by Thomas Ahrens

5. Kaplan CCRN (this company is the book I used for my RN boards) and it does not even get 3 stars review on Amazon??

6. http://greatnurses.com/exp/

7. Your recommendation/or product you used

Thanks and good luck!

JD

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Specializes in CVICU, ER.

2. 8

3. 10, if you're talking about the book

I also used the Gasparis CDs, these helped a lot.

The PassCCRN has great questions, and there's a lot of them, so you can practice answering 150 questions at a time.

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
i was curious as there are many recommendations on what to look at for reviewing. i would like to see a rating scale.

0-10

0 sucks

3 pretty decent

5 it will work

8 good

10 excellent

i have found a bunch of different types of reviews and just wanted to get a good understanding what people have found to be most useful. the cost is up there.

$220 just to take the exam

$50-$300 for review information

one can spend upwards of $500-$1000 to study and test for this and not regain it financially as most hospitals dont pay extra for this certification.

any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

1. www.ed4nurses.com

2. pass ccrn

3. critical care examination review by laura gasparis

4. critical care nursing certification by thomas ahrens

5. kaplan ccrn (this company is the book i used for my rn boards) and it does not even get 3 stars review on amazon??

6. http://greatnurses.com/exp/

7. your recommendation/or product you used

thanks and good luck!

hey jd!! if you look back through the thread, the tried and true method that most of us have used are these resources: laura gasparis dvd course and the pass ccrn by robin donohoe dennison (don't study from the book, use it as a resource only, but the cd of questions is probably the most invaluable tool there is, as it has consistently nearly directly correlated to people's exact scores on the actual ccrn exam. if anything, the questions on the cd are a little more difficult and people have scored a point or two better on the actual exam.)

i believe that you can use any of those resources you have listed and certainly pass the exam. however, let me tell you that dr laura's ability to teach and to make studying empowering and fun is amazing! she is a master teacher. not only that, she is a character in the nursing world that no one in nursing should miss. she is a nurse's nurse and will have you laughing and truly inspired by your chosen career path! to be honest, the other resources you have listed are dry and boring. her website, as you have listed is greatnurses.com. frequently, folks have purchased her course on ebay. if you do have to pay full price on her website, you could easily resell it on ebay and get some of your investment back. dr laura has a book of questions, as you have on your list, it is cumbersome to use, flipping back and forth btw question and answer. i found that the pass ccrn questions on the cd was all i needed, the cd is set-up like the actual exam, with the 150 questions and has the rationales. it is worth every penny!! it has thousands of questions total.

please ask more questions, i will answer to the best of my ability and many others will offer their insight as well.

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Specializes in ICU, PACU, ER.

thanks!! i think i will purchase the pass ccrn first and go from there. its the cheapest and seems to have received great reviews. if i still remain uncomfortable after using that i will most likely go to

laura gasparis dvd course. pass ccrn by robin donohoe dennison has my bet both affordable and great reveiws.

after reading my first post, i really did not want to sound like a money greedy nurse. i dont mind paying money for a good education and if it gets reimbursed, great. that would include review courses. i think in understanding the first place i looked was amazon.com, read many reviews. there were way to many mixed reviews on helful or not helpful. it left me fairly confused, hence the submitting the blog here.

thanks again!

dj

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Specializes in Tele, Home Health, MICU, CTICU, LTC.

I think I'm finally going to take the plunge and enter the world of those officially studying for the CCRN. I already have the Pass CCRN book and will try to get some of Laura Gasparis's DVDs when I have some extra money. I'm looking at a goal date of late March 2009. Does 3 1/2 months to study sound reasonable?

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Specializes in CTICU.

Sounds like plenty! Good luck hitting the books - and enjoy the Gasparis tapes, they are really good fun as well as effective.

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