LeapofFaith

According to Hamric and Spross Coaching is assisting with the safe passage of a person through life transitions (illness, childbearing, etc...). The nurse integrates self reflection + technical competence ( APN education) + clinical competence ( clinical decision making, experience) + interpersonal competence ( patient centered position, empathy) in order to effectively coach patients through transitions. Mentoring and Precepting- Mentoring is usually a longer relationship compared to precepting and can be either be formal ( has objectives, mentoring contract, supported by facility) or informal ( unstructured). On the other hand precepting is likely to be formal and for short pre-determind period of time. Both concepts aim to foster the growth of a new APN. Hope this helps. Hamric and Spross is a really great resource.

thanks Trauma! I had not even thought about the CME and practice hour requirements. I will have to reassess my options. Thank you to all the nurses you 'have been there and done that' and who selflessly share their experiences with all of us :)

Congratulations and good luck! Are you starting this fall? Trauma- just curious how long did it take you do the post MSN peds CNS? I am thinking about doing this. Having a hard time looking for a position as a ACNS. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I also graduated from an ACNS program in Dec and took the ANCC exam last Feb. I know the test has changed since then, but here are the things that worked for me: 1) Following the ANCC test blueprint. Going through every point on the blueprint and looking up things that I was unfamiliar with. 2) Advance Practice Nursing By Hamric and Spross- this book served as a great resource when going the the test blue print 3) Fidzgerald Adult Health NP questions- easy to follow and broke down the major diseases in nice, concise chunks. Plus, the book is rather small so you can bring it with you everywhere. 4) Study everyday (even if its just 30 mins to an hour)- I studied everyday for almost 2 months. I hope this helps. I know how discouraging setbacks can be. It makes you doubt your abilities, and if you are even 'meant' to take this path. But I do believe that if you have gotten this far and you truly care about becoming a CNS ( as evidenced by you being here :)), you can pass the exam. Good luck!

Glad I decided to visit Allnurses today bc if not I would of missed out on this great discussion! Thanks everyone for their feedback. I am a new ACNS and my experience thus far has been similar to Trauma's. Here in Texas, it seems that most of the CNS roles are similar to NPs. A difference that I have noticed is that the CNSs tend to work more in specialized areas ( cardiology, neuro, ortho, etc...). It has been difficult to find a job as a ACNS, since I am limited to seeing only adult patients. And when applying for jobs, most specifically in smaller clinics/group practices, physicians will ask "what is a CNS'. Sad to say when explaining to them what a CNS is I have to resort to " its similar to an NP" .

Trauma- Good luck on your exam!

Hi everyone- so I recently took the ANCC Adult CNS exam and I passed! What worked for me: 1) I printed out the test content outline from ANCC. I went through the outline using resources from; a. The internet b. Hamric and Spross APN An Integrative Approach. Even purchasing the older 2005 version will do, this is the one I used and it was so helpful. c. Leiks Comprehensive review for Adult NP (they dont make one for CNSs) 2) Study EVERY night even if its just for a solid 30 mins- 1 hour. I personally studies a couple hours everyday for a month and half. 3) Do the practice question for ALL the CNS exams on the ANCC website. The sample questions include tons of leadership/theory/change agent stuff that is relevant for all test takers, regardless of your specific test (peds, adults, gerontology). 4) If you haven't taken a standardized test in a while I strongly suggest doing practice questions, even from an NCLEX book. I mean don't spend too much time on this, maybe one night of studying, just to get the 'feel' of answering test questions again. I hope this is helpful. Thank you trauma for your tips and well wishes. I also looked through the NACNS statements wish was very helpful. LoF

Thanks again Trauma! A classmate of mine who took the test late last year said statements put out by NACNS are helpful resources too. I think I will go with that and purchase the mometrix book. I will let everyone here know my experience with these resources. Thanks. LOF

Trauma, Thanks for your reply! Any feedback received is much appreciated. Its comforting to know what others have done in the past. Thank you in advance for letting me know about what book you used in the past. Best of luck with your upcoming peds exam!

Hi everyone, I am planning to take the ANCC CNS Med/Surg Exam in the coming months. I was hoping to receive some feedback from anyone who has taken the test/plans to take the test/knows anyone who has taken the test. The outline of the test content on the ANCC website is sort of overwhelming What sort of study materials would you recommend? I was thinking of purchasing the Mometrix study guide. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find too many reviews about it. Thanks! LOF

..."over reliance on foreign educated nurses by the health care industry serves only to postpone efforts to address the needs of nursing students and the u.s. nursing workforce." i think the key word here is over reliance. the immigration of foreign nurses to the us is just one piece to the puzzle in solving the nursing shoratge. nurses have been immigrating to the us for may decades and some of them how now become professors of nursing helping to create the new generation of our profession.

very sad. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.:redpinkhe

hi i took the gre earlier this year and i too was very nervous about the math. these are the things that i did to prepare, not oly for the math content but for the entire test ( and i scored above a 1300): 1. get the priceton review book for the math and writing section. all the math you need to know is in here and it is explained very well 2. get the kaplan verbal book. there is a list of the 200 top gre words and i memorized this list and the synonyms of these words ( also included in list) amd there were only 2 words in the entire test that i did nor know 3. get the powerprep program. this is free on the ets website.they will send you a cd when you register or you can download it from the ets site. i studied for a little over a month about 3-4 hours per day. granted i was not working so. hope this helps good luck!

Good luck to your friend. Are they doing the LVN-RN hospital partner program? I hear that ASU recently won a grant to do that program and they are very excited about it!

HI everyone, I was just wondering if anyone is going to be a student at ASU this coming fall, if so lets start thread where we can ask questions, share our concerns, and get to know one another. I would really like to hear from my future fellow Rams :)