The more review questions you try, the more confident you will be on test day.
They say that practice makes perfect. When it comes to preparing for your CCRN certification exam, this saying couldn’t be more accurate. The more you practice CCRN test questions, the better your odds are for passing the exam on your first try. Here’s an in-depth look at why doing CCRN review questions solidifies information in your brain and where you can find numerous practice questions to help you prepare for your CCRN exam.
The psychology behind the “testing effect.”
Several years ago, psychologists identified the “testing effect.” Essentially, researchers found that giving students test-like questions about new material helped them memorize content.
Most importantly, the researchers also identified that students who could answer questions about newly learned material had a better understanding of the content. Thus, we now know that re-studying material is not effective in helping us recall information through this study. Instead, we need to be able to apply it.
By taking practice questions, we learn from choosing the right answer and crossing out the wrong answers. When we can explain why an answer option is not correct, we further our understanding of the subject.
This discovery is pivotal for anyone looking to take a major board certification exam, like critical care nurses. So often, we feel that we need to memorize everything in our CCRN review book. Yet, memorization rarely serves us on test day. Rather, we must tap into a deeper understanding of the content that we can obtain through taking numerous practice questions
Practice questions help you gauge where you are at in the study process.
Most of us enjoy answering questions we feel confident in, right? It feels good to know your stuff. But, on the other hand, we tend to resist answering questions about less familiar content.
CCRN review questions are a great way to pinpoint what areas are strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you worked in a cardiac ICU, you may feel much more confident in the cardiovascular section of the CCRN exam compared to the musculoskeletal section.
Test questions can help identify gaps in your understanding and help you identify where you need to place your focus.
You can get a feel for what questions you will see on your actual CCRN exam.
You will see different styles of questions on the CCRN exam. While a solid understanding of the content is vital, knowing how to interpret questions is sometimes part of the battle. Sometimes, questions are worded in such a way that it can sway you toward one answer over another.
However, if you understand subtle nuances in both the study material and the question itself, you can increase your odds of selecting the right answer. The only way to gain exposure to how questions are written and formatted is (you already guessed it): doing numerous review questions.
Finally, you will want to make sure you are familiar with the CCRN test plan so you can gauge how many questions will be from each content area.
Here is a brief breakdown of what you can expect:
Clinical Judgement (80% of test questions)
- Cardiovascular (17%)
- Respiratory (15%)
- Endocrine/Hematology/Gastrointestinal/Renal/Integumentary (20%)
- Musculoskeletal/Neurological/Psychosocial (14%)
- Multisystem (14%)
Professional Caring & Ethical Practice (20%)
- Advocacy/Moral agency
- Caring practices
- Response to diversity
- Facilitation of learning
- Collaboration
- Systems thinking
- Clinical inquiry
You can find further information about the exam breakdown in the CCRN certification exam handbook through the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, which you can access here
How do I get access to CCRN review questions?
There are plenty of review questions available. People who opt for studying with a CCRN review book will have access to some review questions throughout the study book, as well as a final CCRN practice test. Your review book will give you the answers in the back and possibly a brief explanation of each question.
CCRN review courses can offer hundreds of practice questions. Throughout each unit, you will likely see questions and quizzes to test your knowledge. Most CCRN courses provide a practice test, as well.
There are several benefits of doing a CCRN review course. First off, you can learn the material through different modalities aside from reading.
Thus, people who learn better from hearing, visualizing, and even simulating material can better retain information. Secondly, review courses can offer more in-depth explanations to practice questions, and some may even give you access to discussion groups to further explore the material.
Getting your CCRN certification is a major step in your nursing career. Certification not only designates you as a specialist in providing critical nursing care, but it boosts your confidence and makes you a leader on your team. Most importantly, it improves your patient outcomes and helps you and your team save more lives.
Our CCRN review course gives you access to hundreds of CCRN review questions and connects you with experts and fellow CCRN students to help you dive deeper into the material.
At Critical Care Academy, our mission is to save 1 million lives by helping 100,000 nurses achieve certification.
Join us in our mission and apply for your CCRN today!