CPN Exam Advice Wanted

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Hi!

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for studying for the CPN exam. I have been doing peds a year now and want to seriously start to study to take it. Although I have the hour requirement met, do you suggest waiting a period of time to have more experience or will focused studying be ok? Also, any great books to use? I am currently using Lippencotts review series, Pediatric nursing.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I took the CPN exam after about 1.5 years of peds as a NAP and 3 years of peds as an RN...the test is HARD, I wont even lie. If you don't know your stuff, your not going to pass the 1st time. I would compare it to the NCLEX in the way the questions are written and the answers you are given. Study, ensure you feel comfortable with all of the common diseases process of children and hope! I had questions about home health, tons of meds, diseases like kawasaki, congenital heart anomalies, failure to thrive, juvenile diabetes etc.

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Thanks so much! I appreciate the advice!

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Specializes in All forms of pediatric care.

This test is totally doable. I took the $50 prep test with the old questions, then go over the Wong's textbook. A ton of the questions came from there. If I can do it, you can too! good luck!

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I recently took and passed the CPN exam - it is tough, but definitely doable to self study and pass. I used Nurse Builders. I did spend some money on review materials, but I thought it was worth it. That website has books with practice questions, pre-made notecards, etc. Really great resource!

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Specializes in Going to Peds!.

Thanks! This thread was just what I needed. Does anyone have any other study resource suggestions? Also, I have Wong's from school, but it's an 8? year old edition now. Should I buy a newer edition?

Sent from my HTC One X using allnurses.com

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Hey, In regards to the Nurse Builders, I did buy the flash cards and the study book. I am doing well studying with it but i was concerned it wont be enough. I was studing the ID section and they only talked about B. Meningitis and varicella. is that really all we need to know about for ID, or should I be studing other Infecious disease's???? How well did the Nurse Builders material help you for the exam?

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I did it about 7 years ago, and used an NCLEX pediatric review book. Good Luck!

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Specializes in Pedi ED /pedi med surg.

I took the nurse builders prep course and I found it to help a lot. I bought the books as well and learned so much! I studied my life away for 5 weeks! It def paid off! I used the purple book more than anything and the 450 questions and rationales. You need to basically focus on the info you learn to help you answer questions. I felt like the question were a lot harder on the test but if you are working in a pediatric setting you should be able to answer them correctly. Love that my badge says RN BSN, CPN! Good luck you can do it!!!!

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