Double Boarded! Passed the CCRN, Crazy!

[FlightJunkie]

I have been an ER nurse for over four years now (and an ER tech for 2 before that going through RN school). I successfully wrote my CEN exam about three years ago. Yesterday, I successfully negotiated the adult CCRN exam. I wasn't sure how the test would go. I have read a lot of posts with people saying the CEN exam was "easier" than the CCRN exam. I would say that the tests are equally difficult, just different. People can talk a mean game, but take an adult ICU nurse and start asking them Peds questions, or chemical exposure and mass casualty questions and they might start speaking a different tune : ) All fun aside, they are both very difficult tests. The CEN is very broad in general, as it should be, but also very specific in nature making it a difficult test. The CCRN exam is focused on critical care thinking, and not necessarily on experience. It places a lot of focus on cardiac, cardiopulmonary, and multi-system areas, with a lot of other flavors added. If you can think through the physiology and pathophysiology, you should be able to write this exam. Make sure you study hemodynamics! Know your heart pressures and how to interpret them. Also know blood gas analysis, serum chemistry, DKA and HHNKS, sepsis, DIC, etc... It was a lot of fun taking the test actually, and I had a lot of fun studying for it. Good Luck if you choose to take it as well!

PS: there is a great CCRN review on iTunes. Also used Pass CCRN and the disc is good.

[brainkandy87]

Hey, that's great! Congrats!