National Certification for School Nursing NCSN-I passed!

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Just wanted to share that I passed this long 4 hour 250 question exam on the first try! To me if was just as difficult or even harder than the NCLEX. It is required in NC that we obtain certification within 3 years of hire.

On the plus side, new letters behind my name and a substantial pay increase! I'm ecstatic! Yippee Yay!

Specializes in Community Health/School Nursing.

Did you study prior to test (if so what resource?) or rely on previous and current experience to answer questions?

Congrats!

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

Impressive!! Congratulations. I'm glad Texas doesn't have that requirement; I'd have to try to get on with the custodial dept.

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Fantastic!! :laugh: yes, please share any tips or resources with us!

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Specializes in med-surg, IMC, school nursing, NICU.

This is so exciting! Congratulations!

I'm not sure if it comes with a raise or not here in MD. It's definitely something I want to consider in case I ever move back to NJ or a state where certification is required. You must be thrilled!

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Specializes in kids.

Congrats!!! That is on my to do list!!

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Congratulations! Any study tips for those of us taking the exam in the future??? Study book recommendations?

I recommend the school nurse cert review book sold by NASN but you can get it on amazon etc. I had some flash cards that I bought off amazon and a a practice test question app on my phone. I prepped for about 3 months.

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Fantastic!! :laugh: yes, please share any tips or resources with us!

I shared some of my tips above with a previous poster! 👍

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Did you study prior to test (if so what resource?) or rely on previous and current experience to answer questions?

Congrats!

I studied and used my day to day experience! 👍🙌

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Congrats! I wish we had this in NY. I mean, I can get certified, but it won't get me any more money or recognition. For now I'm "meh".

I love the fact that I'm getting paid now on the "M" level or Master's degree level without the Master's Degree. But if I had a Master's Degree without the certification I wouldn't get paid for it. That's what sucks! 👎👀

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Congratulations! I passed too on my first try back in July although I was sure I failed. It was very hard. It's not a requirement for us but we do get a small raise. I read School Nursing:A Comprehensive Text by Janice Selekman. It was a giant book so I'd read a chapter or two a day until I got it done. I also took the practice test online (both the paid and unpaid one). Not sure those helped other than giving me an idea of what type of questions on the test maybe. There were many different types of questions anyway and nothing on those practice tests were on the exam anyway. I heard from other nurses in our district the other books didn't help so I didn't read anything else. I do think the test changes because I've heard some people say it helped. Someone told me to study the NASN position statements but none of those were on my test. Things highlighted in my book I borrowed from another nurse that were on her test weren't on mine, etc. However, I do think 99% of my test questions came from that book or from experience. There was just so much info it was impossible to remember it all. Some questions just didn't give me enough info on a scenario to make a good guess esp when more than one answer would work in different situations. That was frustrating!! There were several questions on IEP's and 504's which I always struggled with understanding those exactly but the book explained it so well I breezed through those questions. I'd recommend all school nurses read that book even if not taking the test esp if newer to school nursing! After 14 yrs of school nursing I still learned things!! I wish I'd read it when I first started.

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Specializes in Peds, Oncology.

Congrats and thanks for the tips, I plan to test in June!

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Specializes in Retired - ER, School Health, Quality, Case Managem.

Hi there! I just found out I passed the July exam. I used the same tools too. Didn't care for the flas cards but the book and app were good! I prepped for 3 weeks, so grateful I passed!!

I'm in MA and the Dept of Ed requires school nurses get certified or have a Master's degree. This gets you a Professional Educators license as a school nurse. No bonus $ but we are on teachers pay scale.

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