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Discussion

I PASSED the CCRN!

Hello guys, nice to meet you all! 

I wanted to come on here and share my experience studying for the CCRN. Reading through other nurses' posts on this forum played a huge role in helping me choose the best resources to succeed. I'm hoping my journey can do the same for someone else preparing for this challenging exam.

I'm a CVICU nurse at a Level I Trauma Center in Texas, and I decided to pursue the CCRN to deepen my knowledge in critical care—not only for myself, but for the benefit of my patients and to grow professionally. I took the CCRN on April 18, 2025, and I'm happy to say I passed on my first try.

The first thing I did was set an exam date. I believe this is one of the most important steps—once you have a test date, it adds a sense of urgency and structure to your study plan. I gave myself 2.5 months to study, chose my resources, and committed to a consistent schedule.

My Study Resources:

- Barron's Adult CCRN Exam (Test Prep Book)

- PassCCRN question bank

- AACN question bank

Nurse Jenny's YouTube videos (Nurse Life Academy) – I watched her videos during the last three weeks of my studying, and she explains the must-know content so well.

I broke down the chapters in the Barron's book and reviewed it three times. I did the end-of-chapter quizzes, usually scoring between 60–100%. I studied about 3–5 hours per day, four days a week. Once I finished content review, I switched to doing only practice questions.

Here were my scores on the Barron's full-length practice exams:

78/150 (1st exam)

97/150 (2nd exam)

109/150 (3rd exam; online)

The AACN question bank includes 600 questions and felt the most similar to the actual CCRN exam in terms of structure and format. However, since I wanted more question exposure, I also purchased PassCCRN, which includes 1,124 questions.

Final Thoughts:

The exam was extremely difficult, and I truly thought I didn't pass. I submitted it with about 30 minutes left on the clock because I was getting anxious—but to my surprise, I passed! ?

After everything, I honestly feel that Barron's + AACN would've been enough, but I'm glad I had extra practice from PassCCRN just for confidence and question variety.

I hope this post is helpful to other nurses preparing for their CCRN. If you have any questions at all, feel free to comment below—I'm more than happy to help. You've got this!

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    1st off a huge congratulations !    You have improved yourself for your patients' benefit!  Your confidence has grown which makes you a stronger nurse !

    I was reluctant to take my CCRN, fear of failure maybe.  I was a criticare RN almost 10 years before I took it and when I did I blew it out of the water.  Great scores (except the 5 questions in the psyche section).   

    Congrats again

     

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    • Author
    brainfixer said:

    1st off a huge congratulations !    You have improved yourself for your patients' benefit!  Your confidence has grown which makes you a stronger nurse !

    I was reluctant to take my CCRN, fear of failure maybe.  I was a criticare RN almost 10 years before I took it and when I did I blew it out of the water.  Great scores (except the 5 questions in the psyche section).   

    Congrats again

     

    That's amazing, congratulations! Thank you, I appreciate the encouraging words. I feel like the work is not over because that was just a requirement I needed to complete. Honestly, if you want something really badly and you are committed to accomplishing that, you will make it happen. You will achieve anything you put your mind and heart to. 

     

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    Congratulations! I'm not in critical care, but still wanted to say congratulations and I appreciate your sharing the experience that helped you. I'm sure so many others will benefit for what you just shared! 

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    Congratulations and thank you for sharing your experiences. How many years of experience did you have prior to taking the CCRN? 

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    • Author
    NursePug said:

    Congratulations and thank you for sharing your experiences. How many years of experience did you have prior to taking the CCRN? 

    Hello! Thank you so much! ? I had two years of nursing experience. 

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    Hello! Congrats!! Second, thank you so much for sharing your tips and experiences. This will help me out so much as I prepare to study for my test in about a month. Test taking anxiety is starting to creep up on me LOL.

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    • Author
    ONguyenRN said:

    Hello! Congrats!! Second, thank you so much for sharing your tips and experiences. This will help me out so much as I prepare to study for my test in about a month. Test taking anxiety is starting to creep up on me LOL.

    You've totally got this, I know you can do it. You've put in the time, discipline, and dedication, and you're going to PASS. You don't have to be the "best" ICU nurse; just trust the work you've put in to get to this point. Go in with the mindset that you are prepared and capable, and you will pass with flying colors.

    You truly deserve everything that's coming your way and more. Keep me updated, and let me know if there's anything I can do to help or support you! ??

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