CRNE October 2010

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Hello every1,

I am going to take CRNE in October 2010. I need your tips and suggestions. I am registered with CARNA (Alberta board of Nursing) but going to take my exam in Toronto. I guess CRNE is standardized exam and is same all over Canada. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you

Hello everyone,

If anyone remembers me, I took the June 2010 exam and I had failed by two points. It was disheartenening, I cried, I was sad, etc. I felt the exam was too medical based (which we are told that it clearly isn't) and I also felt that the readiness exam, CRNE prep guides were useless.

WELL,

I quickly applied again, I went straight to the CNO and gave them my application since it was near the application deadline for the October exam.

I decided to take a course at UofT, the CRNE prep course, money well spent.

I started to study 2 months before the exam, did not help because I was just re-reading what I already knew.. the knowledge. So I bought some NCLEX and Mosbys questions guides and did multiple choice throughout the last week before the CRNE. I felt confident, I felt I knew what I was doing and what to expect.

The day of the exam, attempt #2, I went in, sat down prepared to write it. I remained calm, looked at my watch and calculated how much time was left and whether I should speed up or not. I felt confidant throughout, finished the exam on time with lots of time to spare and to look back at my questions, I remained confident after the exam. Two weeks later I was still confidant.

6 weeks later, which leads to now, I wasn't expecting it all and got mail from the CNO on Monday, I prepared for the worst, opened the letter and I passed :) Tears of joy, happiness, euphoria, you name it.

------------------------------

Now; for those who were unsuccessful whether it be your 1st or 2nd attempt, figure out why you failed. For a long time, I often thought of WHY I failed, was it because my knowledge was lacking? was it because I didn't read the questions correctly? was it because I was nervous? did I panic so I forgot how to answer M.C. questions?

Knowledge is easily solved; read and study more, don't try to memorize, actually learn the material. If it takes you 1 book or 5 books to do it, so be it. Reading comprehension, no this does not mean you are stupid, the questions are worded to confuse you, to throw you off, to specify one instance but really ask something entirely unrelated. Practice this, really read through the question, what EXACTLY is it asking you to do? this is where you should highlight or underline key words to help YOU answer the question. Nervous? try having mock exams before the actual exam, time yourself, pretend it is a real exam, do it in a quiet area.

So you know someone who only studied 1 day before the exam? does not matter. So you studied for 6 months and you failed? does not matter. The amount of time does not correlate to success, please please try and remember this. I must have studied 5 times more for my first attempt compared to my 2nd attempt. Everyone must have had some friends who have only studied x amount of time and passed/failed. Its all individually based, if it takes you 4 months to pass or it takes you 1 week to pass; that's fine because you passed. All that matters is that you learn the knowledge required, learn how to read and understand the questions thoroughly and remember to stay calm.

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Was my first time but didn't make it. Though I remembered making alot of mistakes after the exam, I wasn't expecting to FAIL. I got my results yesterday and I have been depressed since then. Well, after reading all your posts, I picked up my pieces together and decided to start preparing for the Feb battle. Hopefully I make it this time. Thank you all for your encouragement and congrats to those who made it. For those who didn't make it, please don't give up your dreams.

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I took the exam in Vancouver and received my results on Monday November 15th, 2010 and I'm glad to say I passed! I was so shocked and relieved, I was shaking and had to have someone else reread the letter!

I used the Lippincott and CRNE prep guides! The CRNE prep guide was useless to me after the first 2 times I had gone through it, but the CD was great and not as laborious as the text book because you can go through it pretty fast and get instant feedback on why your answer was wrong. With the Lippincott, I stuck to topics I'm weak in such as L&D and pediatrics. Always use your ABC's when approaching a question and always think, "what should I do first for the patient" and if all else fails, common sense can go very far when you are stuck :D

congrats and good luck for those taking the feb exam!

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Hi Everyone,

I m an internatinnaly educated nurse, working in toronto. i got my temporary license 6 months ago. i presented the october test and thank God i passed.

i prepared using the two books on the website and the practice exams.

now my temporary license expired last week, and i sent the papers for the generla license today because i cannot work meanwhile because my temporary license was revoked. thank god my employers were understanding. does anyone knows how long would take cno to porcess my application.

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Hello everyone,

If anyone remembers me, I took the June 2010 exam and I had failed by two points. It was disheartenening, I cried, I was sad, etc. I felt the exam was too medical based (which we are told that it clearly isn't) and I also felt that the readiness exam, CRNE prep guides were useless.

WELL,

I quickly applied again, I went straight to the CNO and gave them my application since it was near the application deadline for the October exam.

I decided to take a course at UofT, the CRNE prep course, money well spent.

I started to study 2 months before the exam, did not help because I was just re-reading what I already knew.. the knowledge. So I bought some NCLEX and Mosbys questions guides and did multiple choice throughout the last week before the CRNE. I felt confident, I felt I knew what I was doing and what to expect.

The day of the exam, attempt #2, I went in, sat down prepared to write it. I remained calm, looked at my watch and calculated how much time was left and whether I should speed up or not. I felt confidant throughout, finished the exam on time with lots of time to spare and to look back at my questions, I remained confident after the exam. Two weeks later I was still confidant.

6 weeks later, which leads to now, I wasn't expecting it all and got mail from the CNO on Monday, I prepared for the worst, opened the letter and I passed :) Tears of joy, happiness, euphoria, you name it.

------------------------------

Now; for those who were unsuccessful whether it be your 1st or 2nd attempt, figure out why you failed. For a long time, I often thought of WHY I failed, was it because my knowledge was lacking? was it because I didn't read the questions correctly? was it because I was nervous? did I panic so I forgot how to answer M.C. questions?

Knowledge is easily solved; read and study more, don't try to memorize, actually learn the material. If it takes you 1 book or 5 books to do it, so be it. Reading comprehension, no this does not mean you are stupid, the questions are worded to confuse you, to throw you off, to specify one instance but really ask something entirely unrelated. Practice this, really read through the question, what EXACTLY is it asking you to do? this is where you should highlight or underline key words to help YOU answer the question. Nervous? try having mock exams before the actual exam, time yourself, pretend it is a real exam, do it in a quiet area.

So you know someone who only studied 1 day before the exam? does not matter. So you studied for 6 months and you failed? does not matter. The amount of time does not correlate to success, please please try and remember this. I must have studied 5 times more for my first attempt compared to my 2nd attempt. Everyone must have had some friends who have only studied x amount of time and passed/failed. Its all individually based, if it takes you 4 months to pass or it takes you 1 week to pass; that's fine because you passed. All that matters is that you learn the knowledge required, learn how to read and understand the questions thoroughly and remember to stay calm.

Thank you for your valuable advise, well said ( Kudos) I hope all those who did not make it can use the valuable advise above.:yeah::yeah::yeah: Dont give up....continue the journey. The pressure is on, but BELIEVE in yourself you will all make it.

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Was my first time but didn't make it. Though I remembered making alot of mistakes after the exam, I wasn't expecting to FAIL. I got my results yesterday and I have been depressed since then. Well, after reading all your posts, I picked up my pieces together and decided to start preparing for the Feb battle. Hopefully I make it this time. Thank you all for your encouragement and congrats to those who made it. For those who didn't make it, please don't give up your dreams.

Oh! no WanYeso, im so sorry to hear that you did not make it. Im glad you have picked up your pieces and continued your journey. Be strong and focus you will finally get there.There are good tips and advise that have been posted in this thread. Please make use of them, I joined this thread when I failed the June exam and I got toips and advise from here.....and they helped me to PASS this October exam. Dont give up! you will make it. All the best.:heartbeat

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Hello everyone,

If anyone remembers me, I took the June 2010 exam and I had failed by two points. It was disheartenening, I cried, I was sad, etc. I felt the exam was too medical based (which we are told that it clearly isn't) and I also felt that the readiness exam, CRNE prep guides were useless.

WELL,

I quickly applied again, I went straight to the CNO and gave them my application since it was near the application deadline for the October exam.

I decided to take a course at UofT, the CRNE prep course, money well spent.

I started to study 2 months before the exam, did not help because I was just re-reading what I already knew.. the knowledge. So I bought some NCLEX and Mosbys questions guides and did multiple choice throughout the last week before the CRNE. I felt confident, I felt I knew what I was doing and what to expect.

The day of the exam, attempt #2, I went in, sat down prepared to write it. I remained calm, looked at my watch and calculated how much time was left and whether I should speed up or not. I felt confidant throughout, finished the exam on time with lots of time to spare and to look back at my questions, I remained confident after the exam. Two weeks later I was still confidant.

6 weeks later, which leads to now, I wasn't expecting it all and got mail from the CNO on Monday, I prepared for the worst, opened the letter and I passed :) Tears of joy, happiness, euphoria, you name it.

------------------------------

Now; for those who were unsuccessful whether it be your 1st or 2nd attempt, figure out why you failed. For a long time, I often thought of WHY I failed, was it because my knowledge was lacking? was it because I didn't read the questions correctly? was it because I was nervous? did I panic so I forgot how to answer M.C. questions?

Knowledge is easily solved; read and study more, don't try to memorize, actually learn the material. If it takes you 1 book or 5 books to do it, so be it. Reading comprehension, no this does not mean you are stupid, the questions are worded to confuse you, to throw you off, to specify one instance but really ask something entirely unrelated. Practice this, really read through the question, what EXACTLY is it asking you to do? this is where you should highlight or underline key words to help YOU answer the question. Nervous? try having mock exams before the actual exam, time yourself, pretend it is a real exam, do it in a quiet area.

So you know someone who only studied 1 day before the exam? does not matter. So you studied for 6 months and you failed? does not matter. The amount of time does not correlate to success, please please try and remember this. I must have studied 5 times more for my first attempt compared to my 2nd attempt. Everyone must have had some friends who have only studied x amount of time and passed/failed. Its all individually based, if it takes you 4 months to pass or it takes you 1 week to pass; that's fine because you passed. All that matters is that you learn the knowledge required, learn how to read and understand the questions thoroughly and remember to stay calm.

Thank you for your valuable advise. Everything you've said here is how i'm feeling. I cant exactly pinpoint where i went wrong...its hard to believe that my hope and dreams can be taken away from me in an instant because of a piece of paper. I studied hard for the second one...i really did. Some times it makes me think that i'm not meant to be a nurse or not meant for greatness. I think i may have panicked a bit on this exam...and i can't imagine what the next exam is going to be like. I remember during the second exam in the middle of it i realized i was getting confused with whats your FIRST reaction versus your BEST action. Perhaps it was my lack of time management and the fact that i freaked and couldn't think straight. What makes it harder is seeing how disappointed my parents are in me. We sat down and had dinner in silence last nite. I'll pick myself up in a week or two....just knowing its my third time scares me..a lot.

anyone find the u of t prep course helpful as well??????

p.s. congratulations to all those who have passed=)

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i passed! 2 friends did not make it unfortunately

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Specializes in cardiac care.

Hi friends! Congratulations to those who passed the examination and Hope for the best for future... Forget about the on-going NOT SO glorious period and have faith in yourself. I am a registered nurse of INDIA, CANADA, USA. I will be extremely happy to guide if any one needs my guidance. Mail me at [email protected]

Never lose hope in life because Hope conquers failures................

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If I had failed however, I would take some time off to think and mentally prepare for my last attempt. Don't rush it guys, the last thing you will need is the thought that you didn't study enough for your last attempt. Use it wisely! I don't know what really happens after the third attempt but I have only read that you must take your 4 year program again so please think about this carefully! It is your choice however, just remember to think about how exactly you failed and how to overcome it.

Lovelivelearn, sometimes studying hard will not mean we will be successful on this exam :( and it does not mean you aren't smart enough either. Pure knowledge questions make up a tiny percentage of this exam, but to critically apply them is a huge portion. The questions that are meant to ask you for the best action, first response, or a specific response to their respiratory or renal or ethics are meant to confuse you. eg. Sometimes when the question is talking about the person and their vital signs are stable but THE actual question asks you about their pain; you can guarantee there will be answers that will relate to the vital signs but that won't be what they are looking for. You said you panicked :( try having your own mock exams to prepare yourself for the atmosphere. Look through the blueprint you got and clarify how you failed and whether you need to brush up on your knowledge or if it's anxiety or reading comprehension (critical thinking questions)

Review of The uoft crne prep course:

Cost: $295 if you register early otherwise it's $350

Its a 2-day 8 hour course per day. It is NOT a content review course but rather an analysis of how to answer crne questions. They do a mock 200 question exams and go through the answers and how to answer them. They also split you into groups to answer another set of questions with the uoft nursing profs. You don't get to keep the exam but you get to keep a key blueprint of your answers and what you got wrong, similar to the breakdown of questions and what you got wrong on the crne but in much greater detail.

OVERALL: this is great if you need help with READING and UNDERSTANDING crne questions, again NOT A content review course.

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Hi, I am a new member. I got my crne result on Nov 15 and sadly I failed with 1 point. I got my nursing degree at the states. Even though, I passed n-clex with easily (I had to answer 75 questions) I could not pass crne. My biggest problem is time. I had to guess almost 50 question even without reading the answer because I had less than hours to answer those. The night before CRNE I took practice CRNE online and got 81% but did not work.

Could you please any one give me advice how to prepare and which study guide to read. I am in Manitoba and I did find any preparation course over here.

Hi friends! Congratulations to those who passed the examination and Hope for the best for future... Forget about the on-going NOT SO glorious period and have faith in yourself. I am a registered nurse of INDIA, CANADA, USA. I will be extremely happy to guide if any one needs my guidance. Mail me at [email protected]

Never lose hope in life because Hope conquers failures................

I am also a RN of USA and no problem to pass over there. But I failed CRNE just from 1 point. I did not have enough time to answer all 200 questions so I had to just answer 30 question without seen Q &A. and other 20 questions just barely reading. I also do not know much about Canadian system even though it is similar.

Could you please guide how to manage time and which guide to use because CRNE prep guide did not help. I got 71% on CRNE prep guide even before starting preparation and I got 81% on online CRNE preparation exam the night before actual CRNE exam. Both of them were taken on computer though. I am waiting for your and any other member who can help me please....

I did not take any classes and any other crne guide except 250 CRNE prep guide questions and 100 online crne readiness test so could you please advice me to buy and study any other guide. Thank you.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

So sorry for those who did not make it, but you will make it next time. As has been mentioned by previous posters, much of the outcome is related to your attitude while preparing and writing. Stay calm, focused, and positive. You know the information. You don't need to know all of it either. Just enough to pass. This is what I told myself because failing wasn't an option.

Remember this

1 speed is key. The exam is doable. Read carefully, pick the most logical nursing response. Move on

2) If after a min and a half. Don't know? Guess! You are losing time and the ability to answer things you will know.

3) Circle key words. Not, except, first, priority.

4) Does the stem closely match an option? Pick that option!

5) Take mini mental breaks throughout and stay positive. If all these nurses can pass, so can you :)

6) Abc, safety, nursing process, client centred

7) Stay calm! You'll get through it :)

This is what I kept in mind which I learned through other nurses and students who were successful. I passed with 8 min to spare and a washroom break. I'm not special. I also used the CN0 documents and some of the CNA papers. Why? They are the ones writing your examm

Hope that helps for some of you :)

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