tabby99

I used ccm secrets, prime essentials course online and bought 2 sets of extra questions for ccm exam on amazon (via kindle- 150 questions for 9.99 each)

I just took it today and got a preliminary pass. I have to say that studying for This exam was pure torture. I think it was worse to study for than the nclex because at least with the nclex you had two years of school drilling the stuff into your head beforehand. Here's the scoop: in my opinion, it was not too hard- There are different versions of the test however. Basically it is sort of like preparing for the nclex in that you are never going to know all the information and you're never really going to feel prepared but if you put in some decent time studying you will be fine. I used CCM secrets book and Prime Essentials. I also got extra test Questions on Amazon - there are two sets of them -150 questions each and those were helpful because they had rationales. Only 9.99 each for kindle download. I thought the exam would be more detailed than it was. The questions were mostly pretty straightforward aside from a few poorly worded ones. Among the answer choices there are usually two that are just really dumb that you can eliminate right away. FYI I am a June 2011 grad RN with a yr and a half work comp CM experience. I started studying for this exam in June and basically went through all of the prime essentials material twice and took the post test and study guide questions included and went through the CCM secrets material once and took the practice test at the end of that book . In addition , I bought two additional sets of questions as discussed on Amazon and do those the week before the exam.

how soon after the test does this work?

Thanks hiddencatRN...that's a good point!

How much do nurses who work in Dr's offices make anyway? I wouldn't mind making less to have lower stress and more pt. contact.

I just got the white Keen professionals...they are awesome and i got them for like 45 bucks or something recently at Sierra Trading Post. I was wearing New Balance wide white shoes....but they were sooooo ugly and reminded me of grandma shoes...haha. you could barely tell the diff btwn right and left! So, for my final 108 hours of preceptorship I could NOT face those shoes and got the Keens. They are not that ugly and have been very comfy.

Haha...yeah....it makes me cringe already. I am probably the most interested in behavioral health nursing but even they require you to put in your time on med surg. I think I might try to work at a doctor's office for less money. I'm not sure the crazy hospital setting is for me anyway....I need something calmer bc there is no way I will be ready to take on five patients upon graduating. I am doing my preceptorship in the ICU this month and I am so clueless.

Yeah, I almost feel like this degree is kind of useless these days bc you can't even get your foot in the door. Without a new grad program I am not going to get very good training, which I feel I need to be successful...but there are hardly any new grad spots at all.

I live in N. Arizona....bad around here. The hospital is planning to either cut the new grad program out or else cut it to 10 positions only with 200 applicants expected. I will probably have to drive 1 to 2 hours out to the boon docks to get a job There are still grads from 12/10 who don't have work yet. Don't know how it is anywhere else...would be interested to know.

I ran antibiotics in below the pump once...and they were a type that was not supposed to run in fast.....I almost had a heart attack. My preceptor watched me and didn't catch it either. It was awful awful awful...I don't think I will ever ever repeat that mistake, however...I also don't know if Im cut out for this career.

I have never heard of psychology on the Hesi. It wasn't on mine, and I have never even seen it on any Hesi list.

I would recommend the HESI study guide. I used that one, and just got a 97 on my HESI. The math is easy but you can easily screw it up if you are not a math person and you don't memorize how to do all that stuff (that you never have to use in everyday life!) Just memorize all the math, and go over all the sections in the book and do the things they recommend in the HESI HINT sections and I think you will be fine. GOod Luck!! I spent about 15-20 hours total brushing up for the HESI. It is worth it!!

Hey- Has anyone taken nutrition online at Rio? I have to take it, and I'm not sure whether to do it at CCC or online. Haven't heard great things about the nutrition classes from anyone. Thanks

I took the 16 week. There is no way I would recommend the 8 wk. unless you are really familiar w/ the material already. It's a crazy amt of work! As I recall, we started with the ecosystem, organ systems , cells, atoms, etc then onto the organelles next. I don't have the books anymore, but you do go through like 1/2 of one and 1/2 of the other.

The book is called "Biology for Dummies" and I recommend it even though it does not cover everything in the bio book, it does talk about a lot of it. To get an A in the class, I read every chapter, spent a lot of time on the SYL essays and made them long, detailed, and made sure I followed all the requirements. For the quizzes, they are online so you can use your book, but they take a while to do b/c some questions are tricky. I used the internet a LOT, both the sites given for the online lessons and other sites that I found on my own to help with my understanding. The midterm and final have essays, and the best thing is to answer all the questions with the lessons that they give you, including all the SYL essay questions you did not have to turn in b/c those are what you have to know for the midterm/final. Also, for the SYL essays, you have to do research to find out how you would use your knowledge from the essay in your future healthcare career, and for that I usually looked up something such as a disease relating to the topic and said I would use my knowledge to counsel people with such and such disease blah blah. Since I was so thorough, it is hard to know if I went way overboard for the SYL's b/c I didn't get feedback from my instructor but I do know that one week I decided to do just a little less, and I lost some points This will all make a little more sense once you start the class. Above all, KEEP UP with the work every week b/c there is so much that you won't recover if you get behind!! Good luck!