How I Passed the CCRN Exam After Just 1 Year in the ICU

All I needed was one book.

Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash

The Only Resource I Used

Dennison’s “Pass CCRN!” Book

I used the 4th edition, which was published in 2013 so it’s a bit dated. A 5th edition was released just a couple of years ago and should have more updated information. I’ve included my Amazon Affiliate links for both books here.

I studied the entire book and completed all the practice questions over 4 weeks before I took the exam. It was recommended by everyone in my unit who had passed the exam their first try.

Pros:

• Comprehensive content

If you liked the Saunders NCLEX-RN prep book, you might like this book as well. It has detailed information on each body system, helpful charts, tables, and pathway diagrams.

• Access to 1000+ online practice question through Evolve

The program allows you to choose between Study Mode and Exam Mode when doing the questions. Study Mode allows you to practice untimed and view rationales after each question. Exam Mode gives you a feel for the full-length exam, after which you can view your responses and the rationales. These practice questions and answer choices were very similar to the those on the actual exam.

Cons:

• The book is way too detailed

Even though the book outlines information for you in each section, the outlines are really lengthy lists. Because they’ve already “summarized” the important details for you in these lists, it might make you feel as if you have to memorize everything in each chapter. This is not only time-consuming, but also counterproductive because the book covers much more than you need to know for the exam. I’ll talk about how I approached the material in the next section below.

My Study Strategy

Study Schedule: 5–8 hours/day, 6 days/week

Content Review:

1. Skim the end-of-chapter activities/questions
2. Skim the chapter (read actively)
3. Make short notes in your own words
4. Review entire chapter again
5. Do practice questions
6. Review each question and rational for each of the answer choices

Emphasis on Practice Questions:

Doing all the practice questions and reviewing each question (and rationale(s) afterward) is probably the most important study strategy you can utilize. I know a couple of people who have passed the CCRN exam just by focusing on these questions and only using the book to find the correct answers to questions they answered incorrectly and to review concepts they were unfamiliar with.

Knowing the material won’t be helpful if you don’t know what type of questions they’ll ask. Getting a feel for the question structure and answer choices will help you become more comfortable with doing more and more questions per day.

When you answer a question incorrectly, go back to that section in the book and review it. If you’re not satisfied with the explanation in the book, find other articles or videos online that can supplement your understanding. Try to keep track of the type of question or subject (e.g. GI or Respiratory Questions) you’re not doing well in.

Even if you answer a question correctly, review the rationale anyway, to confirm that your line of thinking matches. 80% of the questions will test clinical judgement, so in addition to memorizing values, you have to be able to apply them to paragraph-length scenarios that involve lots of detail. Being able to understand the big picture is critical.

It’s been 3 years since I took the exam, but I remember that cardiac and respiratory questions dominated the exam, as you’d expect. Specifics that I can recall include:

• Hemodynamic values (e.g. PAP, PAWP, CO, LAP, RAP) and what they mean
• Vent settings and whether they point to acidosis vs. alkalosis
• Factors that shift the oxyhemoglobin curve to the left or to the right (tip: just memorize all the factors that cause a shift to one side)
• Important cardiac medications and their indications
• Lab values and treatment for SIADH, HHS, electrolyte imbalances
• Signs/symptoms of increased ICP, management of devices

I remember initially scoring 60%-70% on the practice exams and then progressing to 80% and above the last couple of weeks. This proved sufficient as I scored even higher on the actual exam.

Clinical opportunities to supplement your study:

• Get to know your vents! Ask the respiratory therapists and intensivist about the different settings, why they choose to make the changes that they do, how to decide which parameter to adjust, etc.
• Observe procedures you aren’t familiar with (e.g. management of intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABP), CVP and arterial line placement/set-up, etc. Offer to assist providers and your co-workers.
• Determine which medications you give most often and do some research on them (indications, interactions, adverse effects, antidotes to overdose, etc).
• Participate in rounds. Ask questions!
• During your downtime at work, explore the equipment not in use: defibrillators, pacemakers, lines, tubes, etc.

You may or may not have direct exposure to everything covered in the exam before you take it, but try to get exposure to what’s available in your ICU. For cases and procedures not common in your workplace, look for the information in the book and try to look for the corresponding free videos online.

I hope this post answered some of your questions about how to study effectively for the CCRN exam or any other certification exam. I want to also congratulate you on taking the first step toward specialty certification in nursing. Good luck on your exam and thank you for reading!

Originally published at https://thepostbac.com on February 11, 2020.