On whim, I decided to register for the RNC-OB exam

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

And now I'm seriously wondering if I made a huge mistake. I haven't been an inpatient L&D nurse for over 2 years, and am afraid I'm rusty.

For the past year+ I've been working outpatient OB, so I know I will have a more solid foundation in antepartum, fetal testing, GDM, that kind of thing. But I'm a bit nervous about labor management, strips, that kind of thing because I haven't done it in a few years.

I've heard it's a very difficult test. I was trying to find stats on pass rates but couldn't find anything.

Anyone have any feedback on the difficulty?

I just purchased a study guide and plan to read it for a while every night, hoping that will be enough. I can't devote a TON of time to studying because I'm also finishing up my last semester of my Master's program/thesis.

Was I insane for thinking I could do this after being away from the bedside?

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Specializes in nursing education.

No, not insane! You set yourself a stretch goal. Do you have a test date yet?

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Congratulations, klone, and good luck. :)

Here are the overall NCC stats for past 3 years:

https://www.nccwebsite.org/Certification/Statistics.aspx

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
No, not insane! You set yourself a stretch goal. Do you have a test date yet?

No, I just received email notification that I've been approved, and I'm waiting for the snailmail letter so I can schedule. I plan to schedule it as far out as possible (which I think is 90 days) to give me time to study.

Thanks for the info, sirI!

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Specializes in labor and delivery.

It is a difficult test but if you have high risk experience that will help. I studied with the 2007 version of the Manual of Obstetrics, but a new version came out recently. It's much less overwhelming than a textbook and was very helpful. I have a feeling the strips won't be a problem for you, I don't remember there being many. Brush up on epidurals/anesthesia and other things you aren't currently dealing with. Your antepartum knowledge will help you too. Good luck!

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I just took it in October. There aren't a ton of strips, but there are other questions that pertain to fetal monitoring, too, so you will need to brush up on your strips and fetal monitoring as well as general L&D stuff. I am certified in EFM and have taken lots of classes in it, so I didn't worry about brushing up on that, but there were still a couple of questions on that subject that I really had to think about. Don't forget postpartum/newborn, too... a significant portion of the exam that covers those topics.

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