I want to congratulate everything on writing the June 2013 exam. I wish everyone the best of the luck. I know we are all patiently awaiting for our results now. 4-6 weeks seems like forever.
How did everyone find the exam?
I wrote my exam in Ontario. I found the test to be fair, but difficult at the same time. I felt like for every question I was able to narrow it down to 2 answers, both of which seemed like the correct answers. This was very frustrating. I wish I could say I did really well, but the truth is I really don't know. (lol). All I can say is we studied and tried our hardest, and now let's hope for the best. Have faith in yourselves. We did it. :)
Again, good luck, and may the bell curve be forever in your favor.
I PASSSSED!!!!! Sooooo excited and relieved!!! I'm in northern BC and received my letter last evening! I am US educated....I took my NCLEX over 15 years ago so I was sweating it as I've been out of school so long!!! I wish the best of luck to everyone still waiting....it's agony! So now the job hunt begins!! Woot!!
For those out there who may have failed... Keep your chin up and try again. I've worked with some excellent nurses who had more than one attempt at boards. The nursing world would have lost out had they given up after a failure...so chin up!!!
Any tips for those who is going to take the CRNE Exam October and june next year?
Where we should focus on more i mean the book that we should buy......
Kindly,
Maria
The CRNE prep guide and CRNE readiness tests which can be purchased through the CNA website are the best tools for helping you get ready for the RN exam. I personally didn't find Mosby's prep guide very helpful... It's way too detailed and it may overwhelm you. If you're interested in getting that book then by all means, but don't rely on it as your only resource for studying. I would just focus on doing as many practice questions as you can. The questions that I came across on the exam and prep guide were concepts that I was familiar with (things I've learned throughout my nursing education)... HOWEVER, with that said, you need to understand how they want the questions answered. Sometimes, what you think is the right answer is not necessarily the best right answer. Therefore, doing a lot of practice questions will help you identify patterns of how they want the questions answered. Do the practice questions over and over again. Also, make note of which questions you got wrong and try to understand the rationales behind the answers. I started studying one month before the exam but I know people who studied for months beforehand. I can't disclose too much about what's on the exam... but trust me, if you can do the practice questions on the prep guide and readiness test then you're good to go!
As far as tips for taking/studying for the CRNE exam....well I'm going to tell you what I did but of course, everyone is different and what I give as my opinion of what helped isn't necessarily what others think would be the most beneficial. So here it goes.....
I think that the Mosby's Comprehensive Review of Nursing was very helpful. I found that the rationales for not only why answers were right but also why they were wrong were VERY good review in an of itself. I like that it did the system reviews and broke down maternity/peds/adult and etc. I felt that was REALLY helpful. I've been nursing for over 15 years but we all lose some of the "book" stuff over time.....especially in the areas we haven't worked or haven't been exposed to through school recently.
I did purchase one readiness test from the CRNE website but found it to be somewhat too "easy" especially now that I can compare that to the actual test. In my opinion, the actual test was WAY harder than the online tests. If you purchase one test and do really well, personally, I wouldn't spend any more money on repeating it....it's not cheap. It did give me a boost psychologically by taking one of theirs though! lol I think that the CRNE Prep Guide is a good review but I personally felt the Mosby Comprehensive Review and Prep guide better...."harder" in some ways. I did the practice questions in the CRNE Prep though....the more practice questions you do, the better.
I also used the Lippincotts CRNE Prep Guide. I didn't find the rationales as useful because it basically gives you only the explanation for why something is right....I prefer books that go into a bit of clarification of why things are wrong as well...I learn better that way...it "sticks" better for me that way.
Review and do practice exams from several different books....you get experience in different types of questions and get into a flow of answering and getting into a mind frame that draws from different "types" of questions. THE MORE PRACTICE QUESTIONS THE BETTER!!!
I know that there are a lot of people out there that pay big money to go to those review classes that are for several days or longer. Honestly, unless you struggled all the way through school, I personally wouldn't spend all that money. If you are the type of person who knows they will blow off studying on your own, then by all means...sign up and take one of those because then you're getting "some" review. I'm a procrastinator by nature but I did well in school and didn't feel I needed that for the NCLEX which I passed on the first try (not that I'm bragging because I'm not) and I didn't feel I needed that for the CRNE which I just passed!!! YAY!!!!
Like I said, I'm not tooting my own horn here....I'm trying to convey that it's not necessary to spend big bucks to prep and pass these exams. If psychologically you'll feel better walking in to take the CRNE by taking a review course, then hey..do it. I just don't find it necessary for most people to be successful. You just spent HOW long in school after all? You HAVE been reviewing for several years....in class! If you squeaked by in school....maybe it would be best to have that type of review atmosphere. Many of the people I went to school with "back in the day" (omg I feel old) took the review but felt after passing their boards that they could have done it without it had they studied on their own.
If you have certain areas that you know you always struggled with in school....REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW those areas! My problem area was always the metabolic/respiratory acidosis and compensating blah blah! lol I find that once I sat down and spent a little time reviewing it from a few different sources....it stuck...even after all these years...when I was in school, it was like I had a blank when we would go through all those! I reviewed peds because I've never been a peds nurse and I've been out of school so long. If there are areas where you dominated in school and in the review books...move on to something else....spend time in the areas where you "struggle".
Also, I never studied for either the NCLEX or the CRNE in a group. I feel that would have been a good way to study but it just didn't work out that way....everyone was too busy in their own lives to get together. But if you do study with a group, make sure it's a group with a good "cohesive" feeling....the psychological aspect is BIG going into these tests.....study around positive people!
Finally, all those test taking strategies that they post in the front of the review books...LISTEN TO THEM!! lol Don't cram the night before...unless it makes you "feel" better. If that's what you've always done and somehow you feel it helps...then do what you know works for YOU. Get sleep. Have coffee if you normally drink coffee....but not so much that you'll pee every 15 minutes. lol You'll probably use every minute you have during the exam so pace yourself but don't rush. I usually finish exams with more than enough time to go back and review but found that during the CRNE, I used almost every minute and so did most of the people in the exam room. I had enough time to go back and review the questions I put little slash marks next to that I wasn't sure about...but BARELY enough time to do that. I wouldn't leave too many questions unanswered along the way. I would take the best guess on most of the ones you aren't sure of and go back and review them at the end. The girl next to me ran out of time and was crying and just trying to circle anything at the end so don't leave too many unanswered. It's better to go back and review the questionable ones and change the answers if you need than to just not have anything answered on some at the end.
Final thoughts.....have faith in yourself that you actually did retain some knowledge along the way!!!! We ALL have self doubt in any exam of this magnitude. You made it through school and honestly, there are very few that don't make it through the exam with a pass...even if it isn't on the first try!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!
Good luck to everyone that is still waiting on results and good luck to all of you future exam writers!!!! :)
Words can't describe how I feel this moment. I just received my letter from CNO and I passed the CRNE. I'm from Ontario...Scarborough to be specific. Congratulations to all that passed. Now I just hope and prayer I can find a job.
Sooooo excited and relieved!!! I'm in northern BC and received my letter last evening! I am US educated....I took my NCLEX over 15 years ago so I was sweating it as I've been out of school so long!!! I wish the best of luck to everyone still waiting....it's agony! So now the job hunt begins!! Woot!! 
:woot:
miki75
1 Post
I know a friend from Etobicoke, ON, who received the letter yesterday.