PACU certification

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Dear Nurses,

I recently took a job in PACU after 13 years in ICU. I am a CCRN and my hospital seems to think that this certification is not relevant to my new job and will not pay the $.35 per hour certification specality pay bonus. I am going to take the PACU certification (CPAN) examination to increase my knowledge. I'm hoping that someone can give me some good advice on study material that will aid in my quest to pass the CPAN certification.

CCRN needing CPAN

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Specializes in PACU, PICU, ICU, Peds, Education.

A CCRN most certainly covers PACU, even though there is a difference to PACU nursing. Oh well..

The nurses in our unit have found these books to be most helpful:

Perianesthesia Nursing: A Critical Care Approach, Ed. by Cecil B. Drain

ISBN: 0721692575

and of course the ASPAN core curriculum:

Perianesthesia Nursing Core Curriculum: Preoperative, Phase I and Phase II Pacu Nursing

ISBN: 0721603653

Welcome to PACU

C

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Thanks Charity,

I found both books on Amazon.

ND :rotfl:

A CCRN most certainly covers PACU, even though there is a difference to PACU nursing. Oh well..

The nurses in our unit have found these books to be most helpful:

Perianesthesia Nursing: A Critical Care Approach, Ed. by Cecil B. Drain

ISBN: 0721692575

and of course the ASPAN core curriculum:

Perianesthesia Nursing Core Curriculum: Preoperative, Phase I and Phase II Pacu Nursing

ISBN: 0721603653

Welcome to PACU

C

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Specializes in Management, Quality and pt. safety . Now traveler..

Help anyone out there who's taken the CPAN EXAM. I'm currenty studying and have been a critical-care and PACU nurse for 25yrs. I've read almost the entire book from ASPAN and have tried to contact a a "coach"with no success. My hospital is currently working on the Magnet cert. and I'm the first one in my dept. to go for the cert. The exam in April 17th. I've been studying since Jan. I even purchase the study test questions but just want to talk to someone who has actually taken the exam. :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Management, Quality and pt. safety . Now traveler..

Talk about stress, not only was I the only one in my unit taking the cert. CPAN but the stress of waiting 5wks. for results. I'm happy to say I passed and I'm appy about it. Anyone wanting any info. on it I'm happy to help out.

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I just recently took the CAPA and CPAN exams and failed both exams. I drove all the way to Houston, TX for a review course and I don't feel that it was very helpful. I purchased 4 practice exams from the CSPAN website that cost $35 per test. They were not very helpful because, the test doesn't tell you what you missed or why. I reviewed all the questions from the Review Book for Peri-Nursing Anesthesia. It's the purple one that everyone uses. I also went back and reviewed all of my med-surg notes from nursing school. I honestly believe taking the NCLEX was much harder than taking this test. I'm very frustrated because I honestly don't know what else to do!!! Now the test is changing this year, which means I will once again drive from Biloxi, MS to Houston, TX again to make sure I have the updated changes. Can anyone help me? I feel like I'm all over the place.

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