What's in the CRNI exam?
The INCC tells HITM readers
Would you like to get the scoop on the CRNI exam? Who better to ask than Rob Yahn, the director of certification for the Cambridge, MA-based Intravenous Nurses Certification Corporation, which administers the exam.
The test is straightforward in that it consists of 200 multiple choice questions, with a four hour time limit. The exam is offered twice a year, once in May and once in September. The May 1998 exam was offered at 14 sites, including one in conjunction with the INS annual meeting. The September 1998 exam will be offered at about 30 sites.
There are nine core areas covered on the exam, with each area being designated a certain percentage of the test questions. (See chart, at right.)
Yahn notes that the core areas remain constant, but the portion of the test questions designated to each core area may change.
"Once every three or four years we will do a job analysis where we survey numerous nurses who practice intravenous therapy and ask them `What do you do?'" he says. "We'll use their responses to make adjustments in the percentages. We try to make the exam reflect what is happening in job content."
Yahn says the INS will conduct its next job analysis in 1999, so the above percentages will hold true for 1998. When it comes time to change the percentages or even change the questions that are asked on the exam (which INS does after every test), it chooses from a pool of 900-1000 questions it has in-house. CRNIs who say how tough the test is aren't just tooting their own horn - they're telling the truth.
"It's a comprehensive exam designed to test the full spectrum of infusion," says Yahn. "Even if someone has a lot of experience in infusion therapy, there are probably one or two areas they will have very little experience in."
The INCC estimates there will be about 1,000 nurses who take the exam in 1998. The pass rate for nurses taking the exam for the first time is just 62%. Surprisingly, for those who choose to retake the exam, the chance of passing drops to 52%.
Once you pass the exam, you must recertify once every three years. You can either re-take the exam (Yahn says 93% of those taking the test for recertification pass) or acquire 40 certification units in three years.
"Of those 40 units, 30 must come from the annual conference and the other 10 can come from various other areas, such as local level chapter meetings," he says.
The INCC offers a variety of resource tools, ranging from a study guide that provides a description of the test, reference materials, and 70 sample questions, to videos tapes, audio cassettes, and books.
[For more information about the test or study guides, call (617) 441-3008 or (800) 434-4622.]
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