CVICUnurse99

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! ??

Hello everyone, nice to meet you. I wanted to share that I've received an interview invitation this morning, but I will be declining as I have already accepted an offer from another program. I hope this opens the opportunity for another hardworking, well-deserving, and accomplished applicant who is pursuing this path. Wishing you all the best of luck, you've got this! ???

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

Good luck to everyone! Wishing you all the very best throughout this application cycle. I was fortunate to receive a deferred admission offer for the Spring 2027 cohort back in November, and I'm truly grateful for the opportunity. I'd love to join a FB group chat whenever one is created. Thank you, and wishing everyone success! ?

Use this link to log into your portal, https://apply.midwestern.edu/account/logout?r=https%3a%2f%2fapply.midwestern.edu%2faccount%2flogin%3feid%3d2cOc-u4heCgU_BJkld03uraGv5lWtMMmMvVq7r50NQL6Wiv1pfKeAw%26s%3de%26r%3dhttps%3a%2f%2fapply.midwestern.edu%2fapply%2f%26cookie%3d1. You will have to click on create an account, use the email you provided in your NursingCAS application. I honestly didn't know about this portal either until I researched and found it. LOL

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.

Hi everyone, I've recently submitted my applications to a couple of CRNA programs (South College and National University), and I'm now shifting my focus toward preparing for a potential interview. I'll be honest—I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin, so I'd really appreciate any guidance or advice from those who've been through this process. Specifically, I'm looking for help with pharmacology and math preparation. I've heard that some interviews include medication-related questions or dosage calculations, and I haven't done drug math in a while (not since nursing school, honestly). I've seen people recommend the Barron's CCRN book, but I've noticed it doesn't dive deep into the mechanisms of action at the cellular level, which I'd like to understand better. Any tips, suggestions, or resources you've found helpful would mean a lot—whether they're directly related to these topics or just general interview advice. Thanks so much in advance! ??

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!

I appreciate you sharing your study plan and CONGRATULATIONS! ? Currently studying for the CCRN (taking it in May). My resources are the Barron's book for content review and following along the Lifelong Nursing videos. PassCCRN and AACN for practice questions. My scores so far for the chapter quizzes in the Barron's has been 50-61%, with one 100% score on the psych quiz (no surprise there LOL). I've spoken to my colleagues that has used the Barron's and they all said that they have also failed the chapter quizzes. Also reading forums of nurses failing both the Barron's and the PassCCRN questions, and still pass the CCRN. So, IDK. ? My plan is to at least review the book 5 times, doubling the times with listening to the videos. I would appreciate any advice!

Hello everybody, I'm currently studying for my CCRN and will be taking it in May. I'm using the Barron's book for content review, and following along Lifelong Nursing videos. AACN and PassCCRN for practice questions. I have been scoring between 52-61% on the chapter quizzes, will be taking my first 150-question practice exam this Friday. I've spoken to my colleagues and some of them said that they have failed the chapter quizzes, and I've read some forums of nurses failing Barron's exams and PassCCRN exams, and still pass the CCRN. So, I'm just curious to know what were you guys' scores during studying, because I'm getting discouraged by these scores that I'm getting. ? I would appreciate your input and encouragement so much!

Congratulations on passing your CCRN, that's amazing! Thank you so much for this tip! Yes, a colleague of mine also told me the same thing, stick to the Barron's, the AACN question bank, and to not purchase the PassCCRN question bank. After 5 days of studying the cardiac chapter, I scored a 60% (18/30). I don't know how to feel about this, definitely discouraging.

Hello everybody, My name is Tifany and I'm an RN in the State of Texas. I have been a nurse for two years; I've worked in the Surgical/Trauma ICU Step-Down Unit for one year and have been working in the CVICU for the past 6 months now. I'm really interested in the CCRN and in obtaining this certification. I was thinking of studying the same way I did for my NCLEX-RN (review content first and then practice questions, 150 Qs every day to build stamina and review the rationales). I want to give myself about 2-3 months to prepare and take the exam sometime in May or June. These are my chosen resources for content: Barron's CCRN book and Lifelong Nursing videos. Resources for practice questions: Barron's CCRN practice questions (paper + online), PassCCRN (Elsevier), PocketPrep Adult CCRN, and ChatGPT. I'm trying to not overwhelm myself and only select 1-2 resources to study from, and commit to it. I'm curious to know which percentages should I be aiming for in my practice quizzes and exams to pass the CCRN on exam day. Any tips/advice/recommendations would be great. Thank you so much! ??

Hello everybody! My name is Tifany and I graduated nursing school in December 14th, 2022. I took a long week break before I started studying for the NCLEX. I narrowed my resources to 3 main ones: Hurst Review, UWorld and Archer Qbank. Saunders book in case I needed a refresher on a certain topic. I will be taking my NCLEX-RN next week! ? I did 2 weeks of content review with Hurst and the remaining weeks I will be doing practice questions. I kinda gave up on UWorld and started leaning more towards Archer. Archer says if you do 4 consecutive assessments and scored "high" or "very high" that you are good to go for the NCLEX. I got 3 "very high" and 1 "high" in a row. My weakest subjects are pharmacology and maternity so I have been spending my last few days on those topics and doing practice questions. For some reason, the closer I get to my test date the more calm I am. I have been praying to God every morning before I start my day and being very positive to myself to boost my confidence. I think that God is making me feel confident by calming my nerves. Please, post anything you would like to tell me, haha! I would love to hear your opinion and suggestions. Thank you, I appreciate it! ??

Thank you so much for that detailed answer, I appreciate it so much. I'm sure you passed; a lot of people who their screen got cut off at 60-80 Qs usually pass. ? I have decided to use these 4 resources for my NCLEX prep: UWorld, Archer Review, Mark Klimek Lectures and Saunders (for any clarification on topics that I need to refresh on). I'm just confused about the Archer Review; a lot of people say that their rationales are not accurate and right, so I don't know if I should read the rationales or just do practice questions. With UWorld, I do take my time to go over each question and the rationales, and take notes if I need to. I also don't know if the scoring for Archer will be the same as UWorld. Like I mentioned before, I have been scoring between 40-70s on UWorld (to my knowledge, that's pretty good, but I do have bad days every now and then).