CCRN help!

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I am less than a week away from sitting for my CCRN. I have used up my extensions and can't procrastinate any more. I consider myself intelligent and a good test taker but am still getting many of the practice questions wrong. Any tips from those out there who have taken the exam? I have 7 years as a nurse and 1.5 years of ICU experience. But my ICU is a small, medical ICU and we don't see a lot even though in Baltimore City.

Thank you in advance for your responses

-Mara

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Specializes in critical care: trauma/oncology/burns.

Hi....Well, what have you been using to help you prepare for the exam?

I used the PASS CCRN book and CD by Robin D. Dennison, 3rd edition 2007

Kind of a little late for that, I guess....I found that the CCRN exam itself tested book knowledge rather than clinical knowledge

Do you have the CCRN outline, the one that breaks up what exactly is on the CCRN?

GO over the different shock states and what numbers you would expect to see (CO, CI, PCWP, CVP) in the different stages of Sepsis, Neurogenic Shock etc

Know the difference between and treatment modalities for: SIADH, DI, DKA, HHNK....

Know your ABG's.

Know what you would expect to see on a 12 lead if patient has STEMI etc

I wish I could be more specific for you.

I took the exam this past March and it was hard, but not as hard as I had imagined (I passed)

Total number of questions to the CCRN are 150, but there are 25 questions that you will not be able to answer, these are pretest questions for future CCRN tests. You need a passing score of 88.

On the day of the exam take a deep breath, and do your best.

athena

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Specializes in Cardiac.

And wear red and eat something salty just before the exam!

You'll do fine!

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Old Laura Gasparis videos I borrowed from a classmate, the AACN core curriculum, accompanying questions, and Gasparis' question book (also borrowed, and a few years old).

I was a cardiac nurse before ICU. It's just that I'm surprised how I could be a nurse for so long and still so much of the material is brand new to me.

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Specializes in SRNA.

That's the same type of issues I'm encountering as far as the material being new. I'm comfortable handling the types of patients I've been taking, but my type of ICU patients are typically neuro, medical, or surgical. So much focus of the CCRN seems to be on cardiopulmonary and I think I've had a swan once and it was only long enough to walk in the room and notice a RV waveform and I pulled the catheter back to RA and the physician ordered me to D/C it...lol. Hemodynamics, as far as pulmonary artery catheters go is going to be my biggest challenge, I think - anyone have suggestions on good resources for hemodynamic monitoring with swans?

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