CNOR bound

[Ornurse24]

anyone taken the online prep course for CNOR from AORN? If so what were your thoughts? It's very expensive in my opinion and I've never taken an online course before. I am not a member of AORN and really don't want to join them just to get a "discount".
Any helpful hints you can share regarding preparing for the exam?
THANKS in advance

[velmamher]

I do not have CNOR since I am not a surgical nurse, but I have certified in 2 different nursing specialties. While working in critical care, I was certified (CCRN) for 12 years, and now I have been certified (CPAN - certification in perianesthesia nursing) for the past 15 years while doing PACU nursing. Whether an online course will work for you depends on your style of learning and testing. I personally do better attending seminars or workshops. If you join your national professional organization (AORN) you will receive notices of seminars available in your specialty, plus your specialty journal (at least that has been true for AACN and ASPAN). Also, first evaluate yourself in your specialty to see if you are ready......do you understand all of the rationale for all of your policies and procedures, is your facility following national standards? Where do the standards come from and why? Have you done your continuing education in your specialty? Have you attended your state or national AORN annual meetings and seminars? In my case, I needed to understand the ASA standards and how that affects ASPAN standards and policies. I was also tested on management and legal issues. For both of my tests, I studied the CORE Review manual for each specialty.....I read through the entire book and highlighted things that were new to me or that I knew I would need to review or memorize. For the critical care exam I actually took a week off work and studied every day for 8 hours. For the CPAN test I just studied for 2 full days for a couple of weekends.........but I am a good test taker. You really have to understand yourself and your own learning style and test taking abilities. The one thing I found that did NOT help was the books with sample questions.
Personally, I really think it is worth it to become a member in your specialty, not so much for the discounts, but for all the opportunities to learn. I've been an RN for 39 years (diploma grad), staff nurse that entire time, never an administrator. I do get a higher rate of pay for being certified, but I would do it anyway, just to vallidate my knowledge.

[Bikersue1956]

Took a two day prep course in Boston for the CNOR exam, then studied the material and referred to Essentials of Perioperative Nursing, and the AORN Recommended Practices 2013 books. I am again CNOR certified, being in the OR for many years also helped with the exam. You do have to study, but reading the questions, and thinking about it in the Perioperative nurses perspective, and what you do in your practice helps with answering the questions correctly.